FCC Record, Volume 2, No. 22, Pages 6550 to 6816, October 23 - November 6, 1987 Page: 6,730
xiii, 6550-6816 p. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this book.
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Federal Communications Commission Record
2 FCC Red Vol. 22
Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In re Applications ofCENTRAL File No. BALCT-861105KH
MINNESOTA File No. BALCT-861105KI
TELEVISION, INC.
(Assignor)
and
MIDWEST CALL
LETTERS, INC.
(Assignee)
For Assignment of Licenses of
Stations KCMT(TV), Alexandria,
Minnesota, and KNMT(TV), Walker,
Minnesota
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDERAdopted: October 15, 1987;
Released: October 19, 1987
By the Commission:
1. The Commission has before it for consideration the
above-captioned applications for consent to assignment of
licenses of Stations KCMT(TV), channel 7 (CBS), Alexandria,
Minnesota, and KCMT's satellite, KNMT(TV), channel
12 (CBS), Walker, Minnesota, from Central Minnesota
Television, Inc. (Central) to Midwest Call Letters, Inc.
(Midwest), a 100% subsidiary of Midwest Communications,
Inc. Midwest Communications, Inc. also controls the
licensee of WCCO-TV, channel 4 (CBS), Minneapolis,
Minnesota. Its acquisition of KCMT will result in an overlap
of the predicted Grade B contour of that station with
WCCO.1 Midwest proposes to operate KCMT "primarily
as a satellite" of WCCO and has requested that the
assignment application be granted pursuant to the
"satellite exception" provision to the Commission's duopoly
rule, Section 73.3555(a)(3).2
2. Section 73.3555(a)(3) of the Commission's Rules provides
that no license for a television station shall be
granted to any party if such party directly or indirectly
owns, operates, or controls one or more television broadcast
stations and the grant of such license will result in
overlap of the Grade B contours of the existing and
proposed stations. However, Note 5 to the rule exempts
television stations that are "primarily satellite operations"
from a strict application of the Grade B overlap prohibition.
Under Note 5, the Commission considers satellite
proposals on a case-by-case basis in order to determine
whether common ownership, operation, or control of the
stations in question would be in the public interest.
3. Initially, in support of its request, Midwest submitted
an engineering study which shows that the overlap area
between WCCO and KCMT encompasses 1,430 squaremiles and comprises 9% of the WCCO-TV Grade B service
area and 12% of the KCMT Grade B service area.3 It
states that the overlap area is served by at least 9 television
stations, including WCCO and KCMT, and that the
most densely populated area receives five other Grade B
services in addition to those 9 television stations. Midwest
points out that the Alexandria market is small (ranked as
183rd by Arbitron)4 and has been shrinking steadily since
1970, due to increasing viewership of Minneapolis-St. Paul
stations via cable systems and translators. Minneapolis-St.
Paul, Midwest maintains, is the 15th largest ADI in the
nation, and the cultural and economic center of Minnesota.
Midwest asserts that, since 1978, the Alexandria
market has lost 6 counties to the Minneapolis-St. Paul
market, a decrease from 15 to 9. The number of television
households has decreased correspondingly from 100,300 to
58,500. It states that the 9 counties currently included in
the Alexandria ADI are sparsely populated and predominantly
rural. Midwest believes that because of the increased
cable penetration and the advent of a newly
authorized Alexandria satellite station (KSAX(TV)), five
of the marginal counties presently included in the Alexandria
market will be dropped in the near future.
4. Midwest further argues that KCMT, with its Walker
satellite (KNMT), has been able to survive because it was
the only station in Alexandria. However, because the
Commission has authorized the construction of a second
Alexandria television station (KSAX(TV)) by Hubbard
Broadcasting, Inc. (Hubbard), it maintains that KCMT will
soon face competition. The new station will operate
"primarily as a satellite" of Hubbard's Minneapolis station,
KSTP-TV (ABC), having a local studio and a sales office
in Alexandria. Additionally, Midwest notes that Hubbard
has announced plans to seek Commission authorization
for a second KSTP satellite in Walker.5 As a full-service
conventional station, Midwest maintains that KCMT will
be unable to compete effectively against Hubbard's satellite
operations. Midwest alleges that KCMT's competitive
status has already begun to decline due to the influx
of additional services provided by cable systems and translator
stations. Midwest states that, between July 1985 and
July 1986, in the 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. news programs,
KCMT's audience share declined by 31%, while the corresponding
news viewership of KSTP-TV increased 67%
and 59%, respectively, in the same time periods. Additionally,
from sign-on to sign-off, KCMT's viewership declined
15% while KSTP's increased 31%.
5. Midwest urges that the substantial reduction in
viewership experienced by KCMT recently will be significantly
exacerbated with the introduction of a new network
affiliated satellite station in the market. This situation,
Midwest contends, will have a significant adverse effect on
the revenues and profitability of KCMT. National and
regional advertisers, Midwest claims, will be able to reach
the Alexandria market by a "one time buy" on KSTP-TV,
making it unnecessary to purchase time on KCMT. Midwest
submitted an analysis which shows that, if KCMT
continues the average annual growth rates for revenues
and expenses that it has experienced over the past three
years, with no new competition in the market to affect its
revenue growth, its operating profits would steadily decline
and would become operating losses after no more
than five years.6 Midwest states that this trend would be
accelerated upon commencement of the new satellite op-
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United States. Federal Communications Commission. FCC Record, Volume 2, No. 22, Pages 6550 to 6816, October 23 - November 6, 1987, book, November 1987; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1589/m1/200/?rotate=90: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.