FCC fine for KTVA deal seems wrong

The Federal Communications Commission may be doing the right thing by fining Gray Television a half million bucks for acquiring KTVA but it sure doesn’t feel like it.

The problem is that FCC rules forbid a single owner from owning two or more major stations in a market that has a total of four or more large stations.. But I’m tempted to ask why KTVA’s assets were up for sale. They are a longstanding presence in the Anchorage marketplace.

The reason KTVA’s media assets were on the market were not announced. The sale was closed last year and the station is now broadcasting as KYES, which was a smaller Gray station. It remains affiliated with the CBS Network and KTUU is an outstanding and successful NBC affiliated station. The combination is very promising.

It is fairly well known that KTVA was not doing well in its head-to-head competition with the larger KTUU. Viewed from the outside it appears that Gray Television is keeping the KTVA organization afloat and perhaps financially successful, now under the KYES umbrella.

The good news is that Gray is now financing two great news organizations, KTUU and KYES. Both stations offer a combination of news and entertainment and both are doing what appears to be a great job, especially in providing hours of vital information presented in a professional and entertaining manner.

One must ask whether — if Gray had not purchased KTVA — would the station have gone off the air or perhaps just faded away over the years.

Granted that the rule cited by the Federal Communications Commission is aimed at preventing the growth of monopolies. That seems like a good idea. But the FCC seems to be taking a harsh approach to the rule and fining Gray for a move that seems to benefit both stations — and their audiences. There are other stations in the marketplace, several quite large, so the monopoly aspect seems minimal.

Both stations have a long and honorable record in the Greater Anchorage Area. KTVA and KTUU were both founded in the 1950s with sourdoughs Augie Hiebert the dynamo at KTVA and Al Bramstedt at KTUU. It was an impressive rivalry between two top teams and they were successful in advancing news broadcasting in Southcentral Alaska. A few years later public broadcasting entered the picture. That made the competition tougher but it tended to raise the quality of news broadcasting throughout the area.

The proposed FCC fine is actually $518,283, which is the maximum allowed for the violation cited against Gray Television. That is hardly a slap on the wrist so the agency seems serious about its move. But we would hope it would reconsider and either reduce the fine substantially or eliminate it altogether.

Both KTUU and KTVA (now KYES) feature well-known personalities who do a professional job of researching and reporting on the news. I won’t try to name them because I’m afraid I’ll forget somebody. Let’s just say that KTUU’s Maria Downey is typical of the capable and well-known personalities at the two stations.

It’s a shame if KTVA did not make the grade financially but the station is in good hands now and positioned to become a major factor in this area’s broadcasting community.

If the FCC can reconsider or reduce the fine levied against Gray Television it should do so.

Tom Brennan is an Anchorage columnist and author of six books. He was a reporter/columnist for The Anchorage Times and an editor and columnist at The Voice of The Times.