Opinion: Commissioner Copps on the Tribune sale

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FCC Commissioner Michael J. Copps came by the Los Angeles Times today to share his views about a number of policy issues, including media consolidation and spectrum auctions. Naturally, we were curious how he viewed the proposed sale of the Tribune Co., our employer, to Chicago real-estate tycoon Sam Zell in a debt-laden deal worth $8.2 billion. Copps said he was keeping an open mind, but planned to give the deal ‘intense’ scrutiny. When pressed, he defined ‘intense’ as a 5 on the 1-to-5 scale.

That’s not surprising. Copps, after all, is a regulator who believes in regulating, and he’s not at all persuaded that the vast changes in the media and information markets have lessened the need to keep local broadcast stations and newspapers from being owned by the same company. The Tribune has received waivers from the FCC to operate TV stations in several of the same markets where it runs major local newspapers, including Los Angeles, Chicago and New York. Before Zell can take over the conglomerate, the FCC would have to approve the transfer of those TV stations’ licenses to him. This would be a non-issue if the commission had loosened the TV-newspaper cross-ownership ban, as Chairman Kevin Martin has advocated. But Copps said neither he nor Martin has the data to back his position for or against the current rule; they’re both awaiting a new batch of studies that should be completed in the next few months.