The Independent Television Group says the commission's retention of the ban “was arbitrary and capricious and contrary to the evidence in the record before the agency."
FCC’s Top-4 Station Ban Appealed
An association of small station groups today petitioned the United States Court of Appeals to review the FCC’s decision retaining a ban on combinations among the top-four rated television stations in a market.
The action “was arbitrary and capricious and contrary to the evidence in the record before the agency,” the Independent Television Group says in the petition.
“The top-four prohibition is particularly harmful to television stations in small and medium markets where there may be only four or fewer commercial television stations, and where the need for the efficiencies from sharing stations costs is greater than in larger markets with more substantial market revenues,” the ITG says.
Although the FCC retained the ban, it said it would consider allowing top-four duopolies on a case-by-case basis.
ITG anticipates that the D.C. Circuit will transfer the appeal to the Third Circuit where other petitions for review of the FCC decisions on local ownership rules are pending.
Comments (3)
Brian Bussey says:
February 22, 2018 at 9:07 am
read this as “we cannot lay people off like the big guys !”
small station owners have abandoned involvement in their local markets. they have given away their viewers to national networks who do nothing but circus bark for ratings.
Snead Hearn says:
February 22, 2018 at 3:12 pm
Poorly run stations do not help a market and the viewers. Poorly run stations normally want more money as their top priority when that is the result of truly engaging with your community and delivering what they (the viewers and leaders of the community) truly want and need. Maybe connecting with your viewers and potential viewers would be a better choice than handing over the operation of the station to another corporate owner to do what they want to increase their bottom line.
Tom Hardin says:
February 23, 2018 at 11:12 am
In the new normal, most viewers do not care. I almost never watch the first 10 min of local news. If it bleeds, it leads is old and out of step with local needs. Most of us have alternatives because of “the internet/world wide connection”. I rarely watch local (and I work in local TV) except sports/weather sometimes.