I'm not convinced that a lot of people give a hoot about this "localism"
motherhood and apple pie, but there is certainly a pattern from this FCC that
suggests funny business. And ironically, but hardly unexpectedly, Craig accused
the Wheeler FCC of being in the pockets of the special interests, completely
without merit, while wouldn't you know it, this time around he can't even
figure out why anyone would be suspicious.
The UHF discount is a measure from the 1960s, long been overdue for a serious
rethink. There is simply no valid excuse for it anymore. Broadcasters usually
prefer UHF these days.
But the more obvious problem is how this FCC is attempting to eliminate the
local caps, as they are written now, irrespective of the UHF discount. This,
coupled with the attempt to abolish net neutrality, in spite of virtually no
competition for broadband service, shows a rather egregious amount of "put your
brain in neutral and just spout the dumbass, dogmatic formula," or far worse.
The national cap can go, as far as I'm concerned. The local caps need to stay.
They are well written. The UHF discount ought to go too, although by itself,
it's not such a big deal. Especially now that so much UHF spectrum has been
lost anyway.
Bert
-------------------------------------------
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/washington/wheeler-fcc-bent-rules-help-sinclair/167869
Aug 14, 2017 12:32 PM ET
Wheeler: FCC 'Bent' Rules to Help Sinclair
Says deal does not appear to be in public interest
By John Eggerton
Former FCC chairman Tom Wheeler is accusing the Republican-led FCC of his
successor, Ajit Pai, of bending the rules to help Sinclair heavy up, and says
its proposed purchase of Tribune stations is not in the public interest.
That came in an online op ed for Brookings, where Wheeler is a visiting fellow
in governance studies.
Wheeler last month on the Brookings web site wrote that the proposed $3.9
billion merger of Sinclair and Tribune was a threat to local broadcasting. He
said that the "Trump" FCC has "in little-noticed decisions...been removing
regulatory requirements to protect broadcast localism, shield a diversity of
local voices, and avoid the establishment of a dominant national broadcaster."
Wheeler renewed that charge this week in a follow-up post.
The reference to the little-noticed decisions is to the Pai FCC decisions to
reinstate the UHF discount eliminated under Wheeler, which has gotten more
attention since Wheeler's first op ed, to loosen some limits on joint station
agreements tightened by Wheeler, and eliminate the requirement that a
broadcaster maintain a main studio in its community of license.
Wheeler says Sinclair has seized the reins of that deregulatory vehicle to try
and ride roughshod over localism and diversity.
That commentary came as the initial period for challenging the Sinclair/Tribune
deal at the FCC came to a close last week. Those filing petitions to deny the
deal are an eclectic group that includes the American Cable Association, Public
Knowledge, Dish, and union IBEW, with strong reservations from some unusual
sources, conservative media and even Trump supporters allied with
anti-consolidation activist critical of those conservative outlets.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways:
- Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at
FreeLists.org
- By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word
unsubscribe in the subject line.
