Director's Cut Blog with Frank Macek

By Frank Macek Ever wonder what rules that WKYC and other television stations must follow in order to keep their broadcast licenses? The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) often updates its rules and issues them to stations as a guideline to serving in the public interest. These rules cover such topics as obscene programming, indecent material, children's television programming, lotteries and contests, closed captioning and a myriad of other areas. Each station must maintain a "public file" which is available to members of the public at any time during regular business hours. This file must contain documents relevant to the station's operation and dealings with the community and the FCC and must be maintained at the station's main studio, which for WKYC is at 1333 Lakeside Avenue in Cleveland. Although you do not need to make an appointment to view the file, making one may be helpful both to the station and to you. Contents of the public file include the stat...

The Federal Communications Commission has overturned a 32 year old ban this afternoon, allowing broadcasters to also own a newspaper in the 20 largest television markets. The vote was 3-2 with Republicans Deborah Taylor Tate and Robert McDowell siding with Martin. Democratic members Jonathan Adelstein and Michael J. Copps voted against the new rules. Under Chairman Martin's proposal, one entity would be permitted to own a newspaper and one broadcast station in the same market. But it must be among the 20 largest in the nation and following the transaction, at least eight independently owned-and-operated media voices must remain. In addition, the television station may not be among the top four in the market. The agency first tried to loosen the ban in 2003, but the move was rejected by a federal appeals court. Since then, the commissioners have been trying to craft a new set of rules that will survive judicial scrutiny. Martin pushed the vote through despite intense pressure from H...