Ownership

At the end of the day, each action the Federal Communications Commission took described below has furthered Sinclair’s efforts to merge with Tribune at the expense of consumers.

Gift 1: Creating the Landscape for Sinclair to Merge by Reinstating the UHF Discount

Gift 2: Feeding Into Sinclair’s Business Model by Eliminating the Main Studio Rule

Gift 3: Sweeping Away Legal Problems With the Merger by Relaxing Media Ownership Rules

Gift 4: Giving Sinclair Benefits in the ATSC 3.0 Transition

Gift 5: Proposing to Eliminate the National Ownership Cap

For decades, Rupert Murdoch has used his media properties to establish a direct line to Australian and British leaders. But in the 44 years since he bought his first newspaper in the United States, he has largely failed to cultivate close ties to an American president. Until now. Murdoch and President Donald Trump — both forged in New York’s tabloid culture, one as the owner of The New York Post, the other as its perfect subject — have traveled in the same circles since the 1970s, but they did not become close until recently, when their interests began to align more than ever before.

AT&T and Time Warner have agreed to move the breakup date for their proposed merger until Jun. 21, 2018.  Each would have been able to terminate the deal if it had not closed by Apr. 22, 2018, but the Justice Department suit to block the deal does not begin until March 15, which would have been cutting it too close. AT&T and Time Warner informed the Securities and Exchange Commission of the change Dec. 21.

When Chad Pierce and his family bought a new house this year, they made sure of one thing: that getting Internet service wouldn't be a problem. But, Internet service wasn't readily available—and Charter wouldn't extend its network to the house unless the Pierce family paid $16,000 to cover most of the company's construction costs. The house is about 550 feet from the road, Pierce said. "Needless to say, we were pretty devastated," Pierce said.

3:04 p.m. December 20, 2017: “This just came out,” said President Donald Trump. “Two minutes ago, they handed it to me. AT&T plans to increase U.S. capital spending [by] $1 billion and provide [a] $1,000 special bonus to more than 200,000 U.S. employees, and that’s because of what we did. So that’s pretty good. That’s pretty good.” The Republican lawmakers surrounding the president applauded. The moment represented a big win for AT&T, which Trump's Justice Department is suing to block an $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner.

Google-parent Alphabet said Eric Schmidt will step down from his post as executive chairman in January and transition to a role as technical adviser. Schmidt, who joined Google in 2001 and served as its chief executive until 2011, also will continue to serve on Alphabet’s board. Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai “and I all believe that the time is right in Alphabet’s evolution for this transition,” Schmidt said.

The Federal Communications Commission proposed a $13,376,200 fine against Sinclair Broadcast Group for apparently failing to make required disclosures in connection with programming sponsored by a third party. The programming was broadcast more than 1,700 times, either as stories resembling independently generated news coverage that aired during the local news, or as longer-form stories aired as 30- minute television programs. This is the largest fine that the Commission has ever proposed for a violation of its sponsorship identification rules.

The most recent chapter in the debate over net neutrality has been, like previous chapters, cacophonous. One notable difference this time around, though, was the relative quiet of many large tech companies. In previous years, these firms had been outspoken about the issue. What changed? Netflix’s net-neutrality journey is an illuminating example. The reality is that Netflix and other large tech companies, such as Facebook and Google, have grown so dominant that net neutrality has become a nonissue for them.

Every year, Facebook gets tens of thousands of requests for data from governments worldwide, including search warrants, subpoenas, or calls to restrict certain kinds of content. According to a new report released by the company on Dec. 18, these requests are increasing. In the US, the requests rose by 26% from the last six months of 2016 to the first six months of 2017, while globally, requests increased by about 21%.

The need for competition and for affordable access to broadband remains. Rather than fight over net neutrality, the large internet companies and telecoms should take a cue from what happened to big financial institutions after the financial crisis of 2008-2009. Seen as the culprits for millions losing homes and retirements savings, banks were subject to draconian regulations, civil suits and hefty fines. If the public perceives that those companies are reaping disproportionate rewards at the public’s expense, it will act swiftly and punitively.