NEWSReport No. MM 96-16      MASS MEDIA ACTION               March 15, 1996

             FCC GRANTS WAIVER OF THE DUOPOLY RULE TO PERMIT
                    OWNERSHIP OF TELEVISION STATIONS
         KTTY(TV), SAN DIEGO, CA, AND KTLA(TV), LOS ANGELES, CA
                                    
     The FCC has granted a request for permanent waiver of the duopoly rule, thus
permitting common ownership of KTTY(TV), San Diego, CA, and KTLA(TV), Los Angeles,
CA.  

     San Diego Television, Inc. (SDT) had filed an unopposed application to assign the
license for  KTTY(TV) to KTTY, Inc., which is wholly-owned by Tribune Broadcasting Co.,
which in turn owns all the capital stock of KTLA, Inc., licensee of KTLA(TV). In its
application, SDT sought a waiver of the Commission's duopoly rule because the Grade B
contour of KTTY(TV) overlaps with the Grade B contour of KTLA(TV).

     The Commission found that grant of the application is in the public interest, noting
that common ownership will resolve the longstanding bankruptcy of KTTY(TV) and thus
serve the goals of diversity and economic competition. The Commission stated, "...where
bankruptcy and financial distress threaten the service or even the vitality of a station, rigid
insistence on enforcing our multiple ownership rules could, in the long run, undermine the
very objectives those rules were meant to serve by precluding the revitalization of the station
at risk."

     The Commission also stated that "the degree of Grade B overlap in this situation is not
so large as to require a finding that the stations serve substantially the same area" and noted
that the abundant media in the overlap area makes it unlikely that KTTY, Inc. would exercise
inordinate influence on public opinion. The Commission further noted that KTLA(TV) and
KTTY(TV) serve separate and distinct markets and will be run autonomously.
     
     Action by the Commission March 14, 1996, by Memorandum Opinion and Order
(FCC 96-111). Chairman Hundt, Commissioners Quello, Barrett, Ness, and Chong, with
Commissioner Barrett issuing a statement.

                                  - FCC -

     News Media contact: Rochelle Cohen at (202) 418-0500.
     Mass Media Bureau contact: Karen B. Clayberg at (202) 418-1630.