Old Rules, New Alliances

OLD RULES, NEW ALLIANCES
[SOURCE: Technology Daily, AUTHOR: Drew Clark]
The remarkable saga of the newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership ban -- a rule that was put in place by FCC Chairman Dick Wiley in January 1975. The rule is one of several changes being considered for relaxation by the current FCC, and the foremost advocate for eliminating the rule is none other than Dick Wiley, now an influential telecommunications lobbyist. But the Washington Post plays the central role in Clark's tale. In the 1970s, the Post owned WTOP-TV Channel 9, a CBS affiliate. Its radio station was also called WTOP. It broadcast on both the AM and FM bands. With the Post breaking Watergate stories, the company became a target of then-President Richard Nixon. He threatened the company's broadcast licenses and the Post ended up selling its DC-broadcast outlets. the Post has gotten creative. This year it struck a licensing agreement with Bonneville Communications, which owns the Washington radio station that the Post once had. In a three-way swap, Bonneville moved its flagship news channel WTOP to its best frequency, 103.5 FM, put classical music station WGMS on 104.1 FM, and introduced Washington Post Radio on 1500 AM -- the old WTOP frequency. The new arrangement doesn't violate the cross-ownership ban because Bonneville owns and controls the station, advertisements and content -- even if the vast bulk comes straight from the newspaper's newsroom, say Post attorneys. Supporters of the cross-ownership ban call it the best of both worlds. "You don't need to own the TV and radio station" to exploit synergies, says Andrew Jay Schwartzman, President of the Media Access Project. The Bonneville-Post collaboration means "you have the diversity advantages of different viewpoints." Critics call that hairsplitting. "Do we continue to need unique rules for old media sectors, instead of a general competition policy standard for the entire media industry?" questions Adam Thierer, senior fellow at the Progress and Freedom Foundation. Indeed, the biggest irony of the media ownership debate is the old media's embrace of the new. "They know they cannot make investments in the old sector and are turning their attention to the Internet as a way to diversify their media operations," said Thierer.
http://www.drewclark.com/wiredinwashington/20060731.htm