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RSSThe Hartford Courant, Connecticut
Apr. 14--Federal regulators Wednesday granted Tribune Co. at least two more years to sell WTXX-TV, Channel 20, in Waterbury, but the media giant was denied a permanent exemption from rules that bar owning a newspaper and television station in the same market.
The Tribune's acquisition of The Courant in 2000, when Tribune took over Times Mirror Co., put its ownership of WTXX and WTIC-TV, Channel 61, in Hartford, at odds with the Federal Communications Commission's cross-ownership rules.
Those rules limit the granting of a TV broadcast license to an entity that operates a daily newspaper in the same community the station covers.
Cross-ownership rules were adopted to ensure diversity of viewpoint and competition among media outlets in the same market.
In its ruling Wednesday, the FCC granted Chicago-based Tribune a temporary waiver of those rules until at least April 1, 2007, when the licenses for WTXX and WTIC come up for renewal.
Tribune was being forced to divest WTXX because it was acquired after Tribune's purchase of The Courant. Tribune has been allowed to continue operating WTIC -- until its license expires in 2007 -- because Tribune owned the station prior to buying The Courant.
The FCC's ruling Wednesday stated that Tribune has made a "good faith effort" to sell WTXX, but had not found a buyer.
"Tribune also has tried to sell WTXX and WTIC-TV as a combination," the ruling states. "Although Tribune has made such efforts, it is not required to do so."
The FCC also said Tribune ownership of WTXX had improved service to viewers, and WTXX would not have been viable as a stand-alone station.
There is the "significant possibility that either the station might go dark or service to the community would be reduced without additional time for Tribune to divest," FCC commissioners Michael J. Copps and Jonathan S. Adelstein said in a joint statement.
While recognizing those concerns, the FCC refused to grant a permanent waiver from cross-ownership rules.
"Tribune has not demonstrated -- and we have no basis to assume -- that market or economic conditions will not improve, or that the value of station will not be enhanced by Tribune's efforts such that it will become more attractive to potential buyers in the future," the ruling states.
A statement from Tribune late Wednesday said the company was pleased with the FCC's ruling.
"We also are pleased that the commission recognized Tribune's service to the public through its ownership of WTXX," the statement read.
Tribune also said it will present the FCC's order in federal court in Hartford today. Last month, a federal judge in Hartford ordered Tribune to comply with the FCC's mandate that WTXX be sold.
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