TV Broadcast Licenses of Three Baltimore Stations Upholded by FCC
In a recent decision, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has renewed the licenses for three Baltimore TV stations owned by Sinclair Broadcasting Group, Chesapeake Television Licensee LLC, Deerfield Media, and Sinclair themselves, despite ongoing challenges and petitions alleging that Sinclair's control over various affiliated entities may violate station ownership caps.
Notably, the FCC rejected a petition made by Ihor Gawdiak, who claimed that Sinclair's de facto control of Cunningham, Deerfield, and other companies would breach ownership caps. The renewal of licenses for Sinclair-controlled stations, such as WBFF, WNUV, and WUTB, was confirmed following Gawdiak's death, with his lawyer filing a petition to substitute Eleanor Goldfield as the petitioner.
Despite the licensing renewal, Sinclair has faced regulatory scrutiny and fines. On June 27th, Sinclair signed a consent decree to settle various FCC investigations, agreeing to pay $500,000. The consent decree, a separate agreement between Sinclair and the FCC, did not require Sinclair to admit any violations, but it did outline steps for Sinclair to avoid future rule violations.
The settlement primarily addressed issues related to children's programming, closed captioning, and public file maintenance, rather than ownership caps. Sinclair agreed to take steps to ensure compliance in these areas, but the consent decree did not include an admission of wrongdoing related to the ownership caps.
The FCC's Media Bureau has also approved Sinclair's sale of some stations to Rincon Broadcasting and waived certain ownership limits, again without sanctioning Sinclair for ownership rule breaches.
Gawdiak, in his petition, further alleged that Sinclair has failed to negotiate with multichannel video programming distributors in good faith and has failed to properly maintain its public inspection files. However, the FCC denied Goldfield's petition based on her lack of legal standing and the ongoing investigation of the issues.
It is important to note that the decision to renew the licenses comes at a time when the FCC is moving aggressively to potentially modify or eliminate some or all of its ownership caps. The renewal of the licenses for Sinclair's Baltimore stations does not absolve the company from the obligations outlined in the consent decree.
In summary, the FCC has renewed Sinclair's licenses despite ongoing challenges alleging ownership cap violations. Sinclair has settled fines and compliance issues related mostly to children's programming and operational filings, but not ownership caps. Recent FCC actions show regulatory resolutions through fines and consent decrees but no findings of ownership limit violations against Sinclair.
- The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has renewed the licenses for three Baltimore TV stations owned by Sinclair Broadcasting Group, Chesapeake Television Licensee LLC, Deerfield Media, and Sinclair themselves, despite ongoing challenges and petitions alleging that Sinclair's control over various affiliated entities may violate station ownership caps.
- The FCC rejected a petition made by Ihor Gawdiak, who claimed that Sinclair's de facto control of Cunningham, Deerfield, and other companies would breach ownership caps.
- Sinclair agreed to take steps to ensure compliance in areas such as children's programming, closed captioning, and public file maintenance, but the consent decree did not include an admission of wrongdoing related to the ownership caps.
- The FCC's Media Bureau has also approved Sinclair's sale of some stations to Rincon Broadcasting and waived certain ownership limits, again without sanctioning Sinclair for ownership rule breaches.
- It is important to note that the decision to renew the licenses comes at a time when the FCC is moving aggressively to potentially modify or eliminate some or all of its ownership caps, indicating that the renewal of the licenses does not absolve the company from future obligations regarding ownership caps.
