the national cap

[captex]

i thought the national cap on television ownership is 40 stations, i thought you were limited to only 2 stations in every big town .what i don't know is how many can be owned in the largest towns and how close are they limited to owning another station in another city? what about the new discussions will reveal.

 

[MarcB]

Technically Univision owns 3 Stations in the NYC DMA - WXTV/41-Univision Patterson, NJ, WFTY/67 Smithtown, Long Island and WFUT/68 Newark, NJ. But WFTY and WFUT are listed as being owned by Univsion New York LLC. And WXTV is listed as being owned by WXTV License Group.

 

[Kent]

i thought the national cap on television ownership is 40 stations, i thought you were limited to only 2 stations in every big town .what i don't know is how many can be owned in the largest towns and how close are they limited to owning another station in another city? what about the new discussions will reveal.

There is no cap on the number of stations you can own nationwide. The cap is on the national reach; a single owner may reach, I believe, 40% of the national population. If you own multiple stations in one market, it does not count further toward the ownership cap. Owners also get a discount toward the cap on UHF stations. It seems like UHF's count half as much as VHF's, but I'm not 100% certain.

 

[TexasTom]

You're correct about the UHF discount, although it is likely to get phased out after the digital transmission is complete (although existing groups would be grandfathered).

One minor correction: the national cap is actually 39.6%, not 40%. Since that number is set by congressional statute, it will not be affected by the FCC's next ownership rules rulemaking process.

 

[Nertz!]

Isn't there a clause about newspaper ownership as well?

 

[rch66]

Technically Univision owns 3 Stations in the NYC DMA - WXTV/41-Univision Patterson, NJ, WFTY/67 Smithtown, Long Island and WFUT/68 Newark, NJ. But WFTY and WFUT are listed as being owned by Univsion New York LLC. And WXTV is listed as being owned by WXTV License Group.

I think Univision is able to own 3 stations b/c WFTY and WFUT don't overlap in signal. One is considered a simulcast station of the other. Even before duopolies were permitted and before Univision owned the pair, WSHI and WHSE (as HSN stations) were co-owned.

Another point is the national cap is based on TV HH, not population - and only in DMA TV HH is considered. (e.g. WNBC reaching New Haven doesn't count, only NY DMA's TV HH number counts for WNBC's reach)

 

[rch66]

(although existing groups would be grandfathered).

Station groups like Pax/i reach way over the 40% reach (in terms of actual TV HH) - but b/c about all Pax's stations are UHFs, they get a HUGE discount. Broadcasters are given too many free passes in terms of grandfathering.

 

[rch66]

Isn't there a clause about newspaper ownership as well?

The FCC grants waivers easily, however.

 

[BDBopper]

Wow this sounds almost as complicated as the tax code. Why can't the rules be more black and white and straightforeard? Wouldn't that be easier for all the parties involved?

 

[dhett]

Wow this sounds almost as complicated as the tax code. Why can't the rules be more black and white and straightforeard?

For the same reason the tax code isn't more straightforward.