FCC Meets Today on Sinclair/Tribune Deal

Today, the FCC will have an open meeting which stands to have dramatic consequences for the future of local broadcasting.

Most of the agenda items are proposed updates to decades-old media-ownership rules, which broadcasters say are out of date —  limits on “cross-ownership” of newspapers and radio and TV properties within the same market, for example.

Republican Chairman Ajit Pai, who recently was reconfirmed for a second five-year term, has restored the so-called “UHF discount,” which enables station owners to prorate their holdings based on whether their broadcast signal falls in the UHF range (as opposed to VHF, a stronger part of the dial).

Former FCC regulator Michael Copps is warning of Thursday’s pivotal FCC meeting, “We are on the eve of media madness.” 

Copps called the FCC meeting “the nadir of the FCC’s credibility as a protector of the public interest.” He added, “We shouldn’t just be focused on one merger. There are going to be a lot more after that. It’s a flashing green light, greener than any before it.”

Copps said the FCC is “marching to the drumbeat of Wall Street expectations and public interest be damned.”

Sadly, while there will be a lot of back and forth at Today's meeting, it will likely do little to stop Sinclair from gobbling up Tribune and making the broadcast industry much worse off as a whole.

H/T Deadline

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