Public Knowledge, Common Cause file FCC petition to suspend Sinclair-Tribune merger

Public Knowledge and Common Cause filed a motion at the FCC to suspend the Commission’s review of the Sinclair-Tribune merger until after the DC Circuit rules on the UHF discount. While Public Knowledge and Common Cause “continue to maintain that the proposed transaction should be denied in its entirety,” the motion reads, “the Commission should place further consideration of the transaction in abeyance until the DC Circuit issues a mandate in the UHF discount proceeding.”

The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit heard a case about the UHF discount in April. The UHF discount is an outdated method of measuring audience reach. The only purpose it serves – and the reason Trump’s FCC reversed the Obama FCC’s decision – is to allow broadcast companies to skirt FCC rules and consolidate. The court is expected to rule in August.

In March, attorneys general in eight states called on the FCC to maintain strict national audience reach limits. In a filing to the FCC, the AGs argued that maintaining the UHF discount is “unjustified and arbitrary.”

CWA agrees – and said as much in its most recent petition to deny the Sinclair-Tribune merger. The merger would violate the congressionally mandated 39 percent national audience cap, reduce competition, harm localism, eliminate jobs, and diminish viewpoint diversity. The Commission should approve the Public Knowledge and Common Cause petition – and then it should deny the merger.

Links:

Public Knowledge, Common Cause Motion Requesting to Hold Proceeding in Abeyance (FCC, June 28, 2018)

UHF discount gets its day in court (Speed Matters, Apr. 20, 2018)

CWA, NABET, and NewsGuild file FCC petition to deny Sinclair-Tribune merger (Speed Matters, June 20, 2018)