******************************************************** NOTICE ******************************************************** This document was converted from WordPerfect to ASCII Text format. Content from the original version of the document such as headers, footers, footnotes, endnotes, graphics, and page numbers will not show up in this text version. All text attributes such as bold, italic, underlining, etc. from the original document will not show up in this text version. Features of the original document layout such as columns, tables, line and letter spacing, pagination, and margins will not be preserved in the text version. If you need the complete document, download the WordPerfect version or Adobe Acrobat version, if available. ***************************************************************** Before the Federal Communications Commission Washington, D.C. 20554 In re Applications of ) ) AFLAC BROADCASTING GROUP, ) INC. ) (Transferor) ) ) and ) ) RAYCOM MEDIA, INC. ) (Transferee) ) ) For Consent to the Transfer of Control ) File No. BTCCT-960909IG of WITN-TV, Inc., Licensee of Station: ) WITN-TV, Washington, North Carolina ) ) and ) ) AFLAC BROADCAST PARTNERS ) (Assignor) ) ) and ) ) RAYCOM U.S., INC. ) (Assignee) ) ) For Consent to the Assignment ) of License of Stations: ) WTOC-TV, Savannah, Georgia ) File Nos: BALCT-960909IA WTVM(TV), Columbus, Ohio ) BALCT-960909IB WAFF(TV), Huntsville, Alabama ) BALCT-960909IC KFVS-TV, Cape Girardeau, Missouri ) BALCT-960909IE KWWL(TV), Waterloo, Iowa ) BALCT-960909IF ) and ) ) Request By Raycom U.S., Inc. ) For Temporary Duopoly ) Waivers And For Deletion ) Of Condition ) ) Related to Applications For Consent to ) the Transfer of Control of Federal ) Enterprises, Inc., Licensee of Stations: ) WLUC-TV, Marquette, Michigan ) File Nos: BTCCT-960718IB WPBN-TV, Traverse City, Michigan ) BTCCT-960718IC WTOM-TV, Cheboygan, Michigan ) BTCCT-960718ID KTVO(TV), Kirksville, Missouri ) BTCCT-960718IF WDAM-TV, Laurel, Mississippi ) BTCCT-960718IG WSTM-TV, Syracuse, New York ) BTCCT-960718IE KNDO(TV), Yakima, Washington ) BTCCT-960718IL KNDU(TV), Richland, Washington ) BTCCT-960718IM W05AQ, Calumet, Michigan ) BTCTTV-960718IH W07DB, Marquette, Michigan ) BTCTTV-960718IK W70AZ, L'Anse, Michigan ) BTCTT-960718II W14CE, Escanaba, Michigan ) BTCTT-960718IK MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER Adopted: March 21, 1997 Released: March 26, 1997 By the Commission: Commissioner Chong concurring and issuing a statement at a later date. 1. The Commission has before it for consideration the above-captioned unopposed applications seeking consent to the transfer of control of WITN-TV, Inc., licensee of WITN-TV (Channel 7, NBC), Washington, North Carolina from AFLAC Broadcasting Group, Inc. (ABG) to Raycom Media, Inc. (Raycom). Also before the Commission are the above- captioned unopposed applications for consent to the assignment of license of five television stations from AFLAC Broadcast Partners (ABP), to Raycom U.S., Inc. (Raycom U.S.), a subsidiary of Raycom. Raycom indirectly controls the licensees of 15 television stations, including WECT(TV) (Channel 6, NBC), Wilmington, North Carolina, WSAV(TV) (Channel 3, NBC), Savannah, Georgia, and WJTV(TV) (Channel 12, CBS), Jackson, Mississippi and its satellite, WHLT(TV) (Channel 22, CBS), Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The Grade B contour of WECT(TV) overlaps that of ABG's WITN-TV, Washington, North Carolina, and the Grade B contour of WSAV(TV) overlaps that of ABP's WTOC(TV) (Channel 11, CBS), Savannah, Georgia. Common ownership of WECT(TV) and WITN-TV, and of WSAV(TV) and WTOC-TV would violate the Commission's duopoly rule, which prohibits the common ownership of stations with overlapping Grade B contours. See 47 C.F.R. 73.3555(b). For this reason, Raycom requests temporary, six-month duopoly waivers to permit divestiture of one station involved in each of these duopolies. 2. In a separate case, the staff approved the transfer of control of Federal Enterprises, Inc. (FEI) and its eight television stations to Raycom Media Subsidiary II, Inc., a subsidiary of Raycom. Because the Grade B contour of FEI's WDAM-TV (Channel 7, NBC), Laurel, Mississippi overlaps those of Raycom's WJTV(TV) and its satellite, WHLT(TV), ownership of all of these stations by Raycom would violate the Commission's duopoly rule. Thus, in order to comply with the duopoly rule, Raycom proposed that immediately upon consummation of the FEI-Raycom merger, it would transfer control of WDAM-TV License Subsidiary, Inc., the licensee of WDAM-TV, to Media Broadcasting Group, Inc (MBGI). To effectuate this transaction, Raycom filed an application to transfer control of WDAM-TV to MBGI in July, 1996. File No. BTCCT-960718IB. Consequently, the staff conditioned consummation of the FEI-Raycom transaction on the requirement that Raycom concurrently transfer WDAM-TV License Subsidiary, Inc. to MBGI. On January 14, 1997, however, the parties requested dismissal of that application, which the staff granted on February 5, 1997. In order to allow it to consummate its transaction with FEI, Raycom submitted a Petition for Temporary Waiver of the Duopoly Rule and Request for Deletion of Condition, in which it seeks: (1) a temporary, six- month duopoly waiver to permit divestiture of either WDAM-TV or WJTV(TV)/WHLT(TV); (2) deletion of the divestiture condition in Raycom-FEI; and (3) a 60-day extension of time in which to consummate the FEI-Raycom transaction. 3. Upon consummation of the FEI-Raycom merger, Raycom will own FEI's KTVO(TV) (Channel 3, ABC), Kirksville, Missouri. The Grade B contour of this station overlaps with the Grade B contour of ABP's KWWL(TV) (Channel 7, NBC), Waterloo, Iowa, which Raycom U.S. seeks to acquire through the ABP-Raycom U.S. assignment. Raycom therefore requests a conditional duopoly waiver subject to the outcome of the Commission's ongoing local television ownership rule making proceeding. See Second Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making in MM Docket Nos. 91-221 and 87-8, FCC 96-438, released November 7, 1996 (Second Further Notice). 4. Thus, in sum, we have before us a request for a conditional waiver of the duopoly rule to allow common ownership by Raycom of FEI's KTVO(TV), Kirksville, Missouri and ABP's KWWL(TV), Waterloo, Iowa subject to the outcome of the Commission's local television ownership rule making proceeding. We also have four requests for temporary six-month duopoly waivers to allow common ownership by Raycom of: Raycom's WECT(TV), Wilmington, North Carolina and ABG's WITN-TV, Washington, North Carolina; Raycom's WJTV(TV), Jackson, Mississippi and FEI's WDAM-TV, Laurel, Mississippi; Raycom's WHLT(TV) Hattiesburg, Mississippi and FEI's WDAM-TV; and Raycom's WSAV(TV) and ABP's WTOC(TV), Savannah, Georgia. Standard 5. The ultimate objectives of the duopoly rule are to promote diversification of programming sources and viewpoints, and to prevent an undue concentration of control contrary to the public interest by fostering competition in broadcasting. Multiple Ownership Rules, 22 F.C.C. 2d 306, 307 (1970), recon. granted in part, 28 F.C.C. 2d 662 (1971). In adopting the duopoly rule's fixed standard of a prohibited overlap of Grade B service contours, the Commission sought to provide a greater degree of certainty than under its prior rule, which prohibited the common ownership of television stations serving "substantially the same service area." Multiple Ownership of Standard, FM and Television Broadcast Stations, 45 F.C.C. 1476, recon. granted in part, 3 R.R. 2d 1554 (1964). The Commission maintained a policy of "flexibility," however, noting that the rule could be waived in certain instances. Id. at 1476 n.1. Under this policy, the Commission has developed a set of factors to be considered when evaluating an applicant's request for waiver of the duopoly rule, including the extent of the overlap, the distinctiveness of the respective markets, the concentration of economic power resulting from the combination, the independence of the stations' operations, and the number of media voices available in the overlap area. See, e.g., Iowa State University Broadcasting Corporation, 9 FCC Rcd 481, 487-88 (1993), aff'd sub nom. Iowans for WOI-TV, Inc., 50 F.3d 1096 (D.C. Cir. 1995). Assessment of both temporary and permanent waiver requests rely on these factors, but the factors may be accorded different weight and may be analyzed differently for temporary waivers due to the limited duration of the proposed combination. 6. After weighing the factors discussed above, the Commission considers whether the public interest benefits to be gained from waiving the duopoly rule would be greater than any detrimental effects resulting from the overlap. See, e.g., John H. Phipps, FCC 96-395, released September 27, 1996 (grant of waivers ultimately results in break-up of existing duopoly and newspaper-broadcast combinations); Brissette Broadcasting Corp., FCC 96-233, released May 23, 1996 (waivers facilitate multi-station transaction); Taft Broadcasting Partners Limited Partnership, 7 FCC Rcd at 2855 (resolution of financial difficulties); Channel 33, Inc., 4 FCC Rcd at 7679-80 (bankruptcy);Capital Cities Communications, Inc., 59 R.R. 2d 451, 465 (1985) (increased physical presence in underserved area). As with any waiver, a duopoly waiver will be granted only if the Commission concludes that it is in the public interest. 7. The Commission has undertaken a reexamination of its broadcast television ownership policies, including the duopoly rule. In January 1995, the Commission adopted a Notice of Proposed Rule Making which, inter alia, proposed a new analytical framework within which the Commission would evaluate the local television ownership rules and also proposed revisions to those rules, including the television duopoly rule. See Further Notice of Proposed Rule Makingin MM Docket Nos. 91-221 and 87-8, 10 FCC Rcd 3524 (1995). During the pendency of that proceeding, Congress passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Section 202(c)(2) of the Act requires the Commission to "conduct a rule making proceeding to determine whether to retain, modify, or eliminate its limitations on the number of television stations that a person or entity may own, operate, or control or have a cognizable interest in, within the same television market." Pub. L. No. 104-104, 202(c)(2), 110 Stat. 56 (1996). In response to these directives, and in order to update the record, the Commission released a Second Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making in this proceeding. FCC 96-438, released November 7, 1996. In this Second Further Notice the Commission tentatively concluded that common ownership of television stations located in separate Designated Markets Areas (DMAs) should be permitted provided that the Grade A contours of the stations to be commonly owned do not overlap. Further, the Commission stated that, during the pendency of the rulemaking proceeding, it would be inclined to grant waivers of the duopoly rule for stations complying with the proposed duopoly standard, conditioned on coming into compliance with the ultimate outcome in the rulemaking within six months of its conclusion. Id. at 57. The Commission also stated that it would be disinclined, during the pendency of that proceeding, to grant waiver requests not falling into this category, absent extraordinary circumstances. Id. at 58. Conditional Waiver 8. KWWL(TV), Waterloo, IA/KTVO(TV), Kirksville, MO: According to Raycom's engineering exhibit, the Grade A contours of these stations do not overlap, while the overlap of their Grade B contours encompass 636 square kilometers, representing 1.4% and 1.8% of the area within the KWWL(TV) and KTVO(TV) Grade B contours, respectively, and 4,598 people, representing .05% and 1.3% of the populations within the Grade B contours of KWWL(TV) and KTVO(TV), respectively. These percentages, assert Raycom, fall within the range of those approved by the Commission in granting previous waivers. Regarding diversity and competition, Raycom claims that the stations serve separate and distinct markets, and notes that KWWL(TV) is located within the Cedar Rapids-Waterloo-Dubuque DMA, the 87th largest DMA, while KTVO(TV) is located in the Ottumwa-Kirksville DMA, the 200th largest DMA. The stations' communities of license are in different states, and are approximately 133 miles apart, states Raycom. Common ownership of both stations, asserts the applicant, will thus affect neither economic competition, nor diversity within the overlap area. With respect to diversity, according to Raycom, nine other television stations provide service to all or part of the overlap area, with the entire overlap area receiving a minimum of three and a maximum of seven other television stations. In the past the Commission has found this amount of alternative voices sufficient to ensure diversity in an overlap area, Raycom maintains, citing, among others, H&C Communications, Inc., 9 FCC Rcd 144 (1993). Raycom pledges that the stations will continue to operate independently of each other. Each station will be supervised by its own general manager and will have its own local staff, which will function independently. Under similar circumstances, states the applicant, the Commission has held that maintaining separate network affiliates further advances its diversity goals, citing H&C Communications, Inc., 9 FCC Rcd at 146 and Pegasus Broadcasting, 7 FCC Rcd 8625, 8627 (1992). 9. Discussion: Applying our traditional waiver factors, we note that the size of the Grade B overlap, although not de minimis under our precedent, see, e.g., Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc., 2 FCC Rcd 7374 (1987), falls well within the range of those we have approved in previous cases. See, e.g., WNWO Associates, FCC 96-338, released August 12, 1996; Cincinnati TV 64, FCC 96- 302, released July 16, 1996; WHTM-TV, Inc., 11 FCC Rcd 5829 (1996). Further, as we tentatively concluded in our Second Further Notice, the record in the television ownership proceeding "supports relaxation of the geographic scope of the duopoly rule from its current Grade B overlap standard to a standard based on DMAs supplemented with a Grade A overlap criterion." FCC 96-438, at 57. We further stated that "we do not believe granting waivers satisfying the proposed standard, and conditioning them on the outcome of the proceeding, will adversely affect our competition and diversity goals in the interim." Id. Here the stations are located in two different, geographically distant DMAs, and their Grade A contours do not intersect. Given the fact that these stations serve separate and distinct markets, coupled with Raycom's pledge to operate the stations independently, as well as the existence of a moderate number of other stations in the overlap area, see supra 8, we believe that grant of the requested conditional waiver, consistent with our interim policy, would serve the public interest, convenience, and necessity. Temporary Waivers 10. WDAM-TV, Laurel, MS/WJTV(TV), Jackson, MS: According to Raycom's engineering exhibit, no Grade A contour overlap exists, while the stations' Grade B overlap encompasses 5,343 square kilometers, representing 24.4% and 13.5% of the area within the WDAM-TV and WJTV(TV) Grade B contours, respectively, and 72,388 people, representing 20.7% and 9.1% of the populations within the Grade B contours of WDAM-TV and WJTV(TV), respectively. With respect to diversity and competition, Raycom claims that WDAM-TV and WJTV(TV) serve separate and distinct markets. Raycom's engineering statement shows that 10 additional television stations, including 7 commercial stations, provide service to all or part of the overlap area, with the entire overlap area receiving a minimum of one other commercial service, and other areas receiving a maximum of six other services, including four commercial services. Further, according to Raycom, WDAM-TV is located within the Hattiesburg-Laurel, Mississippi DMA, the 165th largest DMA, and WJTV(TV) is located in the Jackson, Mississippi DMA, the 91st largest DMA. Additionally, Raycom notes that the Hattiesburg-Laurel DMA has 52.4% cable penetration and the Jackson DMA has 59.7% cable penetration. Two daily newspapers serve the Hattiesburg-Laurel DMA, and one daily newspaper serves the Jackson DMA. Common ownership of both stations will not adversely impact economic competition in either market, asserts Raycom, because it pledges that the stations' operations will remain independent, with both stations continuing to have their own programming, sales and traffic departments, during the waiver period. 11. Regarding public interest factors, Raycom argues that since WDAM-TV is part of an eight station transaction involving the merger of FEI with Raycom II, grant of both the WDAM- TV/WJTV(TV) and the WDAM-TV/WHLT(TV) waivers, and deletion of the condition placed in the grant of the FEI to Raycom II transfer would facilitate closing of that transaction. Further, Raycom commits to initiate on WDAM-TV and WJTV(TV)/WHLT(TV) separate weekly half hour programs produced at the stations and aired on Sundays between 6:00am and noon or between 5:00pm and 6:00pm, in which members of the press will interview civic and governmental leaders concerning issues of local concern. Lastly, Raycom notes that on February 14, 1997, it filed with the Commission an application for consent to the assignment of license of WJTV(TV) to Media General, Inc. 12. Discussion: Because this duopoly involves stations in different DMAs with no Grade A overlap, it satisfies the criteria for a conditional waiver pursuant to the interim policy outlined in the Second Further Notice. Raycom, however, seeks only a temporary, six month waiver. We have reviewed the record presented and conclude that grant of a temporary waiver would serve the public interest. Grant of a temporary waiver would facilitate a multiple station transaction. Moreover, both stations are located in different DMAs, and their communities of license are over 80 miles apart. Furthermore, Raycom pledges to operate the stations independently during the waiver period. Additionally, a moderate level of diversity exists in the overlap area. Finally, we note that Raycom has filed an application for consent to assign the license of WJTV(TV) to Media General. We will therefore grant Raycom a duopoly waiver to allow common ownership of WDAM-TV and WJTV(TV) for a six month period commencing with consummation of the FEI-Raycom transaction. 13. WECT(TV), Wilmington, NC/WITN-TV, Washington, NC; WDAM-TV, Laurel, MS/WHLT(TV), Hattiesburg, MS; and WSAV(TV), Savannah, GA/WTOC(TV), Savannah, GA: In the Second Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making, we stated that we would be disinclined to grant waivers involving stations with Grade A overlap or that are located in the same DMA. The WECT(TV)/WITN-TV, North Carolina combination involves stations in different DMAs, but their Grade A contours do slightly overlap. The WSAV(TV)/WTOC-TV, Georgia and WDAM-TV/WHLT(TV), Mississippi combinations involve stations in the same DMA with almost complete Grade A overlap. Thus, none of these duopolies meet our interim standard. 14. We have approved a waiver of the duopoly rules involving two stations in the same market in only two cases not involving bankruptcy. In Capital Cities/ABC, Inc.,the merger between Capital Cities/ABC, Inc. and The Walt Disney Company, resulted in common ownership of two stations located within the Los Angeles DMA, the second largest DMA in the country. 11 FCC Rcd 5841, 5871 (1996). We acknowledged that the Los Angeles market has "a comparatively large number of separately owned television stations," id. at 5871, and based in part on that "substantial level of diversity" we granted the waiver. Id. at 5874. In The Providence Journal Co., A.H. Belo Corporation acquired control of the Providence Journal Company, resulting in common ownership of two television stations in the Seattle-Tacoma DMA, the 12th largest DMA in the country. FCC 97-67, released February 28, 1997. As in Capital Cities/ABC, Inc., we found the level of diversity in the Seattle-Tacoma market to be a significant factor in warranting grant of a temporary waiver to facilitate that multiple station merger transaction. Id. at 11. 15. Regarding diversity and competition in the markets affected by these duopolies, a moderate level of diversity exists in the WECT(TV)/WITN-TV, North Carolina overlap area, which, according to Raycom's engineering statement, has 19 additional television stations, including 15 commercial stations providing service to all or part of the overlap area, with the entire overlap area receiving a minimum of three other television stations, and a maximum of 12 other stations. In contrast, with respect to the WDAM-TV/WHLT(TV), Mississippi overlap, WDAM-TV and WHLT(TV) are the only two stations in the Hattiesburg-Laurel DMA. According to Raycom's engineering statement, 13 additional television stations, including 10 commercial stations, provide service to all or part of the WDAM-TV/WHLT(TV) overlap area, and some portions of the overlap area receive five other stations, including 4 commercial stations. Some portions of the overlap, however, will not receive any other television stations besides WDAM-TV and WHLT(TV). Further, as the only two stations located in the Hattiesburg-Laurel DMA, the Raycom stations would garner virtually all of the local television advertising revenue earned in that market. Finally, with respect to the WSAV(TV)/WTOC-TV, Georgia overlap, the Savannah DMA, in which these stations are both located, has five additional television stations, including one other VHF station, and three other commercial stations. Raycom would thus temporarily own two of the three VHF stations in the Savannah DMA. These two stations combined receive 70.37% of the television advertising revenue in that DMA. This level of control of advertising revenue in a television market is significantly higher than any we have previously seen in the context of non-bankruptcy applications for consent to assign or transfer television station licenses. According to Raycom, 22 additional television stations, including 15 commercial stations, provide service to all or part of the Savannah overlap area, with some portions of the overlap receiving 10 other stations, but with other portions receiving only one other station. 16. With respect to the independence of the stations, for all three duopolies Raycom pledges that the stations' operations will remain independent, with all stations continuing to have their own programming, sales and traffic departments, during the waiver period. We believe that any potential anti-competitive effects of the combinations would be diminished by the continued separate operations of the stations as pledged by Raycom, see Capital Cities/ABC, Inc., 11 FCC Rcd at 5872; Telemundo Group, Inc., 10 FCC Rcd 1104, 1107, and we note, as we have in the past, that a commitment to operate the stations independently weighs in favor of grant of the waivers. See, e.g., Capital Cities/ABC, Inc., 11 FCC Rcd at 5872. 17. As far as public interest offerings, Raycom states that each of the stations involved in these duopolies will produce separate weekly, half hour television programs, to be broadcast on Sundays during the period of common ownership, that will feature members of the press interviewing civic and governmental leaders regarding issues of local concern. According to Raycom the issues and interviewees featured in these programs will be selected independently by the stations' respective managements. We have found programming commitments to be a public interest benefit weighing in favor of grant of a duopoly waiver. See, e.g., Station Partners, 10 FCC Rcd at 12387; H&C Communications, 9 FCC Rcd at 146. 18. Raycom's waiver requests are not consistent with our "no Grade A overlap, separate DMAs" interim waiver policy. As noted previously, see supra 7, we have stated that it we will be disinclined, during the pendency of the broadcast television ownership rule making proceeding, to grant waivers requests not meeting the specified criteria, absent extraordinary circumstances. Moreover, the number of competing television stations in these markets is limited, and in one case, there are no such stations. Notwithstanding these substantial considerations disfavoring waiver in these markets, we believe that the extraordinary circumstances, as detailed below, do exist which justify waivers for each of these duopolies. 19. Although we stated that we would be disinclined to grant waiver requests not meeting the specified criteria, we have also stated that "in situations such as [] multiple-station transaction[s] . . . we believe facilitating such a transaction by temporary waiver of our multiple ownership rules will 'promote commerce, encourage investment in the broadcast industry, and allow for the free transferability of broadcast licenses.'" Brissette Broadcasting Corp., 11 FCC Rcd 6319, 6324 (1996) (quoting Stockholders of CBS Inc. 11 FCC Rcd at 3755 (1995)). We have considered the facilitation of such transactions as a compelling circumstance weighing in favor of grant of duopoly waivers in analogous situations. See, e.g., id. With respect to the WDAM- TV/WHLT(TV), Mississippi duopoly, consummation of the FEI-Raycom merger cannot occur unless we approve Raycom's duopoly requests to allow it to temporarily own FEI's WDAM-TV in combination with its WHLT(TV). Grant of temporary waivers would thus facilitate a multi- station transaction. 20. Furthermore, with respect to the Georgia and Mississippi duopolies, Raycom has already filed an application seeking consent to assign the licenses of WSAV(TV) and WHLT(TV) and WJTV(TV) to Media General. Similarly, with respect to the North Carolina duopoly, Raycom reports that on February 18, 1997 it filed an application for consent to assign the license of WITN-TV to Gray Communications Systems, Inc. (Gray), contingent on grant and consummation of the transfer of that station from ABG to Raycom. These applications evidence the good faith intention of the applicants to divest the relevant station as expeditiously as possible. Additionally, approving these temporary waivers will facilitate the transaction between Raycom and Media General, the result of which will be the divestiture by Media General of WTVR-TV and hence the hastened break-up of a newspaper-television and a cable-television combination, as ordered by the Commission. See WHOA-TV, Inc., FCC 96-458, released December 10, 1996. We note that we received no objections by other stations, advertisers or the public with reference to these two markets. We note, as well, that the parties have sought, and we will grant, fixed, short-term waivers in the Georgia, Mississippi, and North Carolina markets, where diversity will be most limited during the waiver period. These fixed terms provide an imminent, certain end to the temporary common ownership permitted by our decision here. Any extension request would have to be considered in light of the extensive nature of these duopolies. Finally, we will require Raycom to abide by its pledge to maintain the independent operation of these television stations during the waiver period. 21. We will therefore grant Raycom duopoly waivers to allow: common ownership of WDAM-TV and WHLT(TV) for a six month period commencing with consummation of the FEI-Raycom transaction; common ownership of WTOC-TV and WSAV(TV) for a six month period commencing with consummation of the ABP-Raycom transaction; and common ownership of WITN-TV and WECT(TV) for a six month period commencing with consummation of the ABG-Raycom transaction. Also, we will delete the condition placed on the FEI-Raycom merger grant, which requires immediate transfer of WDAM-TV to MBGI upon consummation of that merger. Conclusion 22. Having found the applicants qualified in all respects, we conclude that grant of the application to transfer control of WITN-TV, Inc. from AFLAC Broadcasting Group, Inc. to Raycom Media, Inc., and to assign the licenses of the five television stations owned by AFLAC Broadcast Partners to Raycom U.S., Inc., will serve the public interest, convenience, and necessity. 23. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, That the request for waiver of the duopoly rule, Section 73.3555(b) of the Commission's Rules, to permit common ownership of stations KTVO(TV), Kirksville, Missouri and KWWL(TV), Waterloo, Iowa, IS GRANTED, subject to the outcome of the Commission's pending broadcast television ownership rule making (MM Docket Nos. 91-221 and 87-8). Should divestiture be required as a result of that proceeding, the licensee is directed to file, within six months from the release of a final order in MM Docket Nos. 91-221 and 87-8, an application for Commission consent to dispose of such stations as would be necessary for Raycom Media, Inc. to come into compliance with the rules as provided in the final order. 24. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, That the requests for temporary waiver of the Commission's television duopoly rule, Section 73.3555(b), to permit common ownership of television stations WECT(TV), Wilmington, North Carolina and WITN-TV, Washington, North Carolina, IS GRANTED, provided that within six months of the consummation of the transfer of control of WITN-TV, Inc. from AFLAC Broadcasting Group, Inc. the licensee must consummate the assignment of license of WITN-TV to Gray Communications Systems, Inc., or otherwise come into compliance with the broadcast ownership rules. 25. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, That the request for temporary waiver of the Commission's television duopoly rule, Section 73.3555(b), to permit common ownership of television stations WSAV(TV), Savannah, Georgia and WTOC-TV, Savannah, Georgia, IS GRANTED, provided that within six months of the consummation of the assignment of license of stations from AFLAC Broadcast Partners, the licensee must consummate the assignment of license of WTOC- TV to Media General, Inc., or otherwise come into compliance with the broadcast ownership rules. 26. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, That the applications for consent to the transfer of control of WITN-TV, Inc. from AFLAC Broadcasting Group, Inc. to Raycom Media, Inc., (BTCCT- 960909IG) and to assign the licenses of five television stations from AFLAC Broadcast Partners to Raycom U.S., Inc. (BALCT-960909IA-IC and 960909IE-IF), ARE GRANTED. 27. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, That the condition placed on the Federal Enterprises, Inc.- Raycom Media, Inc. transaction requiring transfer of control of WDAM-TV to Media Broadcasting Group, Inc., IS DELETED and Raycom Media Inc.'s requests for temporary waiver of the Commission's television duopoly rule, Section 73.3555(b), to permit common ownership of television stations WDAM-TV, Laurel, Mississippi, WJTV(TV), Jackson, Mississippi, and WHLT(TV), Hattiesburg, Mississippi, ARE GRANTED, provided that within six months of the consummation of the merger between Federal Enterprises, Inc. and Raycom Media Subsidiary II, Inc., the licensee must consummate the assignment of license of WJTV(TV) and WHLT(TV) to Media General, Inc, or otherwise come into compliance with the broadcast ownership rules. 28. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, That Raycom Media Subsidiary II, Inc.'s request for a sixty (60) day extension of time within which to consummate its transaction with Federal Enterprises, Inc., IS GRANTED. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION William F. Caton Acting Secretary