Senate Media Ownership Hearing Re-cap

Coverage Type: 

CHAIRMAN INOUYE TO HOLD DECEMBER MEDIA OWNERSHIP HEARING WITH FCC
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) said he met with Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin Wednesday and stressed that a rush to issue new media ownership rules before the end of the year would be a serious mistake. To put a finer point on his concern, Chairman Inouye added that he was going to schedule a hearing for mid-December -- around Dec. 13, he said -- with members of the FCC. Chairman Martin's plan to wrap up the media-ownership rule review and vote on it by December 18 was hammered by members of the Senate Commerce on Thursday. Sen Byron Dorgan (D-ND) announced that he is introducing a bill to block that Martin's timetable. Sen Dorgan said he talked with Chairman Martin, as well, and the chairman said there needs to be more concentration of media ownership, including cross-ownership of broadcast outlets and newspapers in the same local markets. "I think that is a horrible idea," Sen Dorgan said.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6498867.html?rssid=193

* Inouye: FCC Should Not Rush to Judgment on New Media Ownership Rules
http://commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Det...

* Senate Democrat warns FCC to slow down on media ownership proceeding
Chairman Inouye: "So let me caution the agency now: rather than rushing to judgment on new rules regardless of whether they are a broad set of new rules or modest changes, the FCC should focus on completing pending proceedings on localism and public interest obligations that have long languished for lack of attention. If rule changes are required, the American people deserve to be informed and provided a reasonable period of time for meaningful comment and discussion."
http://www.lasarletter.net/drupal/node/503

* Dorgan, Obama, Others Sens. Move to Block FCC Media-Ownership Vote
Sens Dorgan, Trent Lott (R-Miss), Barack Obama (D-IL), Diane Feinstein (D-CA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) will introduce the Media Ownership Act of 2007, a bill that would require the FCC to have a 90-day comment period on any proposed media-ownership rule changes and to conduct a separate proceeding on localism and diversity with another 90-day comment period.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6498856.html?rssid=193

* Dorgan-Lott Bill Would Delay FCC Media Vote
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6499145.html?rssid=196

* Sen Dorgan & Lott's press release
"We believe localism and diversity of media ownership is vital in a democracy. Our bill recognizes the importance of a wide range of media owners and local content, and requires a process that does not rush past those concerns to open the gates for even more consolidation of media ownership. We believe there is value to local ownership in the media."
http://dorgan.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=287094

* WGA West, SAG Back Media-Ownership Act of 2007
The Writers Guild of America West and the Screen Actors Guild Thursday jointly came out in support of the new Media Ownership Act of 2007. “We feel that it is vital that the public be allowed ample opportunity to comment on media-ownership decisions, a key issue of concern to members of the creative community and consumers,” the two guilds said in a joint statement.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6499161.html?rssid=193

* Senate Takes a Stand on Media Ownership (Free Press)
"We are thrilled to see members from both sides of the aisle stand up for the public. This critical legislation will restore fairness and transparency in what has become a corrupt process at the FCC."
http://www.freepress.net/press/release.php?id=299

* Track the "Media Ownership Act of 2007"
http://www.benton.org/node/7983

* Cross-Ownership Surprise at Senate Commerce Committee Hearing
Frank A. Blethen, publisher of The Seattle Times, told the legislators the FCC should keep the broadcast/newspaper cross-ownership ban in place, adding that the unenforced mandates on localism and diversity should be enforced and new limits on ownership should be added. Blethen said the absentee-ownership model had been a failure and the claims of financial distress by big media companies were a myth. He pointed to owners that he said had milked TV stations and newspapers for the highest profit margins possible, up to 50% for TV, adding that they simply were no longer able to sustain those false margins. John Lavine, dean of the Medill School at Northwestern, came to the defense of scrapping the cross-ownership ban, saying that it would boost local news in midsized and smaller markets. Lavine said he didn't think the industries were losing money, either, but that they continued to lose advertising, and that the smaller the market, the smaller the margin was becoming and the harder it was to support the staffs required to do good local news. He added that those smaller markets were not currently doing much of any real local news, and that allowing a newspaper to also own the station would give it a parent in the business of covering local news. Lavine said lifting the ban would help, not hurt, minorities, adding that if the FCC allowed a small, minority-owned paper to own a struggling radio station, it could better compete with bigger media by doing the kind of local news that is the backbone of newspapers and that the bigger companies aren't doing.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6498986.html?rssid=193

* Goodmon opposes FCC rule changes
Capitol Broadcasting CEO Jim Goodmon told U.S. senators this morning that he does not support the FCC's proposed rule changes allowing more media consolidation in local markets. "As broadcasters move from analog to digital, now is not the time to revise the media ownership rules," Goodmon said in prepared testimony. Goodmon warned that with the Federal Communications Commission’s consolidation rules from 2003, his company could own not only a pair of television stations and five radio stations within the Raleigh-Durham area, but also The News & Observer and Durham's daily newspaper as well. "In 2007, let's not repeat the mistakes of 2003," Goodmon said. "Over the course of the last few years, the public—our viewers—have become increasingly aware that the airwaves belong to them and that we, as broadcasters, are accountable."
http://projects.newsobserver.com/blogs/goodmon_opposes_fcc_rule_changes

* Links to all hearing testimony
http://commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.Hearing&...

INDEPENDENT PRODUCERS CALL FOR NETWORK, CABLE SET-ASIDES
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
In advance of the Senate Commerce Committee's hearing on media ownership Thursday, independent filmmakers sent a letter to the chair and ranking members of the committee calling for legislators to pressure the Federal Communications Commission into adopting a 75% cap on self-produced programming for both broadcast and cable networks. In its letter, the Independent Film and Television Alliance called the 75% cap modest and argued that independently produced shows like All in the Family and The Cosby Show would be blocked from competing on a level playing field today by "major media conglomerates" favoring their own co-owned production companies. The IFTA pointed out that the percentage of independent productions on the networks has dropped from 50% in 1995 to 18%.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6498933.html?rssid=193