FCC Denies Permanent Waiver for WWOR/New York Post Combination, Instead Grants Temporary Waiver

The Federal Communications Commission's Media Bureau denied a permanent waiver request of the newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership rule sought by Fox Corp regarding the continued common ownership of WWOR-TV, Secaucus, New Jersey, and the New York Post. Instead, the Bureau granted a temporary waiver to preserve the status quo while the fate of the newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership rule is resolved. Absent a waiver, the current rule prohibits common ownership of a daily newspaper and a broadcast station serving the same geographic market, in this case, New York (NY). However, as a result of the long-running dispute over whether the newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership rule remains lawful and justified, the FCC previously granted or extended temporary waivers for the WWOR/New York Post combination in 2001, 2006, and 2014. Subsequently, the FCC eliminated the newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership rule in 2017, and the combination of WWOR and the Post was authorized by operation of law for nearly two years with no need for a waiver. Following an appeal, a divided panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit by a 2-1 vote reversed and remanded the FCC’s decision, thus reinstating the rule. However, the US Supreme Court has agreed to review the Third Circuit’s decision and will hear oral arguments on January 19, 2021.

Fox may continue to own collectively WWOR and the Post—as well as WNYW(TV), New York (NY), for which Fox had received a permanent waiver in 1993—pending the outcome of the current litigation and, in the event that the newspaperbroadcast cross-ownership rule survives that litigation, until 180 days following the date that a Commission order making a determination reaffirming that the newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership rule remains in the public interest becomes final and unappealable.