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This Issue from John Kuczaj:
• Stuff Gonna Happen Next Week
• Musings
Stuff Gonna happen Next Week
For the benefit of the CME reader minority that is NOT in the media, I thought I'd go over some of the media ownership rules that will most definitely be changed on June 2nd when the FCC approves them. As I mentioned in the past, I think the change in these rules is the number one news story that is not being covered by the U.S. media. It just goes to prove that when you don't call attention to important issues, major things can happen before the general public can react. In this case, the FCC-an APPOINTED regulatory body-has been charged by Congress to review all items in the Telecommunications Act of 1996 every two years, and make changes based on marketplace and social realities. Nearly all of the FCC rules that put some kind of restrictions on media ownership have been challenged in court-with varying degrees of success. As I said, the FCC is not an elected body, rather they are appointed, so you can already guess that there is a Republican majority among the 5 sitting members. Oh, and the Chairman of the FCC is Michael Powell...you know...Colin's 'lil boy. No nepotism there, I'm sure.
There are 2 rules that when changed, may affect Chicago media.
1. Broadcast-Newspaper cross ownership rule
TODAY: Provides that no one entity may own both a daily newspaper and either a TV or a radio station in the same market. 70 combos currently exist (WGN-TV, WGN-AM & Tribune in Chicago) that were grandfathered when the rule was enacted in the 1970's.
NEXT WEEK: Cross ownership will be permitted, either in all markets, or as proposed by the FCC's Mass Media Bureau, in markets with four separately owned TV stations (roughly the top 150 of 211 TV markets).
CHICAGO IMPACT: If Hollinger decides to sell the Sun-Times, Rupert Murdoch could buy it. It is strongly rumored that News Corp will buy the Boston Herald (which they sold in 1994 to comply with rules) as soon as they are allowed. Why not?
2. Local TV station ownership rule
TODAY: Provides that no one entity may own more than two TV stations in any one market with eight separately owned TV stations or combos, cannot own two of the top four ranked stations by audience, cannot own more than two stations.
NEXT WEEK: The FCC's Mass Media Bureau recommends allowing duopolies in any TV market except between any of the market's four top-rated stations (roughly the top 100 of 211 markets) and allowing Triopolies when a market has at least 18 TV stations (roughly the top 5 TV markets).
CHICAGO IMPACT: The values of both Channel 26 & Channel 62 skyrocket, as they become targets of acquisition. Channel 26 is most prized, but all-religious Channel 62 might be a target, though Univision holds an option to buy 45% of that station. Paxson's Channel 38 may be in play, but expect NBC, which owns Channel 5 & 44 to buy Channel 38 as well as the PAX TV Network. Channel 35 in the far southwest part of the Chicago market may also be attractive to someone, assuming they can move their tower.
Other major rules to be changed include:
Television station ownership rule
TODAY: No company may own a group of television stations that together can reach more than 35 percent of U.S. households. UHF stations count as 50% of coverage. There is no corresponding limit on the number of radio stations that any firm can own nationwide.
NEXT WEEK: The FCC's Mass Media Bureau recommends raising the cap to 45%, but it could go to 50%.
Local TV-radio cross ownership rule
TODAY: Provides that an entity that owns only one TV station in a local market may own one, four or six radio stations in that market as well, depending on the size of the local market. In this case that market is measured by taking account of not only the number of radio and TV stations, but also the number of cable systems and newspapers in that market.
NEXT WEEK: The FCC's Mass Media Bureau recommends capping the ownership at 6 Radio stations & 2 TV stations.
Those are the major rules to be changed and there are others. As you can see, none of the restrictions are being tightened; rather they all are being loosened. There are varying reasons why this is the case, with a primary reason being the Republican-controlled FCC appointed to their high-paid, cushy jobs by Republican Congressfolk. In Chicago-terms, it's like all the Alder-doofuses (or is it doofi?) that are controlled by the guy who appointed them-Richie Daley. Anyone that steps out of line gets whacked. I would also say that we are where we are at thanks to massive miscalculations by previous FCC commissioners and Congress who loosened the ownership rules in illogical ways, opening the door to legal challenges.
Last time the rules were loosened, the FCC had a choice on allowing or disallowing duopolies. The thinking then was that if they allowed duopolies when a market had 8 separate TV owners, then everyone would be okay with them raising the US ownership cap to 35% fro 25%. Unfortunately, the "8 voices" limit was challenged in court, where the court said the FCC had to justify the arbitrary number. They can't, so to placate everyone, the voice limit gets lowered. Had they stuck to their guns and said no duopolies for the sake of diversity, they would have had firmer ground when challenged in court. Another illogical rule is that the FCC counts UHF stations (channels 14 & higher) as half coverage. This began when less than 50% of the country had cable and the weaker UHF signals were not as prized as the stronger VHF signal. Today almost 85% of the US has cable, so signal strength via antenna means very little (except to channel 2 apparently). A UHF TV station is no longer worth less than a VHF station because of the weaker signal because they're on all the same cable systems as the VHF stations. This doesn't even take into account the digital signals of stations that make a VHF/UHF difference moot via antenna reception. The "UHF discount" is meaningless today, but several big station owners would be well over 50% coverage if that discount was dropped, which it should be. It is doubtful the FCC will drop the discount on June 2nd, but expect the discount to go away in 2-4 years with the US coverage cap raised to 60-75%.
Okay, that's a short (?) primer on some of the relevant rules. Hope you enjoyed it and maybe learned something.
You may have heard that a few weeks ago the Chicago city council passed a resolution 50-0 that urged the FCC to keep the current rules rather than loosen them at all. You may want to tune into "Nude Hippo: Your Chicago Show" tomorrow night at 7pm on Cable Access Channel 25 in Chicago and check out a 20 minute round-table discussion with Alderman Bernard Stone that I participated in. Host Bridget Houlihan quizzed the Alderman while Drew Walker (www.djheadlines.com), Steve Jajkowski (www.chicagotelevision.com) and I added our viewpoints. I think I rambled on a bit when making one point. Oh, well, the point was made. By the way, my views DO differ slightly from my full-time employer (Tribune Broadcasting). For example, I don't believe duopolies should have ever been made legal. Oh, well. Keeping in mind that it was the CHICAGO City Council taking time to do this resolution, and the CHICAGO Alderman was on this CHICAGO Public Access show, it was interesting to hear the Alderman state why the council felt the FCC should keep the current rules. Unfortunately, we ran out of time before we could call him on it. That's my tease for the show-if you live in the city & have Comcast Cable, check it out and see what I mean. If not--I'll clue you in next ish.
Musings
I'm trying to get the CME on a regular schedule. Trust me.
I am also planning some major, senses-shattering changes to the site and by "major" and "senses-shattering", I am of course talking about a few piddly cosmetic changes. Or am I?
A viewer letter in Robert Feder's May 9th column:
"Do you think WFLD-Channel 32 news anchor Nancy Pender could bare more skin by wearing deeper plunging blouses and blazers with no shirt showing at all? I tune in to Fox News and keep thinking Ms. Pender is auditioning for the next cover of Cosmopolitan or Maxim magazine."
First, let me say that I'm very disappointed that I am missing some plunging blouses, so now I know I need to watch Channel 32 news more often. The answer, of course, is that Nancy should do us all a favor and do the news in a bikini top, or topless with black boxes covering up the naughty bits. Hey, when you've got it, flaunt it (or maybe start an internet site). An attractive anchorwoman with great fashion sense showing off the goods is a bad thing when she's got nothing upstairs to fall back on, but when she's got the skills for the job, she should to show some style to go with her substance. In my humble opinion. Go for it Nancy!
No, I really am talking about some small changes. Nothing major, but a slight makeover and a regular schedule.
A couple of people have asked me to comment on Cynthia Santana mispronouncing Irv Kupcinet's name - even after being corrected on the air. As is the Chicago way, we are delighting on an "outsider" who messes up. Anyone who's done live TV knows that when you mess up and you know it, the train wreck sometimes gets worse. Cut her some slack. Kinda like the chick from Baltimore who does that talk show on Channel 7 at 9am & Midnight but isn't exactly a saint. Personally, I am cutting Cynthia some slack on two valid, relevant points. First, I think she's hot and second, "Cryptkeeper" is not an easy name to pronounce.
Sources tell me that something truly special and wrongly-considered politically incorrect will happen on Channel 32's Nine O'clock news Tonight through Friday. I can only hope it eventually becomes permanent.
Rick Telander wrote an entire column today about the most-consistently unfunny comic strip in the newspaper, "In The Bleachers". Seriously, it's an amazingly bad sports-themed "Far Side" ripoff. It's nowhere near as witty as "Ziggy". It cannot approach the sophisticated humor of "Family Circus". I like to think that "In The Bleachers" is slightly-less-funnier than the death of my dog when I was a kid. There I said it. Huh. Well. Maybe I'm being harsh with the hyperbole. Okay, I take that back. It's almost as witty as Ziggy.
To all the news media in Chicago and around the country who (like sheep) continue to regard the New York Times as the "paper of record" and continue to follow their lead, may God have pity on your souls.
IN THE CURRENT CHICAGO RED FACE:
- R-Blag: Read My Lips--No New Casinos!
- Election '03: voter turnout at all time high
- Window falls from high-rise, Daley blames Meigs
- Texas Legislators hide in Springfield
- Fat Guy Becomes Company Softball Hero
- LeBron hits the jackpot, wants to give Hummer to mom
- JAY MERRYMAN: Let the Chicks play golf
- Publisher's statement about Jason Blare
- Cool Again: Zmed!
Check it out at: www.chicagoredface.com.
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