Broadcast Television Monopolies: Overview

Introduction

Broadcast regulation in the United States has historically involved balancing the idea of the airwaves as a public resource that should serve the interest of citizens and the idea that companies buy rights to use the airwaves and should have the same rights as other types of property owners. In other words, regulation tries to balance public good and commercial interest. Beginning in the 1940s and extending into the 1960s, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and then Congress took steps to foster the growth of radio stations and television channels dedicated to noncommercial educational use, as part of the public service aspect of the airwaves. Thus, from early on, television had the mission of serving the community as well as making a profit. The tension between those two roles is visible in the debate surrounding broadcast monopolies (serving corporations) and local news (serving communities).

The last few decades of the twentieth century saw growing deregulation, and in 2017, Sinclair Broadcast Group, the largest US television broadcasting company in terms of number of stations, announced that it would acquire Tribune Media, extending Sinclair's reach to 72 percent of households. The acquisition deal, which was on the verge of FCC approval as of early 2018, caused a flurry of concern about media influence, diversity, local news, and impartiality of programming.

In a time of rapid changes in technology and regulation, it is important to assess the role of television in American life. Television as a commercial enterprise has been gradually edging out television as a public service. Therefore, it is increasingly unclear whom television should serve and whom it should represent. The Sinclair/Tribune acquisition deal brings the two sides of the argument to a head, and decisions made in response to the acquisition could shape television and broadcasting for decades.

Understanding the Discussion

• Broadcast license: A license to use the public airwaves, granted by the Federal Communications Commission to radio and television stations in the United States. Stations must renew their licenses every eight years, meeting several criteria in order to do so: maintain offices in or near the location of the license, serve the community needs and interest, and comply with technical specifications for broadcast.
• Cross-ownership: Ownership in more than one medium, as when a parent company owns both a television station and a newspaper in the same service area.
• Fairness Doctrine: A policy of the FCC established in the 1940s that required that radio and television broadcasters present relevant controversial issues in a way that gives voice to a variety of opinions and viewpoints. The doctrine was abolished in the 1980s.
• Localism: A radio or television station's ties to a community, understood by the FCC as requiring that a station serve the interests of the community in which it is licensed.
• Monopoly: An economic situation in which one entity controls the supply of a good or service in a market, meaning there is no competition.
• Syndication: The practice of broadcasting a television or radio program on multiple stations at once.

History

Many of the rules that govern television in the United States grew out of radio legislation, particularly the Radio Act of 1927. The Communications Act of 1934, like the Radio Act of 1927, contained the key idea of broadcast airwaves being public property. The Communications Act also outlined government regulatory responsibilities, terms of licenses, and other details that affected television for many years, in addition to creating the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which continues to regulate television. The final crucial concept from the Communications Act was the idea of localism and the importance of media outlets existing near the people they serve in order that they might interact with the community and accurately gauge the community's needs. The FCC further emphasized the idea of supporting the public good in 1946 when it issued the Report on Public Service Responsibility of Broadcast Licensees. This publication was known as the Blue Book, and it promoted the principle of localism and public interest programming as part of the mission of radio and television stations.

In the decade following the Communications Act, the FCC established a number of rules to govern broadcasting. These rules included preventing broadcasters from owning stations that reach more than 35 percent of households in the country and preventing one major network from buying another. Much later, in the 1960s and 1970s, the FCC added other restrictions having to do with media outlet ownership. A 1964 rule restricted the number of television stations a company could own in the same market. Two 1970s rules restricted radio/television and newspaper/broadcaster cross-ownership. All these rules had the same general purposes: to maintain diverse media ownership and to prevent media monopolies.

A foundational tenet of radio and television policy before the 1980s was the Fairness Doctrine, which was formally adopted by the FCC in 1949. The doctrine required broadcasters to present controversial topics in a balanced manner and to give time to contrasting or opposing points of view. The purpose of the doctrine was to increase the diversity of opinions on the air and to give viewers or listeners a broader view of an issue. In 1987, the doctrine was abolished on the basis that it was a burdensome regulation and infringed on free speech.

Until the late 1970s, media policy consisted of increasing regulation, but under President Jimmy Carter, the deregulation of radio began. The administration of President Ronald Reagan continued the trend, extending it to television. Reagan's FCC chairman, Mark Fowler, extended the term of licenses and increased the number of stations a company could own. Under President Bill Clinton, the 1996 Telecommunications Act, the most significant media legislation in decades, further loosened restrictions. As a result, the radio industry saw a high level of ownership consolidation, and broadcasting in general saw more cross-ownership of media.

The year 2003 encapsulates the debate over deregulation and the points of view surrounding it. In 2003, the FCC revised limits for broadcast ownership. Originally, the proposal was to cap ownership at 45 percent of national viewership, but Senator Trent Lott, among other Republicans, joined his Democratic colleagues in opposing the loosening of FCC regulations. Congress reached a compromise: a 39-percent national viewership limit, 4 percent more than the 1941 rule. The higher limit allowed media giants Viacom and News Corporation to keep ownership of their stations.

Evidence that the debate is nuanced and complex comes from FCC chairman Michael Powell, who served from 2001 to 2005. Powell, despite professing faith in market forces, acknowledged that "markets fail," and that when they do, the government has an obligation to step in. He specifically noted that corporations can harm individuals when they do not act in the interest of viewers. Powell served during the George W. Bush administration, but he adopted policies many Democrats espoused, including ones promoting localism and local news broadcasting.

Historically, local news was profitable for television stations. That began to change in the 2000s, when audiences looked more toward cable stations and the internet for news. As local news stations provided more web content, however, they began to attract traffic and thus continued to play an important role in how people obtained local news. The FCC reported in 2011, however, that approximately half of the television stations in the nation have no local newsroom. Particularly during major local events, such as natural disasters, local news stations play an important role in community life. For example, the corporate-owned local broadcasters in Minot, North Dakota, fumbled the release of news about a dangerous chemical spill there in 2002, slowing efforts to alert the public. In contrast, a local station in New Orleans broadcasted continuously for sixteen days during Hurricane Katrina, displaying the ways in which local news is tightly bound with community life.

Broadcast Television Monopolies Today

A local television news fact sheet from the Pew Research Center reported in 2017 that, in 2016, news viewership for network affiliates declined despite 2016 being an election year, when local news stations tend to perform well. Cable news captured some of those viewers. Another Pew report also published in 2017 noted a demographic split, with younger viewers relying less on local stations for news.

In 2017, Sinclair Broadcast Group announced that it would acquire Tribune Media for $3.9 billion, pending FCC approval. Sinclair owns or operates 193 television stations, and Tribune would add 42 more, allowing Sinclair into 72 percent of households nationwide. While FCC limits cap a broadcaster's market share at 39 percent of households, the administration of President Donald Trump and FCC chairman Ajit Pai resurrected an old loophole that allows corporations to reach a greater percentage of American viewers by counting their ultra-high frequency (UHF) channels at 50 percent of their actual reach. Critics like former FCC chairman Tom Wheeler have noted that this "UHF discount" was put in place because of the past inferior quality of UHF broadcasts—a disadvantage removed by the advent of digital television. Critics of the Sinclair/Tribune deal, including Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), say it will further concentrate television ownership in the hands of a huge media conglomerate known for its conservative editorial slant, cutting down on competition and diversity.

These essays and any opinions, information, or representations contained therein are the creation of the particular author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of EBSCO Information Services.

About the Author

J. D. Ho received an MFA in writing from the University of Texas in Austin, where she studied television history and political campaigns. She also worked for many years in film and television production.

Bibliography

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"Media Regulation Timeline." Now with Bill Moyers, PBS, 30 Jan. 2004, www.pbs.org/now/politics/mediatimeline.html. Accessed 25 Jan. 2018.

Sherman, Alex. "Sinclair Buys Tribune in $3.9 Billion Deal, Creating TV Goliath." Bloomberg, 8 May 2017, www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-05-07/sinclair-said-close-to-buying-tribune-for-about-45-a-share. Accessed 25 Jan. 2018.

Waldman, Steven. The Information Needs of Communities: The Changing Media Landscape in a Broadband Age. Federal Communications Commission, July 2011, transition.fcc.gov/osp/inc-report/The‗Information‗Needs‗of‗Communities.pdf. Accessed 25 Jan. 2018.