WWOR-TV Has Further Reduced Its News and Public Affairs Programming, and Fails to Meet Its Public Interest Obligations

In May, 2007, Voice for New Jersey filed its Petition to Deny Renewal of Station License for WWOR-TV (the "VNJ Petition"). The VNJ Petition clearly set forth WWOR's consistent failure to provide adequate local news coverage in its community of license. A brief summary highlighting some of the petition's key elements is set forth below.

The findings documented in the VNJ Petition clearly show that WWOR-TV ("WWOR") failed to meet its public interest obligations at the time of its application for license renewal in 2007. Incredibly, however, the station has since stripped down its headquarters operations, dramatically reduced staffing, and further gutted its already-limited schedule of news and public affairs programming. Operationally, the station appears to have effectively merged with its New York sister station, WNYW-TV. Further, recent ex-parte filings with the FCC by WWOR's owner, Fox Television Stations, Inc. ("Fox") , grossly misrepresent the level of news and public affairs programming being offered on WWOR. In particular, Fox ignored significant recent reductions in such programming in these presentations. A recent review of the station's public files by a member of Voice for New Jersey also gives rise to serious concerns that WWOR is not maintaining its public comment files in accordance with FCC regulations. For all of these reasons, Voice for New Jersey asserts that WWOR has failed to fulfill its obligations to its Northern New Jersey community of license, and that its application for renewal of its station license should be denied.

1) The WWOR-TV Station License Carries With It a Special Obligation to the People of Northern New Jersey. In its recent ex-parte presentations, Fox repeated its erroneous legal argument to the effect that it does not have a special legal obligation to viewers in northern New Jersey notwithstanding the clear language and legislative history of Section 331 of the Communications Act.

a) In its prior reply to Fox’s opposition, VNJ explained that this claim is based on a flat out misquotation of a Commission decision. When the unidentified omission from the quoted passage is added back in, the language strongly supports VNJ’s interpretation of the law. Simply put, WWOR’s authorization carries with it a unique legal requirement to give special emphasis to the needs of northern New Jersey.

b) Fox also appears to have made a new argument as well. Since the reference in the written ex-parte notice is very short, it is only possible to guess at exactly what argument was made, but it appears to be that since the transfer of WWOR’s license was not conditioned on having a special duty to northern New Jersey, that obligation died with the transfer of the

Page 1 of 11 license. This is wrong, since VNJ could find nothing on the record to indicate that the original license renewal granted to WWOR was conditioned upon conformance with Section 331. See RKO General, Inc., 93 FCC2d 303 (1983). Given the clear language and legislative history of Section 331, there was no reason to attach such a condition or to place such a condition on the subsequent transfers of that license. Moreover, it is flatly at odds with the understanding of the prior licensee and of Fox itself, which have always included in their various renewal and transfer applications special presentations relating to New Jersey. Indeed, in this very proceeding, Fox has placed hundreds of pages on the record attempting to document its service to New Jersey.

2) As amply documented in the VNJ Petition, WWOR has failed to meet its public interest obligations. The VNJ Petition is based on the station's consistent failure to to provide adequate local news coverage in its community of license. WWOR's coverage of New Jersey elections and New Jersey government has been--and remains--woefully deficient. The Petition to Deny cited several sources of data in support of these conclusions; they are summarized below.

a) Election Coverage: In 2005, the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University conducted a comprehensive analysis of election coverage on 12 television stations reaching the New Jersey market. This study analyzed a total of 332 hours of broadcast news coverage in the final 30 days of the 2005 election.

(1) Of the 44 WWOR broadcasts captured during the study period, just 11 (25%) had an election story. Of the all New York stations in the study only one (WWOR's sister station, WNYW) had a lower percentage (11%). The average for all New York stations was 52%.

(2) 13 stories aired during these 11 broadcasts. Of these, 10 stories (67%) focused on a New Jersey election, and 9 out of the 10 stories focused exclusively on the race for Governor. None of the stories were characterized as being positive in tone. Like many other NY stations, WWOR presented no significant election coverage of any local (i.e. non-gubernatorial) New Jersey race. With respect to its community of license, the Eagleton study concluded that "WWOR barely covered the 2005 elections."

b) Programming and Issues: VNJ undertook a comprehensive analysis of the reports that WWOR files with the Commission. This analysis encompassed the five most recent "Issues and Programming" reports available at the time the Petition was filed, covering all four quarters of 2006 and the first quarter of 2007. Further, we examined the Exhibit entitled "Service to New Jersey" that accompanied the station's application

Page 2 of 11 for license renewal, and that enumerates the station's coverage of New Jersey news stories from 1999 to 2006. Our analysis of the station's own documentation leads inescapably to the conclusion that WWOR fails to meet even minimal standards with respect to local news coverage. Some of our findings are highlighted below.

(1) WWOR’s “Service to New Jersey” reports indicate a total of 1,354 New Jersey news stories for the years 1999 – 2006. This suggests an average of less than 170 New Jersey news stories per year, or LESS THAN ONE NEW JERSEY STORY EVERY TWO DAYS.

(2) WWOR reported ONLY 2.66 HOURS OF NEW JERSEY NEWS COVERAGE in its Issues and Programming Reports covering the first three quarters of 2006. For the fourth quarter of 2006 and the first quarter of 2007, WWOR stopped reporting the airtime of its stories altogether.

(3) There are six municipalities in WWOR's northern New Jersey service area with populations of 100,000 or greater. Of these, only the City of Newark has received even minimally acceptable levels of local news coverage.

(4) In the 15 month period encompassed by the station's Issues and Programming reports, the City of Jersey City was covered in only 13 news stories and the City of Patterson received only 8 news stories. For the balance, there were only four news stories covering the Township of Edison, two covering the City of Elizabeth, and one covering the Township of Woodbridge. VNJ's Petition to Deny highlights a number of significant news events that took place in these cities during the period analyzed; WWOR's failure to cover ANY of these events showcases the station's failure to meet the needs of its community of license.

c) Independent Programming Analysis: In addition to analyzing the independent research of the Eagleton Institute and the station's own reporting, VNJ undertook an independent analysis of WWOR's news coverage during a two-week period in April, 2007. Our independent review once again confirmed the station's failure to properly meet its public interest obligations. Further, our analysis exposed WWOR's clear and calculated efforts to distance itself from its community of license and to identify itself with the larger and more lucrative New York media market. This New York identity permeated the station's branding, marketing, and promotional efforts.

3) The FCC Should Deny the Renewal of WWOR-TV's Station License The issues raised in the VNJ Petition clearly document WWOR's failure to meet its public interest obligations and provide ample reason to deny its application for

Page 3 of 11 license renewal. Incredibly however, WWOR has further gutted its schedule of news and public affairs programming. a) WWOR's News Programming Has Historically Been Lacking. Now It's Even Worse. In December, 2007, VNJ filed a Reply to Fox Television Stations' Opposition to the Petition to Deny. In this document, VNJ took note of the fact that the overall quantity of news coverage offered by WWOR was then woefully below that of its peer group.

(1) At the time of VNJ's reply, WWOR offered one one-hour news broadcast per day, seven days per week. The worst of WWOR's peers in the New York media market (its sister station WNYW), offered three times more news coverage than WWOR. The remainder of the station’s peer group averaged over five hours of news coverage per day—more than five times the volume of news coverage then offered by WWOR

(2) Despite this abysmal level of programming, and as if to highlight its total contempt for its public interest obligations, WWOR recently cut it's weekday news coverage in half, and eliminated weekend news coverage alltogether. The station now provides the people of northern New Jersey with ONLY TWO AND ONE HALF HOURS OF NEWS PROGRAMMING PER WEEK. This is LESS THAN 10% OF THE VOLUME OF NEWS PROGRAMMING AS MEASURED AGAINST THE AVERAGE OF COMPARABLE STATIONS IN THE NEW YORK MARKET. b) Public Affairs Programming Has Likewise Been Slashed. The station has made similar cuts in its public affairs programming. At the time of its application for license renewal, WWOR ran two half-hour public affairs programs on Sunday mornings. The station is now down to ONE HALF- HOUR PUBLIC AFFAIRS PROGRAM PER WEEK. c) In Recent ex parte Filings With the Commission, Fox has Grossly Misrepresented WWOR's Level of News and Public Affairs Programming. The cutbacks to WWOR's news programming were instituted on July 13, 2009. The public affairs cutbacks were initiated later that same month. Fox's recent ex parte filings with the Commission misrepresent the current level of programming.

(1) On August 26, 2009, well over a month after the programming changes were instituted, council for Fox submitted a filing containing significant misrepresentations with respect to Fox's news and public affairs programming.

(2) In Exhibit A to this filing, Fox boasts of WWOR's "one hour nightly newscasts" broadcast "seven days a week" (see Paragraph 2) a)

Page 4 of 11 i)). The filing also states that the station broadcasts two half-hour public affairs programs "on Sundays at noon and 12:30 PM" (see Paragraph 2) b)). Fox reasserts its one hour of daily news coverage when it states that WWOR "currently provides over 850 minutes of local news over any given two week period." (see Paragraph 6) b) ii)). THE QUANTITY OF NEWS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS PROGRAMMING CLAIMED BY FOX IS MORE THAN DOUBLE THE AMOUNT CURRENTLY BEING BROADCAST BY WWOR.

(3) Beyond misrepresenting its current level of programming, the station further claims that its filing documents a level of service "which the station is committed to continuing for the indefinite future." (see first paragraph of Exhibit A).

(4) As noted above, the initial filing containing these misrepresentations was submitted well over a month after the news and public affairs programming was slashed. THESE SAME COMMENTS WERE RE-SUBMITTED AS RECENTLY AS SEPTEMBER 23, 2009-- MORE THAN TWO MONTHS AFTER WWOR'S NEWS AND PUBLIC AFFIARS PROGRAMMING WAS GUTTED. d) WWOR Has Slashed Operations at its Secaucus Headquarters, Effectively Shutting Down for All But Three Hours of Weekly Programming. WWOR has reportedly undertaken massive layoffs and staff reductions in recent months. A recent visit by a Voice for New Jersey member to WWOR's Secaucus headquarters gave the impression that the station has largely consolidated operations with its Manhattan-based "sister station" WNYW-TV, and was maintaining little more than a skeleton operation in New Jersey.

(1) As described in the VNJ Petition, WWOR tried to relocate its operations from its Secaucus headquarters to New York City in 2004. Despite the station's clear licensing mandate to operate in New Jersey for benefit of the people of New Jersey, these plans were abandoned only after political and regulatory pressure was brought to bear on WWOR's ownership.

(2) It now appears that, while keeping the lights on in New Jersey, virtually all of WWOR's remaining staff is also assigned duties at WNYW, and spends the bulk of their time in New York. A VNJ member recently telephoned WWOR's main number during weekday business hours. The phone was answered via recording, and (after repeated callbacks) we were unable to reach a live person when selecting the main extensions for the station's sales, public affairs, viewer services, or engineering departments. When

Page 5 of 11 we were able to get through on the station's DTV information line, the call was forwarded to WNYW in New York.

(3) A recent visit to WWOR's Secaucus headquarters (again during normal weekday business hours) left the impression that the building was nearly deserted. The vast majority of the offices were dark, and we observed no more than six people (including two security guards) during a two-hour visit to the110,000 square foot facility.

(4) Although the Secaucus facility reportedly has at least four studios, we were told that only three hours of programming per week (five half-hour newscasts and one half-hour public affairs program) are currently being produced there.

(5) A WWOR employee recently contacted VNJ to express concern about the station's level of service. VNJ was advised of massive cutbacks in the station's technical and production staff. Through a combination of layoffs, buyouts, and transfers to WNYW, WWOR's production staff was reportedly slashed by more than 50%.

(6) In addition to the back office operations, a significant level of on-air talent is also being shifted to WNYW. For example, news anchor Harry Martin has recently been absent from WWOR's news broadcasts, while at the same time appearing on WNYW. (Mr. Martin is still listed with the WWOR news staff.)

(7) WWOR has also entered in to a news sharing arrangement with an area newspaper (the Bergen Record) and may be entertaining (or have already engaged in) other local news sharing arrangements. While such arrangements do not impair the station's ability to meet its public interest obligations per se, they are widely perceived as a form of "backdoor consolidation" which limits diversity of opinion and competitive news gathering. Taken in the context of WWOR's overall pattern of behavior, we believe that this is a legitimate and serious concern e) A review of WWOR's Most Recent Issues and Programming Reports Highlights the Station's Ongoing Failure to Provide Adequate News Coverage. As described in the VNJ Petition, an independent analysis of WWOR's Issues and Programming reports indicated that the station provided virtually no local news coverage in some of the largest municipalities in its northern New Jersey community of license. The petition also made note of a 2005 study by the Eagleton Institute of Politics showing that WWOR provided little New Jersey election coverage overall, and virtually no coverage of local (i.e. non-gubernatorial) races. A

Page 6 of 11 review of WWOR's current reports suggests that things have not improved in these areas.

(1) A member of VNJ recently reviewed the last four Issues and Programming Reports prepared by WWOR. The reports covered the period from 10/01/08 to 09/30/09. These reports were reviewed to evaluate local news coverage in the six municipalities in WWOR's northern New Jersey service area with populations of 100,000 or greater. The municipalities include the cities of Newark and Jersey City, each with populations over 200,000, and the City of Elizabeth, the City of Patterson, and the Townships of Woodbridge and Edison, each with populations of 100,000 - 150,000.

(2) The two largest cities received at least some minimal level of news coverage. The Issues and Programming reports identified 16 stories based in Newark, and 14 stories in Jersey City. As was the case in VNJ's prior study, the remaining four cities did dramatically less well, with only 5 news stories among them over a 12 month period. It is VNJ's position that this level of coverage is so minimal as to constitute a complete repudiation of WWOR's obligation to provide local news coverage in its community of license.

(3) WWOR also showed no improvement with respect to local election coverage. While the station did cover the 2009 New Jersey gubernatorial race (a closely contested race that drew national attention when President Obama made campaign stops in our State), WWOR once again failed to offer news coverage of any other New Jersey elections. A review of the news stories listed in WWOR's 3rd quarter 2009 Issues and Programming report did not identify ANY local election coverage. f) A Recent Inspection of WWOR's Public Comment Files Raises Serious Questions With Respect to Regulatory Compliance. A VNJ member recently reviewed WWOR's public comment files in an effort to gauge community reaction to the station's news and public affairs programming cuts. This review gives rise to concerns that WWOR is not maintaining its public comment files in accordance with FCC regulations.

(1) The file review encompassed the last 12 months of public comment files, with particular attention being paid to July, August, and September of 2009--the period during which public comment relating to the station's July, 2009 reduction in news and public affairs programming would logically be the highest.

(2) The public comment files were segregated monthly, and were broken down into sections relating to programming and non-

Page 7 of 11 programming related comments. Copies of letters and email correspondence were retained. These comments were classified and were noted on a summary sheet, which also made note of telephone comments. Further highlighting the effective merger of operations with WNYW, the summary sheets listed comments for both stations, and bore both station's logos. The vast majority of the comments categorized in the summary sheets related to WNYW's programming.

(3) At the time of our review, the public comment files for the months of July, August, and September, 2009 showed no public comments relating to the news and public affairs programming changes. In fact, there was only one public comment noted in the files related to WWOR's programming during this entire three month period. The one comment related to WWOR's programming addressed a WWE Smackdown broadcast. There were only a handful of non- programming related comments directed at WWOR in this same three month period.

(4) VNJ's representatives were reluctant to believe that the wholesale reductions in the stations news and public affairs programming did not give rise to any public comment. We asked the station's management to contact us, and subsequently had a telephone conversation with WWOR's Senior Director of Communications and Public Affairs.

(5) WWOR management advised us that 4 programming-related emails were received during the July, August, and September of 2009, but that they had mistakenly been mis-filed with the prior year's public comments. We were advised that three of the comments addressed the change in the news schedule from 10:00PM to 11:00PM on weekday evenings (two positive and one negative), and that the other comment was unrelated to news or public affairs programming. We were advised that there were NO comments relating to the cancellation of weekend news broadcasts, NO comments regarding the reduction in broadcast length from one hour to 30 minutes, and NO comments relating to the loss of one of the station's Sunday public affairs programming.

(6) Given WWOR's claims of "exemplary service" to its northern New Jersey community of license, it strains credulity that there were no comments relating to these issues, and that the station received a total of only five programming-related comments in a 90 day period. VNJ has serious concerns with respect to WWOR's regulatory compliance in the maintenance of its public files, and would urge the FCC to look closely into this matter.

Page 8 of 11 4) The Quantity and Quality of WWOR's News and Public Affiars Programming are Central to The FCC's Evaluation of How WWOR Meets Its Public Interest Obligations. The station's arguments to the contrary are erroneous and without merit.

a) It is readily apparent that WWOR is moving in the wrong direction with respect to its news and public affairs programming. As such, it is unsurprising that the station has, in its recent ex parte filings, once again trotted out a First Amendment argument to shield itself from the consequences of its actions.

b) The members of VNJ believe that WWOR (or any broadcaster) has the right to say anything, or nothing. However, consequences attach when a broadcaster exercises its right to say nothing with respect to issues vital to its public interest obligations. In the case of WWOR, these consequences should properly include the loss of the station's license.

c) A review of the VNJ petition shows that we judge the station not based on the content of its speech, but by its very lack of content. As seen in both the VNJ Petition and in the analysis contained herein, WWOR provides virtually no coverage of local (i.e. non-gubernatorial) elections in its community of license. The station also provides virtually no local news coverage in come of the largest municipalities in its service area.

d) What fills up all of WWOR's airtime that is not being allocated to news and public affairs programming? In large measure, undesirable programming that serves little purpose besides filling the corporate coffers of the station owner.

(1) VNJ has reviewed WWOR's recent programming schedule for a typical weekday and weekend day. The results show that WWOR has an extraordinarily high level of paid programming.

(2) WWOR's schedule for Monday, October 26, 2009 breaks down as follows:  6.5 hours: Sitcom Reruns  5.5 hours: Paid Programming  3.0 hours: Dramatic Reruns  3.0 hours: Courtroom Simulations  2.0 hours: Televangelists / Religious Programs  1.0 hour: Reality Show Reruns  1.0 hour: Game Show Reruns  1.0 hour: Talk  0.5 hour: Children's Shows  0.5 hour: News  0.0 hour: Public Affairs

Page 9 of 11 As evidenced here, WWOR carries 11 times more paid programming than news and public affairs programming during a typical weekday.

(3) Staggeringly, the programming grows even more dismal on the weekends. The schedule for Saturday, October 24, 2009 breaks down as follows:  11.5 hours: Paid Programming  3.0 hours: Spanish Language Sports  3.5 hours: Dramatic Reruns  2.5 hours: Sitcom Reruns  1.5 hours: Reality Show Reruns  1.5 hours: Movie Reruns  0.5 hour: Sports (English Language)  0.0 hour: Children's Shows  0.0 hour: News  0.0 hour: Public Affairs

(4) On this particular fall Saturday, fully 48% of WWOR's programming schedule was given over to paid programming. If the station's commercial advertising takes up 30% of the remaining schedule (a fair assumption based on a typical schedule of 9 commercial minutes every half hour), than an amazing 64% of WWOR's total airtime was sold. On this day, WWOR offered no news programming. No public interest programming. And no children's programming.

(5) This is not the programming schedule of a responsible broadcaster exercising journalistic discretion. This schedule reflects a station that is in default on its obligation to serve the public interest. WWOR's wholesale conveyance of the public airwaves to the highest bidder is a naked display of corporate greed.

5) WWOR's comparative analysis with stations in comparable market positions is grounded in specious reasoning and is grossly misleading. WWOR's dominant position in a vibrant New Jersey market renders its comparison with fifth-or-below ranked stations in much smaller markets absurd. The station's comparison with other New Jersey stations likewise ignores its dominant market position and competitive advantages.

a) In its recent ex parte filings, Fox asserts that WWOR "provides more local news on average than other similarly ranked commercial television stations in the United States." It supports this position by comparing itself

Page 10 of 11 to stations "ranked fifth or below in a market" across the nation. This analysis is flawed on many levels.

(1) First and foremost, WWOR is not in an average media market, or even in an average market having five or more television stations. WWOR is a presence in the New York media market-- the largest and most lucrative market in the country. Given the unparalleled power of this market to generate both viewers and advertising revenue, it is far more reasonable to analyze WWOR against its New York peers as opposed to Fox's self-serving selection of stations.

(2) As an alternative, VNJ would encourage WWOR to view itself not as the number six station in New York, but as the number one station in New Jersey. If analyzed independently, our state would be the fourth largest media market in the nation. Compared to other "similarly situated stations" (to borrow language from Fox's filing) WWOR's news and public affairs programming would certainly be found lacking.

(3) Finally, we must again point out that Fox's numbers are simply wrong. It boasts of providing "over 850 minutes of local news over any given two week period" against 458 minutes over a two week period for a carefully selected peer group. As previously shown, WWOR's programming schedule has been reduced to only 300 minutes over a two week period, placing it well below its (artfully derived) peer group average. b) Fox also attempts to render a favorable impression by comparing WWOR with "other full power stations licensed in New Jersey."

(1) Fox's comparison of WWOR to other "full power stations licensed in New Jersey" is even more contrived. Until the DTV transition in June, 2009, WWOR was the only full power, commercial VHF station in New Jersey. The station enjoyed a hugely dominant position over a so-called peer group of low-budget UHF stations that continues to this day.

(2) Even with this dominant market position, an alliance with a Manhattan-based sister station, and well-financed corporate ownership, the station does not surpass other stations licensed in New Jersey. Fox states in its filing that "other full power commercial stations licensed in New Jersey broadcast less than 3.0 hours of news and public affairs programming per week " Based on WWOR's programming schedule, the station produces only 3 hours of such programming itself-- far less than the eight hours claimed in its filing.

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