Tribune Petitions FCC for Waiver

TRIBUNE PETITIONS FCC FOR WAIVER
[SOURCE: TVWeek, AUTHOR: Ira Teinowitz]
The Tribune Employee Stock Ownership Plan is asking the Federal Communications Commission to let it keep the Chicago Tribune, Newsday and the Los Angeles Times, as well as WGN-TV, WPIX-TV and KTLA-TV and several of its other newspapers and TV stations, pending the FCC adopting new media-ownership rules. In filings Tuesday made necessary by Tribune Co.'s $8.2 billion sale to Sam Zell and the ESOP, the company argues that its TV stations operate in competitive media markets and that the FCC has already decided once that newspaper-broadcast cross ownership limits are "no longer in the public interest" as part of media ownership rules. The cross-ownership rule bars companies that own a broadcast station or newspaper in a market from buying each other. The ownership rules were set aside by an appellate court and never took effect. However, Tribune pointed to the court's suggestion that the cross ownership change could be justified in its request for the FCC to grant it a waiver to keep the stations until it finalizes a new set of media-ownership rules. In separate filings on each market, Tribune argues that having joint ownership benefits consumers in the markets and doesn't affect advertisers. It also cites growing competition, including with the Internet.
http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=11985
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