Lead-In Cap Flap: Affils Want FCC to Keep Nets’ TV Limits Non-Network-Owned Stations Want Their Own Potential Audience Reach Doubled, Though
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Lead-In Cap Flap: Affils Want FCC to Keep Nets’ TV Limits Non-network-owned stations want their own potential audience reach doubled, though BY JOHN EGGERTON who assert ever-increasing control over ads and without affiliate input. The fil- their affiliates in terms of access to ing appears to buttress that belief. HE NAB SHOW may be a network programming and channels of NAB president and CEO Gordon Kumbaya moment on many distribution,” it read. Smith, in an interview (see Washing- fronts, but there is a split Without the cap, affiliates contend, ton, page 30), said he was waiting for Tamong TV stations over just networks would strip affiliations from direction from the NAB board and the who should be allowed to own more more stations. networks. TV stations — a divide with historic Those with long memories may re- precedent. member it was the networks’ push for Regulatory Disparity on Retrans According to filings in the FCC’s raising the ownership cap almost two The affiliates told the FCC that the review of its national broadcast owner decades ago that led to a fracture in fact that it has not classified online vid- audience reach limits, the National the NAB between affiliates and owned eo distributors as multichannel video Association of Broadcasters, whose stations and the networks’ decision to programming distributors (MVPDs) members include both affiliates and exit the trade group. subject to retransmission-consent rules network-owned stations, has asked the NBC and Fox quit the NAB in 2000 (which govern compensation for carry- regulator to allow TV stations to essen- NAB president and CEO Gordon Smith and CBS left in 2001 over the cap is- ing stations) is a problem. tially double their audience reach by sue, with ABC following suit in 2003. Because of that regulatory disparity, extending the UHF discount — which The Big Four ultimately returned they said “networks insist on negotiat- counts only 50% of a UHF station’s tions to the current cap “to ensure that after the dust had settled and the ing directly with [online video distribu- audience reach toward the national cap the network-affiliate balance of power cap was raised to 39% by Congress, tors] for all of the terms of carriage of of 39% of U.S. TV households — to in- does not skew so heavily in favor of splitting the difference between NAB’s network-owned stations, the networks’ clude VHF stations as well. That would the networks that local stations’ ability position of keeping it at 35% and the owned cable networks and their affili- increase the overall reach to 78% of to create and distribute high-quality, FCC’s move to raise it to 45%. ates’ programming.” the country. locally-focused programming is com- In that case, it was the NAB lobby- NAB had no comment beyond its Enter the network affiliate associa- promised.” ing against increasing ownership limits, filing, which sought the discount for tions en masse. Their filing — on behalf Affiliates say the FCC needs to citing network power. network stations as well as affiliates, of ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox affiliated “jealously guard” the cap on network- Sources have said that the NAB’s si- saying everyone needed the scale to stations — also promotes ownership de- owned stations, suggesting their net- lence on the new Locast service, which compete against pay TV companies, regulation, but with one big difference. working “impulse” threatens localism. streams TV-station signals over the in- OVDs and social media giants. The filing struck an omimous tone. ternet in New York without permission Affiliates clearly see powerful rivals Preserve ‘Balance of Power’ “The balance of power continues to (but with local ads), is in part because closer to home that they need help to While the affiliates agree that the shift further in favor of the networks, non-network-owned stations are not compete with — their own networks . FCC should double the reach — for who capitalize on economies of scale happy with networks dealing directly affiliates — they argue that the agency and scope in the production and with over-the-top services to stream To check out both pitches to the FCC, needs to restrict network-owned sta- distribution of their programming and their high-value content without local go to broadcastingcable.com/April9. SUNWISE RISES WITH FOCUS ON POSITIVE, DIVERSE SERIES Ex-Bounce TV execs’ first project examines death in King family WO FORMER BOUNCE TV EXECUTIVES have found dead in his home a year after Dr. King was formed a new business that creates family- killed. Tfriendly original content for African-American Aligned with the 50th anniversary of the as- viewers and promotes diversity and cultural sassination of Dr. King, Unsolved History: Life relevance as an effective marketing tool. of a King began airing late last month and is Ri-Karlo Handy, who had been senior VP of orig- scheduled to air on 81 stations in 73 broadcast inal programming at Bounce TV before the digital markets by the end of May, according to Sun- The first episode of Unsolved History deals with the death of broadcast network was acquired by E.W. Scripps wise. The stations, owned by Mission Broad- the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. Co., and Elverage Allen, previously Bounce’s casting, Marshall Broadcasting, Nexstar Media, executive VP of advertising, have formed Sunwise Tegna and other groups, have permission to run movement from the mid-1930s through the ’60s. Media, a Minority Business Enterprise-certified the show multiple times. After the syndication Handy and Allen contend there is a void on TV media company. window, Sunwise might stream Unsolved History for good content directed at African-American Their first project is Unsolved History, a syndi- online. viewers. “We are committed to making a differ- cated series of quarterly documentaries. The first The next episode of Unsolved History is expected ence on the diversity issue,” Allen said. Diversity episode, Life of a King, looks at the relationship to look at the Black Panthers. While not all the is good business, he added, pointing to the suc- between the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and episodes will deal with murders, there are more than cess of the box-office record-setting movie Black his younger brother, Alfred (A.D.) King, who was 200 mysterious deaths connected to the civil rights Panther.— Jon Lafayette 4 BROADCASTING & CABLE APRIL 2-9, 2018 BROADCASTINGCABLE.COM Lead-In FATES AND FORTUNES THE WATCHMAN Deputy editor Michael Malone's weekly look at the programming scene EXEC MOVES OF THE WEEK n (1) RENA LIU has been Bravo Goes Into Sell Mode, tapped as general manager of DramaFever. Liu, who ÔBosch' Back on Amazon, Elvis Lives in HBO was previously head of Warner Bros. Digital Labs, Docuseries Sell It Like Serhant starts on Bravo will oversee all opera- Wednesday (April 11), showcasing Ryan Serhant, ace tions for DramaFever, the real-estate sales guy. Each episode sees Serhant subscription VOD service 1 jump into a protege’s world, “using every trick in focused on Korean TV the book to become their boot camp instructor, shows and movies. Warner friend, teacher and even customer, to help them Bros. acquired DramaFever reach their full potential,” according to Bravo. n Serhant said his first sales gig was bundling in 2016. Tru Optik has up firewood with his brother on the family farm named FRANS VERMEULEN in Topsfield, Mass., when he was around 10. Years chief operating officer. later, he arrived in New York to pursue a theater ca- Vermeulen joins Tru Optik reer and, like many aspiring thespians, got a retail from Comcast, where job to pay the rent. The day job worked out better he was VP of advanced 2 than the theater stuff. strategy and operations. Acting, he said, “taught me how to listen and Sell It Like Serhant have empathy for people.” At Tru Optik, he will be Serhant said he “learned an insane amount” responsible for revenue, from Sell It Like Serhant, which also happens to be commercial enterprise and the name of his book, described by him as “a playbook for sales people around the world.” global expansion. n (2) And it’s a new season of Bosch on Amazon, the gritty, Los Angeles-based cop drama showing the DEREK DALTON has been latest exploits of taciturn Detective Bosch. Titus Welliver, who plays Bosch, said it’s a fun character to appointed president and play, despite his dark demeanor. general manager of CBS “He’s not an emotionally demonstrative guy … he’s a very internalized character,” Welliver said. 3 “But I’m more inclined to have less to say, to depict him through silence.” Television Stations-owned The fourth season sees Bosch dealing with the murder WBBM Chicago. Dalton, who comes on board of his mother, and assigned a murder case involving an in- from WHEC Rochester, succeeds the recently re- dividual that many cops may have been happy to see taken tired Marty Wilke. n (3) GRISELLE SIERRA has been down. His bosses “knew Bosch would not be influenced if tapped as news director of Telemundo’s Denver the murder suspect is a cop,” Welliver noted. station, KDEN. Sierra, who joined Telemundo As a producer, Welliver has seen every frame of the new Denver earlier this year, will oversee the overall season a ton of times. Yet he’s still eager to watch it with his family, which includes his son Quinn, who played Bosch performance of the station’s news department. as a boy on the series. He describes his clan as “a good barometer” for whether the new season works.