FCC renews L.A. station's license despite rival protest

FCC RENEWS LA STATION'S LICENSE DESPITE RIVAL PROTEST
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Meg James]
The Federal Communications Commission has renewed the license of Los Angeles Spanish-language television station KAZA-TV Channel 54, denying an unusual protest brought by rival broadcaster NBC Universal. In November, NBC Universal, which owns the Spanish-language Telemundo network, asked the FCC to deny the license renewal by invoking a rarely used morals clause. Among other things, NBC Universal alleged that Mexico's second-largest broadcaster, TV Azteca, which runs the Los Angeles station, was corrupt and thus lacked "the character qualifications" required by federal law. But in a decision issued Friday, the FCC said it would not consider issues of misconduct outside the scope of its jurisdiction unless the behavior was "so egregious as to shock the conscious and evoke almost-universal disapprobation." In this case, "we conclude that none of the conduct at issue is disqualifying," the FCC said. NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co., also charged that TV Azteca used its power in Mexico to manipulate police into raiding a studio where Telemundo was shooting a show. However, the FCC said it was inappropriate to intervene in a "private dispute" between NBC Universal and TV Azteca, and extended the license for the Los Angeles station to December 2014. KAZA-TV is owned by Pappas Telecasting Co. of Visalia, Calif., but is managed by TV Azteca. Pappas is beginning to distance itself from TV Azteca, announcing this month that it will discontinue its relationship in major markets such as Houston and San Francisco. The Pappas-TV Azteca agreement in Los Angeles expires in 2008, part of a complicated partnership that includes a $129-million loan to Pappas from TV Azteca.
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-azteca17apr17,1,68345...
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