Late last week, the FCC’s Media Bureau, acting under delegated authority, finalized a decision that may quietly reshape local television ownership policy. In an order released Friday, the Bureau granted a waiver allowing Indianapolis-based Circle City Broadcasting to acquire WRTV, the market’s ABC affiliate, in a deal valued at approximately $83 million. The transaction gives Circle City ownership of three full-power television stations in the same Nielsen Designated Market Area (DMA): WRTV (ABC), WISH-TV (CW), and WNDY-TV (MyNetworkTV). Under longstanding FCC rules, that configuration would not normally be permitted. For decades, the commission’s Local Television Ownership Rule has limited a single entity to owning no more than two full-power stations in a market — subject to additional restrictions. The rule bars common ownership of two of a market’s top-four rated stations and requires that at least eight independently owned full-power stations remain after a combination. These structural caps were designed to preserve competition, protect viewpoint diversity, and promote localism — core pillars of broadcast policy. Circle City’s acquisition of WRTV exceeds the commission’s two-station limit in Indianapolis. Absent a waiver, the transaction would have surpassed that numerical cap. |
