FCC Order Would Ax Syndex, Network Non-Duplication Rules

[mvcg66b3r 97]

In a big win for cable operators, FCC chairman Tom Wheeler is circulating an order eliminating the network non-duplication and syndicated exclusivity rules, which means those protections from importation of duplicative network and syndicated programming into local TV markets by pay TV providers would have to be struck contractually rather than prohibited (sic?) by the FCC.

 

FCC officials speaking not for attribution framed it as removing "unnecessary and outdated rules."

 

Broadcasters have fought hard to preserve those rules saying they were at the heart of localism, while cable operators have said they were an unnecessary thumb on the scales for broadcasters in program negotiations and prevented them from importing programming during retrans blackouts.

http://broadcastingcable.com/news/washington/fcc-order-would-ax-syndex-network-non-duplication-rules/143320

[T.L. Hughes 762]

The only major need for repealing the non-dupe and Syndex rules is to allow the importing of out-of-market stations in the event of carriage disputes. With TBS and WGN now traditional cable channels, the bigger purpose of Syndex, to allow the same programming seen on a superstation to air both nationally as well as in the station's local market, is mostly gone (granted, the five remaining true superstations are still available on Dish Network and C-band, but if a cable system were to import CW and MyNetworkTV affiliates from out-of-market should the rules be repealed, they would more likely import one closer to the local market if farther away from the superstation's home market).

 

There are a few markets where a cable and/or satellite provider carries two stations affiliated with the same network, but some stations (and even networks, like with Fox) have exercised the non-dupe rules to have an out-of-market station removed. The real question: is there a risk that would providers continue to import stations used to replace local stations pulled during disputes beyond the local outlet's restoration?

[tyrannical bastard 3493]

This could un-do the damage to small markets when they were coerced by networks to add missing affiliations to existing stations, pushing away out-of-market affiliates that viewers had come to count on. Usually FOX stations were most affected since they invoked this right to ensure that viewers could only receive ONE affiliate.

 

Such moves incensed viewers in places like Biloxi/Gulfport, MS when WALA and WVUE were dropped from cable systems for the inferior WXXV (and later with WDSU when WXXV added NBC). Other places lost news sources when existing affiliates added low-power stations or subchannels. Dothan lost WSFA in favor of WRGX (owned by WTVY's parent Gray) and Panama City lost WTVY in favor of WECP (run by WJHG and also owned by Gray). These examples took away competing voices and replaced them with newscasts at non-competing times because of the parent station's existing newscasts.

 

It would be awesome to have the true ability to pick and choose an out-of-market affiliate, especially if one is forced to watch an inferior one because of the station's decisions.

[Guest Former Member 207]

This coming January, we will come up on the 26th anniversary of the enforcement of Syndex, and I've always thought that it killed the superstation, especially a station like WWOR which basically had a significant part of its local schedule covered nationally by shows that were mostly inferior to the shows that aired on its New York signal. Syndex didn't affect WGN too much in the beginning, by the mid-90s (and even before The WB affiliation), it too had a lot of its shows that aired in Chicago covered up nationally as well.

 

(W)TBS, on the other hand, lucked-out with Syndex because they were able to pay for local and national rights to its programming (most of which were older shows like "The Andy Griffith Show" and "I Love Lucy", plus shows that were on their fourth or fifth rerun cycle like "Full House" or "Happy Days"), plus they also produced its share of original shows as well.

[mrschimpf 2070]

Because of Fox's Syndex interpretation I lost WLUK from Green Bay on my cable system, and I'm stuck with WITI in Milwaukee, but I can get WBAY and WISN for ABC in HD. Meanwhile a whole bunch of Southern markets have lost access to quality affiliates in larger towns because some two-bit operation launched a no-effort NBC or ABC station in their market, or a big chain launched a subchannel, like was mentioned above.

 

There was also couple years ago when Journal was being petty with Time Warner Cable, they pretty much told residents in Racine and Kenosha who preferred WMAQ to WTMJ during their dispute that they had that they should watch WTMJ and forced TWC to block out WMAQ for NBC programming. I really don't care about never seeing a station from La Crosse or Madison on my cable system; I just want access to all programming available in my market, by any kind of means, and definitely not denied it because two companies can't come to terms on a contract. This is a good first step, though I'm sure when it's all resolved, it'll be thinned down considerably and we'll still have low-quality translators taking good network spots in some markets.

[nomadcowatbk 144]

Fox doesn't allow affiliates to export their signals to OOM cable systems, will ABC, CBS/CW, NBC adopt Fox's policy if syndex is dropped?

[nomadcowatbk 144]

Many small towns might prefer one NFL, MLB, or college team over another, like Ashland WI which prefers the Packers but is in the Duluth DMA and gets the Vikings instead, even if Syndex was dropped the cable system couldn't import another Fox station that airs the Packers instead of the Vikings. Since many stations now stream newscasts, it's easier to watch OOM local news than it was 20 years ago, but the old techphobes prefer the old fashioned way, many old Chicago expat snowbirds in Florida somehow found their way onto WGN's facebook page to complain about the 9PM news being dropped from WGN America (and still are over a year later)

 

http://www.radiodiscussions.com/showthread.php?667464-Ashland-WI-residents-rally-to-Packers-instead-of-Vikings

[tyrannical bastard 3493]

As long as the syndicators stick to their guns and license their marquee shows to only ONE station in a given market, then things should be fine.

I don't think we'll ever see shows like "Wheel" and "Jeopardy" airing on multiple stations in the same market AT THE SAME TIME.

 

This could benefit fringe stations that only serve small parts of markets totally removed from the main DMA. Same with viewers stuck with out-of-state stations because their county is on the fringe in a different state.

It may add leverage to places like Auburn, Alabama which relies on out-of-market WSFA in Montgomery because it is in the same state and the same TIME ZONE. Auburn gets Columbus, GA stations which are on eastern time and make for some scheduling oddities due to the time zone shift.

 

Is there anywhere in the country that satellite viewers can get "significantly viewed" out of market stations? This and the digital subchannel revolution of ATSC have encouraged smaller markets to separate themselves from the out-of-market stations they used to rely on.

[Rusty Muck 4251]

This coming January, we will come up on the 26th anniversary of the enforcement of Syndex, and I've always thought that it killed the superstation, especially a station like WWOR which basically had a significant part of its local schedule covered nationally by shows that were mostly inferior to the shows that aired on its New York signal. Syndex didn't affect WGN too much in the beginning, by the mid-90s (and even before The WB affiliation), it too had a lot of its shows that aired in Chicago covered up nationally as well.

 

(W)TBS, on the other hand, lucked-out with Syndex because they were able to pay for local and national rights to its programming (most of which were older shows like "The Andy Griffith Show" and "I Love Lucy", plus shows that were on their fourth or fifth rerun cycle like "Full House" or "Happy Days"), plus they also produced its share of original shows as well.

WTBS actually was lucky. Ted Turner had split WTBS and TBS into separate entities back in 1981. Up until WTBS was spun off as WPCH, it was the Atlanta station that actually simulcast TBS, save for localized ad breaks (the direct-response ads ran on TBS proper) and an hour-long simulcast of Headline News at 6am weekdays... so, in effect, Syndex didn't apply.

 

Which is also why the CTRC has always licensed WPCH-TV for cable coverage and not TBS. When WTBS was expanded into Canada, it was WTBS that got carried, and they never thought to switch to the TBS feed (of course, it being a US-based network would have been a no-go).

[Thundershock MN 169]

This is a terrible idea. I might try to get back here over the weekend and elaborate further. But, this proposal could cause great damage for little gain.

 

Is there anywhere in the country that satellite viewers can get "significantly viewed" out of market stations?

Yes, DirecTV has offered them for some time. They even have a site where you can check what "Neighboring Locals" are available to you. I know Dish fills in short markets with neighboring locals but, I thought they offered some significantly viewed stations as well. It's also worth noting that the SV rules for cable and satellite are different. Although, STELA has brought them closer together.

[tyrannical bastard 3493]

This is a terrible idea. I might try to get back here over the weekend and elaborate further. But, this proposal could cause great damage for little gain.

 

Yes, DirecTV has offered them for some time. They even have a site where you can check what "Neighboring Locals" are available to you. I know Dish fills in short markets with neighboring locals but, I thought they offered some significantly viewed stations as well. It's also worth noting that the SV rules for cable and satellite are different. Although, STELA has brought them closer together.

I've checked the site before and have come up empty when I put in zip codes that draw stations from adjacent markets. 44444 is a good try for Newton Falls, OH. Its in Trumbull county on the fringe of the Youngstown market and the zip code bleeds into Portage County, which is Cleveland. (It gives you an option to choose). It comes up empty so I wonder if this choice is a farce because the Time Warner system in Trumbull serving Newton Falls has always had Cleveland stations alongside the Youngstown ones.

 

Also comes up empty for Athens, Ohio (45701). It is a county that has bounced from Charleston-Huntington to Columbus back to Charleston-Huntington. The Big 3 stations have remained constant on cable (except for WBNS which was banished to digital in favor of WOWK and the swap between WVAH and WTTE for FOX and WQCW and WWHO for CW.) On Satellite, there has never been an option for SV stations for the other market...they've switched when the DMA was reassigned.

[T.L. Hughes 762]

I can see both sides of the argument. On the one hand, a repeal of the non-network dupe rules could make it harder to negotiate a fair deal if a carriage dispute should occur, resulting in a local station being swapped with an out-of-market one. On the other, while the syndex rules do have some positive intent, they are somewhat flawed given that syndicated programs usually air at different times in different markets (Wheel of Fortune, Entertainment Tonight and Live! with Kelly and Michael notwithstanding on that front, since few stations air the latter in post-9:00 a.m. slots and the former two usually air in the last half-hour of the prime access period regardless of time zone).

 

While the current law was passed following research that audience viewership for local stations was diluted in the prime access period because of "identical programming" shown nationally on WGN, the syndicated programming model used American television makes the argument a bit complicated because few syndicated shows have a set timeslot at which they want stations to air it a la with the networks; that plus the fact that even though the same syndicated program may air on two different stations carried by the provider (whether at the same time or different times), if, say, Jeopardy! aired on an out-of-market station at 4:30 p.m. and on a local station at 6:00 p.m., there is no guarantee that a viewer would choose to watch it in the earlier timeslot on the out-of-market station over the local station's airing in the later slot (then again, there's no guarantee that the viewer wouldn't choose to watch it earlier). The conflict with the viewer's own personal schedule with that of a television programming schedule adds some muddiness to the argument.

[Thundershock MN 169]

I've checked the site before and have come up empty when I put in zip codes that draw stations from adjacent markets. 44444 is a good try for Newton Falls, OH. Its in Trumbull county on the fringe of the Youngstown market and the zip code bleeds into Portage County, which is Cleveland. (It gives you an option to choose). It comes up empty so I wonder if this choice is a farce because the Time Warner system in Trumbull serving Newton Falls has always had Cleveland stations alongside the Youngstown ones.

 

Also comes up empty for Athens, Ohio (45701). It is a county that has bounced from Charleston-Huntington to Columbus back to Charleston-Huntington. The Big 3 stations have remained constant on cable (except for WBNS which was banished to digital in favor of WOWK and the swap between WVAH and WTTE for FOX and WQCW and WWHO for CW.) On Satellite, there has never been an option for SV stations for the other market...they've switched when the DMA was reassigned.

Trust me they offer SV stations...they just may not offer them near you. For Example, try using zip codes 06079, 56003 (Nicollet County only), 54736 (Pepin County only). You'll be able to see that SV stations on Satellite do exist.

 

Now, again it is important to note that the laws for carrying SV and Local stations differ between cable and DBS. For starters, SV on DBS is an optional service. Local markets are also defined differently for cable and DBS. DBS is currently stuck with using Nielsen DMA definitions (plus, the SV list) for locals. Cable has a market modification process where they are able to use "communities" to define local "television markets". The SV list was conceived as another way for OTA stations to considered as part of a cable "community" and thereby part of a "television market". So, there actually can be instances where a local channel must be carried on a cable system but cannot be carried by DBS. SHVERA started the process of SV stations on DBS, STELA brought them a little more in line with cable. And, the recently enacted STELAR legislation aims to bridge some of the remaining inequality in the law by directing the FCC to create a market modification process for DBS. But, there will still always be some differences in the Cable & DBS laws no matter how hard they try to make them similar.

 

I still think blowing up the Syndex and Network non-duplication laws is a terrible idea. I know some might call me Chicken Little for saying it but, repealing those laws could potentially kill the entire local OTA marketplace. In order for the local TV system we have in place to work that backstop needs to be in place. And, Chairman Wheeler proposes this is under the guise of Retrans reform. So, you potentially blow up the entire system over blackouts? He talks about taking the thumb off the scale and making sure there are "good faith" negotiations, etc...does anyone seriously think this will help in that regard? And, just so we are clear I'm cool with some retrans reform and cleaning up the SV laws, etc. But, this is not the way to do it. The Chairman may feel like he is taking his thumb off the scale but, he would be stomping on the other side with his foot.

[jero23 105]

 

I've checked the site before and have come up empty when I put in zip codes that draw stations from adjacent markets. 44444 is a good try for Newton Falls, OH. Its in Trumbull county on the fringe of the Youngstown market and the zip code bleeds into Portage County, which is Cleveland. (It gives you an option to choose). It comes up empty so I wonder if this choice is a farce because the Time Warner system in Trumbull serving Newton Falls has always had Cleveland stations alongside the Youngstown ones.

 

Also comes up empty for Athens, Ohio (45701). It is a county that has bounced from Charleston-Huntington to Columbus back to Charleston-Huntington. The Big 3 stations have remained constant on cable (except for WBNS which was banished to digital in favor of WOWK and the swap between WVAH and WTTE for FOX and WQCW and WWHO for CW.) On Satellite, there has never been an option for SV stations for the other market...they've switched when the DMA was reassigned.

 

Auburn/Opelika area is an oddity indeed. I remember living there years ago and noticed this quirk. However, the Columbus (GA) stations attempted to accomodate their Alabama counties viewers by having their evening newscasts air an hour later like WLTZ. However, WSFA was basically the "go-to" station although it is out-of-market in the Alabama counties of the Columbus-Auburn-Opelika DMA.