Free Press Takes Aim at Lake's Defense of Ownership Change

Says he is "flat out wrong" in his defense of item

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 12/4/2012 9:02:10 AM

Free Press policy director Matt Wood took issue Monday with FCC Media Bureau chief Bill Lake's defense of his chairman's media ownership item.

"[B]ased on what we do know, it is flat-out wrong to suggest that the top four ranking exemption would prevent ownership of a top TV station and a major newspaper in the same market," said

In a statement  Monday (Dec. 3), Lake had said that suggestions the item would make it easier to own a top TV station and a major newspaper were off base..

"Reports that the order would make it easier to own a top TV station and a major newspaper in a market are wrong," he said. "In fact, the order would strengthen the current rule by creating an express presumption against a waiver of the cross-ownership ban to allow such a combination."

FCC chairman Julius Genachowski is proposing to loosen the ban on newspaper/TV cross-ownership in the top 20 markets, but a combo among the top four TV stations and a "major" newspaper would be presumed not in the public interest. In addition, said Lake, "the proposed order preserves the existing TV duopoly rule, which forbids ownership of more than one of the top four TV stations in any market."

Wood said the FCC may be trying to put a damper on News Corp. buying the L.A. Times or Chicago Tribune, but even that "misses the mark," he said, since the Fox stations in L.A. and Chicago often are not in the top four in their markets due to the strength of the Univision stations there. "So, [News Corp. chairman] Rupert Murdoch could still target those flagship newspapers thanks to the rule change this chairman is proposing," he said.

"As for claims that the proposal is stronger than the current rule," said Wood, "what we have currently is a ban on newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership. We believe the Genachowski proposal for the top 20 markets is the same as the Kevin Martin proposal, which was thrown out by the court and rejected by Congress. All that the new proposal strengthens is the likelihood for increased media consolidation."

The chairman is going to provide an extra 30 days for comment on a recently released state of ownership report, which means there will almost certainly be no vote on the media ownership changes until sometime after the first of the year.

None of the commissioners have voted the item, including the chairman, somewhat unusual for his own item. According to various sources, it is unlikely the other commissioners would vote the item before it had the endorsement of the chairman who offered it, although commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel is currently the only vote on an unrelated item -- on Dish satellite spectrum -- that the chairman circulated but has also not yet voted.