Local TV Is in Danger of Going Down the Tubes

[marmar]

from In These Times:



Local TV Is in Danger of Going Down the Tubes
An FCC loophole allows media conglomerates to corner smaller broadcast markets.

BY Cole Stangler


With about $10.4 billion in deals so far, 2013 is shaping up to be the fourth-biggest year for television broadcast media consolidation on record. Some progressive media advocates fear that this surge of consolidation deals means the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is enforcing its rules on ownership too loosely. In turn, they say, consumers’ exposure to a wide range of independent news sources may become severely limited in coming years.

“We are in the midst of a historic wave of consolidation,” said S. Derek Turner, research director for the progressive media reform group Free Press, on a conference call with reporters earlier this month. “It’s showing no signs of stopping. If it continues to barrel on you’re going to see more newsrooms close, you’re going to see more journalists lose jobs, you’re going to see less informed communities.”

To theoretically prevent such a narrowed spectrum of news coverage, FCC rules prohibit a single company from controlling the licenses of more than one of the top-four Nielsen-ranked stations in a local market—which usually means the ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC affiliates.

But companies are successfully getting around the rule by signing outsourcing agreements known as “shared service agreements”—in other words, they set up shell companies under their control that are able to buy up many different affiliates in local markets. Through these agreements, one city’s local ABC and FOX affiliate channels, for example, may be managed in large part by the same broadcasting company. To date, the FCC has determined that the practice does not violate its basic ownership restrictions. .....................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://inthesetimes.com/article/15830/local_tv_is_going_down_the_tubes/