NEWSReport No. DC 96-98     ACTION IN DOCKET CASE        November
7, 1996
        
   
   COMMISSION SEEKS COMMENT ON PROPOSALS RELATED TO
        THE NATIONAL BROADCAST TELEVISION MULTIPLE OWNERSHIP RULE
                  (MM DOCKET NOS. 96-222, 91-221, 87-8)
                                     
        The Commission is asking for comment on a number of
issues relating to the
   national broadcast television multiple ownership rule.
   
        The 1996 Act relaxed limitations on national multiple
ownership by
   eliminating the numerical limit on the number of individual
television stations a
   single entity can own nationally and by raising the national
audience reach cap. 
   Under the new cap, a licensee cannot own a station if it
results in that broadcaster
   owning television stations with an aggregate national audience
reach exceeding 35
   percent.  A station's audience reach is defined for national
ownership purposes as the
   total number of television households within the station's
Area of Dominant
   Influence (ADI), an area used by Arbitron to analyze broadcast
television station
   competition.  Although the 1996 Act set the 35 percent
national audience reach limit,
   it did not address how to measure audience reach. Therefore,
the Commission is
   asking for comment on this issue in three specific areas,
while deferring further
   consideration of another.
   
        First, the Commission deferred further analysis of the
UHF discount until the
   biennial review of the broadcast ownership rules it will
conduct in 1998 under the
   1996 Act.  Pursuant to the UHF discount, the Commission
attributes UHF facilities
   with only one half the audience reach of VHF stations in the
same market.  The
   Commission stated it should be in a better position by 1998 to
assess the factors
   affecting the UHF discount policy, including the continuing
growth in the availability
   and penetration of cable and other multichannel video program
suppliers, as well as
   the impact of a digital television (DTV) Table of Allotments,
and how these
   developments might affect the continuing need for the UHF
discount.  The
   Commission invites comment on whether it should impose in the
interim any
   supplementary limitation on national audience reach.
   
   
    -more-
                                       Next, the Commission
proposed to eliminate the current exemption for
   satellite stations in calculating audience reach if the
satellite and parent stations
   operate in separate markets.  The Commission noted that the
exemption was intended
   to encourage the operation of satellite stations.  Without the
exemption, a satellite
   would have brought a group station owner closer to the former
12-station numerical
   ownership cap just like the acquisition of any other station,
thereby creating no
   incentive for satellite operation.  Because the 12-station cap
has been eliminated by
   the 1996 Act and because incorporation of a satellite's local
market should add
   relatively little to a group owner's total national audience
reach, the Commission
   stated that the lack of incentive to satellite operation has
likely been removed.
   
        The Commission proposed, however, that when the satellite
and the parent are
   in the same market, it would retain the exemption to avoid
double counting the same
   audience in measuring national audience reach.
   
        For the same reason, with respect to local marketing
agreements (LMAs), the
   Commission proposed not to count a brokering station's local
market twice. 
   However, the Commission added that the issue is relevant only
if the LMA is
   deemed attributable, an issue being addressed in the pending
attribution proceeding. 
   A Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making in that proceeding
was also released
   today (FCC 96-436 ).
   
        Finally, the Commission proposed to utilize Designated
Market Areas
   (DMAs), the areas used by Nielsen to analyze broadcast
television station
   competition, instead of ADIs, when calculating the number of
television households
   in a station's market.  In making this proposal, the
Commission pointed out that
   Arbitron no longer updates its county-by-county determinations
of each broadcast
   station's ADI.  DMAs are generally similar to ADIs and are
still updated regularly.
   
        Action by the Commission November 5, 1996, by Notice of
Proposed Rule
   Making (FCC 96-437),  Chairman Hundt and Commissioners Quello,
Ness and
   Chong, with Commissioners Quello, Ness and Chong issuing
separate statements.
       
                                  -FCC-
                                     
   News Media contact: David Fiske and Patricia A. Chew at (202)
418-0500.
   Mass Media Bureau contacts: Paul R. Gordon at (202) 418-2130,
or Robert Ratcliffe
   at (202) 418-2600.