A well-placed industry source tells TVNewsCheck that the commission is working on a rulemaking that could eliminate the UHF discount used in caclulating a group's coverage total, capped at 39% of U.S. TV homes. Such a move could impact Sinclair, which is near the 39% cap, but sources also say that current station portfolios may be grandfathered.
EXCLUSIVE
FCC Mulls Hard 39% Cap On TV Ownership
The FCC’s commissioners late Friday were considering a notice of proposed rulemaking that could eliminate the UHF discount, a loophole in the agency’s ownership regulations that allows TV station groups to exceed the nominal cap on station ownership — a combined 39% of TV homes.
FCC officials were not publicly commenting on their deliberations. But one well-placed industry source said the rulemaking is expected to include a proposal that would grandfather the discounts for UHF stations that are already included in a broadcaster’s station portfolio.
As a rulemaking, broadcasters and the public will have an opportunity to comment on the proposal before the FCC takes any final action.
Broadcast lobbyists expressed concern that the agency might be considering eliminating the discount now as an indirect way to slam the brakes on the rapidly escalating consolidation of TV station ownership that has been sweeping through the industry.
Under the agency’s existing national TV station ownership rule, broadcasters are barred from owning TV stations reaching more than 39% of U.S. TV households.
The UHF discount, incorporated into the agency’s regulations in the days when UHF assignments were generally considered inferior to VHF channels, basically says a station on a UHF channel only has to be counted as having 50% of the reach that a VHF station in the same market would have under the FCC’s 39% national ownership cap.
BRAND CONNECTIONS
Since broadcasters switched from analog to digital transmission, UHF TV channels have generally been considered superior to VHF channels because they provide better coverage.
One group that could be affected by the discount’s elimination — particularly on whether existing discounts are grandfathered — is Sinclair Broadcast Group, which recently announced a deal to buy Allbritton’s TV stations.
Assuming Sinclair’s closing on all pending deals, Sinclair would reach 38.2% of the nation’s TV homes through the 149 TV stations it would own and operate. But with the UHF discount, Sinclair’s TV stations would only reach 21.9%.
An FCC spokesman declined comment.
Comments (12)
Sean OReilly says:
August 2, 2013 at 6:14 pm
I am trying to remember how many “hard” caps I have seen in my 38 years in the business. Grandstanding and politics as usual.
Shenee Howard says:
August 2, 2013 at 6:23 pm
Long overdue. Sinclair and Nextstar should not control (directly or with shared service agreements by shell corporations they control) so many stations. Considering digital tv conversion, there should no longer be discounts for UHF channels – a good portion of all tv stations now technically broadcast on the UHF band.
Brian Bussey says:
August 2, 2013 at 7:02 pm
I know for a fact that the UHF stations have a superior signal in the digital world. I live a couple of miles from the Houston TV tower farm and it takes forever to tune in a VHF station in my garage on rabbit ears. The American people got globally screwed for the benefit of subscriber based media.
Wagner Pereira says:
August 2, 2013 at 9:32 pm
They should actually give a credit for stations on VHF now instead of UHF, especially if the force stations back to VHF in repacking.
Roxanne Tedeschi says:
August 5, 2013 at 3:18 pm
Two miles from the towers in Houston. Hard time getting a signal? You must be a dumb f**k, or a big fat liar.
Think about what you wrote. You are really stupid if it takes forever to tune-in a vhf station a few miles away.
Do you have an ax to grind?
Robert Vincent says:
August 2, 2013 at 9:37 pm
Sinclair has already reared it ugly monster head in our town. They own three television stations and like to flex their muscles at the SBE meetings. One of their lower level engineers has already made his intent known that when they merge with other station groups, they are going to be the big ugly gorilla in the room. He’s already done that but if Sinclair gets much larger, it could mean problems for some existing groups. One thing he said is that there may be some un-identified interference to station digital STL and news remote links. We already suspect them of causing some interference. This guy says Sinclair will not play well in their race for the Nielsens and any station they own will be the lead station one way or another. That is either through superior programming or by default when engineering fails at other stations. You guess which one is easier for them to accomplish. I look to a significant F.C.C. fine and possible civil suits when they choose the latter in many markets.
Wagner Pereira says:
August 2, 2013 at 10:04 pm
I 100% bet that Engineer does not speak for Sinclair nor its policy concerning dirty tricks – written or otherwise and is just trying to act like a big turd in a small pond.
Phyllis Marden says:
August 5, 2013 at 12:37 pm
@ Burt Ward
Is it possible that the Sinclair engineer also noticed this STL interference and is trying to identify and cure it? Now that everything is digital, STL interference is harder to locate and eliminate. I would contact the Sinclair station’s chief engineer and ask for assistance with the problem. Perhaps a faulty YIG and out of tune microwave filter is the cause, you can ask other local stations to switch from primary to backup STL radios to see if the problem changes – goes away.
Todd Barkes says:
August 2, 2013 at 11:53 pm
Name the Engineer (in confidence). Sounds like a bully if true, and bully’s do not represent the greater interest of Sinclair. Drop me a note at [email protected] and I will direct to address the problem…no one likes ‘stinky turds’.
Dave Campbell says:
August 5, 2013 at 8:13 am
I don’t understand why any station would want the the UHF discount rule. I’m sure they wouldn’t tell their advertisers or investors they only reach 50% of the DMA because they are UHF. You can’t tell the FCC one thing and the market another. Cable must carry alone says a station reaches more than 50% of the market.
John Stelzer says:
August 5, 2013 at 10:11 am
It’s low VHF (2-6) that should be discounted now, not UHF.
Matt Lawson says:
August 5, 2013 at 10:35 am
As usual, even if they finally decide, it will be too little, too late on the part of the FCC.