[opendtv] Re: SINCLAIR-- Risks Seen for TV Chain Showing Film About Kerry
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "OpenDTV (E-mail)" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 18 Oct 2004 10:22:09 -0400
Bill Hogan wrote:
> The following is from Today's New York Times...
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/18/business/media/18sinclair.html?ex=3D109=
9088080&ei=3D1&en=3Da4331c47bd9f5a2e
What's interesting about this Sinclair controversy is that
it shows how the 35 or 39 percent national cap is not
necessary to get other points of view on the air. Even if
the national cap were 100 percent, plenty of other points
of view would get on the air. This seems to get lost in
the rhetoric.
Assume the national cap were 100 percent. Sinclair could
only get away with owning two stations in a given market
if eight other independently owned stations remained. So
in practice, in most markets, Sinclair is to be
restricted to one station. Doesn't that result in enough
points of view being offered?
The national cap means that this controversial flick might
not even be shown in more than 39 percent of US TV
markets. I'm not at all sure how the *national* cap
guarantees more points of view get out to the viewing
public. Some might argue that it prevents points of
view from getting out there to everyone, as would, for
example, a restriction on the circulation of Time Magazine
to only 19 states in the union.
Bert
------------------------------------
Local TV Multiple Ownership Rule (1964)
The local TV ownership rule allows an entity to own two
television stations in the same DMA provided: (1) at
least one of the stations is not ranked among the four
highest-ranked stations in the DMA; and (2) at least
eight independently-owned commercial or non-commercial
broadcast television stations would remain in the DMA
after the proposed combination. Sinclair Broadcast
Group, Inc. challenged the Commission's local TV
ownership rule in court. In 2002, the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the D.C. Circuit remanded the rule to the
FCC for further consideration.
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