Before the Federal Communications Commission Washington, DC 20554 In re: ) ) MB Docket: 16-54 United Communications Corporation ) CSR No. 8920-N KEYC-TV (Fac. ID No. 68853) ) ) Petition for Special Relief for Waiver of ) Section 76.92(f) & 76.106(a) of the ) Commission’s Rules ) To: Office of the Secretary Attention: Chief, Media Bureau OPPOSITION TO PETITION FOR SPECIAL RELIEF Fox Television Stations, LLC (“FTS”), licensee of KMSP-TV, Minneapolis, MN, pursuant to Section 76.7 of the Commission’s Rules, hereby files this Opposition to the above- referenced Petition for Special Relief (“Petition”) filed by United Communication Corporation (“UCC”), licensee of KEYC-TV1, Mankato, Minnesota. KMSP-TV, as the flagship FOX station in the state of Minnesota, is significantly viewed in several counties outside of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Designated Market Area.2 UCC seeks a waiver of the significantly viewed exception – essentially a determination that KMSP- TV is no longer significantly viewed – in the Minnesota communities of Mankato, North Mankato, Good Thunder, and New Ulm (all in the Mankato DMA). For the reasons stated below, UCC’s request fails as a matter of both law and policy, and must be denied. In particular, 1 KEYC-TV broadcasts the CBS network as its primary affiliation and only offers the Fox network as a multicast. 2 Significantly View List, last modified March 18, 2015, available at https://transition.fcc.gov/mb/significantviewedstations031815.pdf the sole evidence submitted in support of the petition is a Nielsen Survey (“Survey”), the results of which do not comply with the Commission’s rules and precedent relating to a waiver of the significantly viewed exception for a station such as KMSP-TV, which is deemed independent for purposes of determining significantly viewed status. Specifically, the Commission’s rules and precedent make clear that “Fox is considered an independent station for purposes of significantly viewed status.”3 Thus, KMSP-TV, a FOX- affiliated station, is an independent station, not a “network” station, for purposes of evaluating UCC’s request. UCC wrongly relies on the significantly viewed standard applicable to network stations rather than independent stations in its Petition.4 The standard in the Commission’s rules for independent stations, including for KMSP-TV, is a 2 percent share of total weekly viewing hours and a 5 net weekly circulation share within one standard error5 -- not the standard that UCC applied in its Petition (that applicable to network stations) of a 3 percent share of total weekly hours and a net weekly circulation of 25 percent within one standard error. When the Survey submitted by UCC is reviewed under the appropriate standard, KMSP-TV remains significantly viewed in the Mankato, North Mankato, and Good Thunder communities. In each community, UCC’s Survey data shows that in one year (if not both years) either the total viewing share and net weekly circulation share is exceeded or the standard error is greater than 1. Thus, UCC has failed to show KMSP-TV is no longer significantly viewed. In addition, the Survey 3 47 C.F.R. § 76.5(l); Chesapeake Television Licensee, LLC, Licensee of WBFF(TV) Baltimore, Maryland, Memorandum Opinion and Order, 30 FCC Rcd 6455, 6463, fn 23. 4 UCC states that the FCC classifies FOX affiliated stations as a “network” station. Petition at 14. As is undeniable, for purposes of determining significantly viewed status, this is incorrect as a matter of law. It makes no difference that the Commission has described or classified FOX affiliated stations as network stations for other purposes unrelated to the significantly viewed rules. 5 47 C.F.R. 76.5(i). 2 may be invalid due to too few household in-tab households.6 In addition, based on the raw data submitted by UCC, it is unclear whether the single zip code applied to the named communities is appropriate, which may invalidate the results displayed in the data summaries for New Ulm as well, and if so, the showing for New Ulm should also be invalidated and the Petition denied.7 FTS therefore respectfully requests that the Media Bureau deny UCC’s request as it relates to KMSP-TV. The Petition uses the wrong significantly viewed standard as applicable to KMSP-TV, rendering the Petition invalid. The Petition not only fails to apply the applicable law, it fails as a matter of the public interest to justify relief that would result in a potentially harmful impact to KMSP-TV viewers in the Mankato DMA. Respectfully submitted, FOX TELEVISION STATIONS, LLC By:____ Joseph M. Di Scipio Senior Vice President, Legal and FCC Compliance Fox Television Stations, LLC 400 North Capitol Street, NW, Suite 890 Washington, DC 20001 202-824-6522 Dated: March 11, 2016 6 In Good Thunder, zip code 56073, only 1 household was surveyed for the November 13 sweeps, and only 2 households were used for the remainder of the sweep periods. Based on Commission precedent, only one or two in- tab households may be too small. See Chesapeake Television at 6462-63. 7 Several other zip codes are present in the raw data with no indication whether or not those zip codes are in or part of the applicable community. 3 .