The FCC decided today to allow media companies to own both a newspaper and TV station in the same city in the nation's 20 largest markets, including the Bay Area.
The 3-2 party line vote opens the door to MediaNews Group or Hearst buying a local TV station. Neither company has indicated any interest in purchasing a Bay Area TV station, though MediaNews owns a CBS affiliate in Anchorage, Alaska and Hearst owns about 80 percent of the stock in Hearst-Argyle Television, which has 26 stations including Sacramento's NBC affiliate, KCRA Channel 3. MediaNews has been on a Bay Area buying binge in the past few years, acquiring the Mercury News and Contra Costa Times in 2006, giving it most of the dailies in the region.
Commissioner Kyle Copps, a Democrat, (shown above in the foreground with fellow commissioner Kevin Martin, Republican, in the background) blasted the decision as being "terrible" for those who want local news.
"In the final analysis, the real winners today are businesses that are in many cases quite healthy, and the real losers are going to be all of us who depend on the news media to learn what's happening in our communities and to keep an eye on local government."
On the other hand, the three Republican commissioners argued that with the Internet and cable TV, there are more news outlets today than ever before.
"We cannot ignore the fact that the media marketplace is considerably different than it was when the newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership (rule) was put in place more than 30 years ago," said Kevin Martin, according to a Dow Jones report.
Under the change, if a newspaper acquires a TV station in the same city, the station can't be one of the four largest in the market. The rule change also grants permanent waivers to media companies that already own TV stations and newspapers in the same city, such Tribune Co. in Chicago, Gannett in Phoenix and News Corp. in New York.
San Francisco's only newspaper-television combination was the Chronicle and KRON-TV. But the families who owned both sold the newspaper in 2000 to Hearst and the TV station to Young Broadcasting Co. (Photo credit: Gerald Herbert, AP)
San Francisco Peninsula Press Club
The 3-2 party line vote opens the door to MediaNews Group or Hearst buying a local TV station. Neither company has indicated any interest in purchasing a Bay Area TV station, though MediaNews owns a CBS affiliate in Anchorage, Alaska and Hearst owns about 80 percent of the stock in Hearst-Argyle Television, which has 26 stations including Sacramento's NBC affiliate, KCRA Channel 3. MediaNews has been on a Bay Area buying binge in the past few years, acquiring the Mercury News and Contra Costa Times in 2006, giving it most of the dailies in the region.
Commissioner Kyle Copps, a Democrat, (shown above in the foreground with fellow commissioner Kevin Martin, Republican, in the background) blasted the decision as being "terrible" for those who want local news.
"In the final analysis, the real winners today are businesses that are in many cases quite healthy, and the real losers are going to be all of us who depend on the news media to learn what's happening in our communities and to keep an eye on local government."
On the other hand, the three Republican commissioners argued that with the Internet and cable TV, there are more news outlets today than ever before.
"We cannot ignore the fact that the media marketplace is considerably different than it was when the newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership (rule) was put in place more than 30 years ago," said Kevin Martin, according to a Dow Jones report.
Under the change, if a newspaper acquires a TV station in the same city, the station can't be one of the four largest in the market. The rule change also grants permanent waivers to media companies that already own TV stations and newspapers in the same city, such Tribune Co. in Chicago, Gannett in Phoenix and News Corp. in New York.
San Francisco's only newspaper-television combination was the Chronicle and KRON-TV. But the families who owned both sold the newspaper in 2000 to Hearst and the TV station to Young Broadcasting Co. (Photo credit: Gerald Herbert, AP)
San Francisco Peninsula Press Club
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