Sinclair Broadcasting

As many of you are probably aware by now, Sinclair Broadcast Group is planning to air a Kerry-bashing movie on all of it's 60+ stations (many of which are in swing states) a few days before the November election. They plan to categorize it as "news", which would exempt the activity from the electioneering laws.

Josh Marshall has a letter from a former FCC chairman, and he links to an excellent post at The Left Coaster which offers a number of suggestions for dealing with this.

The truth is, I don't know if there is anything that can be done about this. It seems to me that Sinclair has made the decision that they are willing to accept whatever legal challenges or punitive fines may arise out of this so long as they can keep the president who offers a tax cut for anything that ails you.

I think it's safe to say that this administration's support of media consolidation is also driving Sinclair's decision making process.

Steve Soto at the Left Coaster suggests going after Sinclair where it will hurt them most: by targeting the broadcast licences of the stations they own. If you click the 'continue reading' link at the bottom of this post, you'll find the FCC's "Public Participation in the License Renewal Process" handout. It has addresses of where to send petitions and objections.

Bear in mind that you must be a "party of interest" to file a complaint. While in a national election, it may be that we are all parties of interest, it is best if people from the locations served by Sinclair are writing to the FCC.

These are the Sinclair markets that have stations approaching their license renewals:

North Carolina:
Asheville
Greensboro
Raleigh

South Carolina:
Charleston

Florida:
Pensacola
Tallahassee
Tampa

If you are a lawyer or have a friend who is, you may be interested in filing a formal petition. If not, read through to the "Procedure for Filing Informal Objections". And then do it. Write a letter and mail it to them. It will go into a file. It will be read. Enough of these letters will impact the decision making process in Washington.

9:45 Update: The Democratic Party and 18 Democratic Senators have filed complaints with the FEC alleging that this is an illegal "in kind contribution" to BC04.

Last Revised: 10/03

Public Participation in the License Renewal Process

All broadcast station licenses are granted by the Commission for eight years. Currently, all radio station licenses are scheduled to expire between 2003 and 2006. All television station licenses are scheduled to expire between 2004 and 2007. Each station must file an application for license renewal four months prior to the expiration date of the station's license, in accordance with a schedule set forth in the Commission’s Rules. Instructions on obtaining Internet access to that schedule are set forth below. A paper copy of the renewal schedule is included in the public handout for this hearing. Stations also must file a Broadcast Equal Employment Opportunity Program Report (FCC Form 396) at the same time. During the license renewal process, viewers and listeners of the stations whose licenses are up for renewal may participate in the process either by filing a petition to deny or informal objections against a renewal or by filing positive comments about a broadcaster’s service. The petition to deny is more formal and must meet certain requirements discussed below.

License Renewal Filing Dates; License Expiration Dates

Radio and television station license renewal dates are based on the location
(state, territory, etc.) of the station's community of license, not the station's transmitter site location. All radio, or all television, station licenses in a particular state expire on the same date. States are then placed into geographical groups and all of the radio, or television, station licenses in a particular geographical grouping of states expire on the same date. For example, all radio station licenses in North and South Carolina will expire on December 1, 2003. All television station licenses in North and South Carolina will expire on December 1, 2004. Links to information on the license renewal application filing dates and license expiration dates for radio and television stations can be found at: http://www.fcc.gov/localism/renewals.html

Petitions to Deny / Informal Objections

A petition to deny or an informal objection to a radio license renewal application may be filed AFTER the filing of the license renewal application. Notices of the filing
of license renewal applications will be posted in the public notices listed at, for radio station applications: http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/audio/cur_Broadcast_Applications.html. It is expected that the Commission’s website will also post notices of the filing of television station license renewal applications prior to the commencement of the next television station license renewal cycle in 2004. The Commission’s Consolidated Database System (CDBS) will also contain records pertaining to the license renewal applications.

The last day for filing petitions to deny is ONE MONTH PRIOR to the license
expiration date. The petition to deny deadline date for radio stations licensed to communities in North and South Carolina is November 1, 2003.

Example. The expiration date for a radio station in Colorado is December 1, 2004. The LAST DAY that a petition to deny against a timely renewal application may be filed is November 1, 2004. An exception is where the LAST DAY falls on a Saturday, Sunday, holiday, or on a date that the Commission is closed for business, in which case the LAST DAY is extended to the first full business day thereafter. For example, the expiration date for a radio station in Virginia was October 1, 2003. September 1, 2003 was a holiday. In this instance, the LAST DAY that a petition to deny could be filed was September 2, 2003. Petitions to Deny are considered to be filed with the Commission only upon their receipt by the Commission at either of the addresses set out below, not when they are mailed or postmarked.

Procedure for Filing Petitions to Deny

Petitions to deny broadcast station license renewals (a signed original and two copies) must be mailed or delivered to one of the following FCC addresses:

U.S. Postal Service Mail

Office of the Secretary
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street SW
Washington, D.C. 20554

ATTN: Audio Division, License Renewal Processing Team
Mail Stop 1800B

OR

Video Division, License Renewal Processing Team
Room 2-A665

Messenger or Hand Delivered Filings, and Filings Delivered by Other Than USPS

Office of the Secretary
Federal Communications Commission
c/o Natek, Inc.
236 Massachusetts Ave., N.E.
Suite 110
Washington, DC 20002

ATTN: Audio Division, License Renewal Processing Team
Mail Stop 1800B
OR

Video Division, License Renewal Processing Team
Room 2-A665

In addition, courtesy copies may be sent directly to the Audio Division, License Renewal Processing Team (for radio) or the Video Division, License Renewal Processing Team (for television), using the addresses set forth above.

A petition to deny must contain a certification that a copy of the petition was also mailed to the station, and must contain an affidavit of a person with personal knowledge attesting that the facts contained in the petition are true.

Petition to Deny Requirements. First, to file a petition to deny, a person must be a “party in interest” and have “standing.” That means, generally, that the person must have more than a passing interest in the station. He or she must be a regular listener or viewer or have some other contact with the station that gives the petitioner a real stake in outcome of the renewal process. Also, a petition must be supported by an affidavit of a person or persons with personal knowledge of the allegations of fact contained in the petition. Additionally, a petition to deny license renewal must be “timely.” That is, as noted above, a petition to deny must be filed at least one month prior to the license expiration date. Finally, as noted above, failure to include a certification that a copy of the petition was also mailed to the station and the affidavit may result in dismissal of the petition to deny.

Procedure for Filing Informal Objections. A person or entity opposing the grant of a radio station's license renewal application may file an informal objection against the license renewal application at any time prior to staff action on the license renewal application. An informal objection is less formal than a petition to deny, but some requirements still apply. It may take the form of a letter signed by the objector and mailed or delivered to one of the FCC addresses above. An informal objection need not contain the affidavit required for a petition to deny. It should, however, contain sufficient information to establish any violation alleged. Additionally, an informal objection not received by the time the station’s license renewal application has been granted by the Commission will not be considered.

Filing Positive Comments. Affirmative comments concerning a licensee’s service during the prior license term should be filed by the petition to deny deadline date and be filed with the Commission’s Secretary at the same address indicated above.

Additional Suggestions for Filers

To help the staff expeditiously associate a petition to deny, informal objection or positive comment with the proper license renewal application, a petition to deny, informal objection or positive comment should identify (1) the station's call sign, city and state, (2) the station's facility ID number, and (3) the license renewal application file number. This information, which is available on CDBS through the Commission’s website, should be listed on the first page of the submission.