NAB lobbies duopolies to the wire
By Bill McConnell -- Broadcasting & Cable, 5/30/2003 1:12:00 PM
As lobbying over the Federal Communications Commission's new media-ownership rules drew to a close Friday, broadcasters weren't giving up on winning more lenient TV-duopoly rules than those proposed by agency chairman Michael Powell.
Friday the National Association of Broadcasters floated a new plan that would permit duopolies anywhere as long as an owner's total viewing share was no greater than 30% of the market.
Ownership among two of the top-four-rated stations would be permitted, but triopolies would not.
Powell's plan would bar duopolies among the top-four-rated stations in a market, which would effectively limit duopolies to 119 of the top 177 markets.
Broadcasters said that limit would deny needed efficiencies among small markets where only four commercial stations operate.
Sources following the debate among FCC commissioners said the idea was getting little traction, although debate continues over some variation of a previous NAB idea that would apply the "top-four" limit in the 25 largest markets but ban only top-three parings in markets 26-75 and ban top-two pairs in markets 76-210.
The duopoly revision is expected to be approved Monday by the FCC.
Also on tap: hiking the national TV-ownership cap to 45% of households, permitting TV triopolies in six of the top seven markets, allowing local broadcast/newspaper cross-ownership and scaling back the allowable size of local radio clusters in some small markets.
The controversial plan has attracted intense news coverage recently and is expected to draw throngs of protesters to the commission's Washington, D.C., headquarters.
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