IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT PROMETHEUS RADIO PROJECT, et al., ) ) Petitioners, ) v. ) No. 08-3078 et al. ) FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS ) COMMISSION, et al., ) ) Respondents. ) _________________________________________) STATUS REPORT OF THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION The Federal Communications Commission files this status report in the captioned cases pursuant to this Court’s June 12, 2009 order. This case involves consolidated challenges to the FCC’s 2008 media ownership order. See Matter of 2006 Quadrennial Regulatory Review, 23 FCC Rcd 2010 (2008) (2008 Order). The 2008 Order (among other things) loosened the Commission’s prohibition against common ownership of a daily newspaper and a broadcast station. Id. at 2018 ¶ 13 – 2057 ¶ 79. Common Cause and other organizations filed an administrative petition asking the Commission to reconsider the 2008 Order. Concurrently, Prometheus Radio Project and a number of other entities filed the challenges to the 2008 Order that are now before this Court. On April 14, 2009, the Court issued an order holding this case in abeyance pending further order of the Court. In the same order, the Court asked the parties Case: 08-3078 Document: 00319839278 Page: 1 Date Filed: 10/01/2009 2 to show cause why the stay – entered by this Court in Nos. 03-3388, et al. and continued in Prometheus Radio Project v. FCC, 373 F.3d 372 (3d Cir. 2004) – should not be lifted. On May 5, 2009, the Commission informed the Court that the 2008 Order did not reflect the views of a majority of the members of the Commission and that the agency therefore supported keeping the stay of the newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership rule in place. On June 12, the Court ordered the stay to remain in effect and asked the parties to file status reports on October 1, 2009, “including whether the stay should be lifted.” Two weeks after this Court issued its June 12 order respecting the stay, Julius Genachowski was sworn in as the new Chairman of the FCC; at the beginning of August two new Commissioners, Mignon Clyburn and Meredith Atwell Baker, joined the agency. The Commission is statutorily required to revisit its media ownership rules every four years, 47 U.S.C. § 303 note, and the next such review is scheduled for 2010. The newly-constituted Commission has begun designing that proceeding. On September 29, 2009, the Commission’s Media Bureau issued a Public Notice announcing “a series of workshops as a first step in beginning the Federal Communication Commission’s 2010 quadrennial review of its media ownership rules.” See Attachment. The Public Notice explained that “[t]he purpose of the Case: 08-3078 Document: 00319839278 Page: 2 Date Filed: 10/01/2009 3 workshops” is to “receive public input” on the “appropriate scope and methodology” of the upcoming proceeding and that the sessions would “cover a wide variety of topics that the Commission expects to consider in its review, including the state of the current media marketplace and the role of the media ownership rules in that marketplace.” Id. The Public Notice announced that the first such workshop will take place in early November 2009 and will include “academics, industry stakeholders, and the public interest community,” who will “present their views on the framework the Commission should use for conducting its ownership review.” As we informed the Court in May, the 2008 Order did not then reflect the views of a majority of the members of the Commission. Since that time, a new Chairman and two new Commissioners have joined the agency. Of necessity, the 2008 Order does not incorporate their views. The Common Cause petition for reconsideration, however, is under consideration by the agency. As important, the new Commission is under a statutory obligation to review its media ownership rules this coming year, and to repeal or modify any ownership rules that it finds are no longer in the public interest. 47 U.S.C. § 303 note. The Commission’s Media Bureau has announced that it is initiating that review process with the first workshop to be held in early November of this year. Under these unusual circumstances, the Commission supports keeping the Case: 08-3078 Document: 00319839278 Page: 3 Date Filed: 10/01/2009 4 current stay in place. CONCLUSION For the foregoing reasons, the stay should not be lifted. Respectfully submitted, /s/ Austin C. Schlick AUSTIN C. SCHLICK General Counsel Federal Communications Commission 445 Twelfth Street, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20554 ` (202) 418-1700 Date: October 1, 2009 Case: 08-3078 Document: 00319839278 Page: 4 Date Filed: 10/01/2009 5 ATTACHMENT Case: 08-3078 Document: 00319839278 Page: 5 Date Filed: 10/01/2009 PUBLIC NOTICE Federal Communications Commission 445 12th St., S.W. Washington, D.C. 20554 News Media Information 202 / 418-0500 Internet: http://www.fcc.gov TTY: 1-888-835-5322 DA 09-2139 September 29, 2009 MEDIA BUREAU ANNOUNCES WORKSHOPS TO BEGIN THE 2010 QUADRENNIAL REVIEW OF THE FCC’S MEDIA OWNERSHIP RULES The Media Bureau will initiate a series of workshops as a first step in beginning the Federal Communication Commission’s 2010 quadrennial review of its media ownership rules. Section 202(h) of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 requires the Commission to review its ownership rules every four years and “determine whether any of such rules are necessary in the public interest as the result of competition.” Under Section 202(h), the Commission “shall repeal or modify any regulation it determines to be no longer in the public interest.” The purpose of the workshops initially will be to receive public input on the appropriate scope and methodology of the proceeding and later to help build an analytical and empirical foundation for a Commission decision. The forums will cover a wide variety of topics that the Commission expects to consider in its review, including the state of the current media marketplace and the role of the media ownership rules in that marketplace. The Commission will seek viewpoints and information from a broad range of experts; consumers; public interest and trade associations; labor unions; media industry representatives, both traditional and new; and other interested persons. The Bureau will hold its first workshop in the series in early November 2009. This initial forum will provide an opportunity for academics, industry stakeholders, and the public interest community to present their views on the framework the Commission should use for conducting its ownership review. Their insights will help determine the questions the Commission should address and how best to gather the data needed to answer those questions. More details will follow shortly on the issues to be discussed and the date, location, and participants for this first workshop. For further information, contact Mania Baghdadi or Amy Brett, Industry Analysis Division, Media Bureau (202) 418-2330. Please direct press inquiries to Janice Wise (202) 418-8165. -FCC- Case: 08-3078 Document: 00319839278 Page: 6 Date Filed: 10/01/2009 08-3078, et al. IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT Prometheus Radio Project, et al., Petitioner v. Federal Communications Commission and United States of America, Respondents. CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I, Jacob M. Lewis, hereby certify that on October 1, 2009, I electronically filed the foregoing Status Report with the Clerk of the Court for the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit by using the CM/ECF system. Participants in the case who are registered CM/ECF users will be served by the CM/ECF system. I further certify that some of the participants in the case are not CM/ECF users. I have mailed the foregoing document by First-Class Mail, postage prepaid, to the non-CM/ECF participants. Non CM/ECF Users are denoted with an asterisk below. Angela J. Campbell Coriell S. Wright Institute for Public Representation Georgetown Law 600 New Jersey Avenue, N.W. Suite 312 Washington, D.C. 20001 Counsel for: Prometheus Radio Project, Office of Communications of the United Church of Christ, Media Alliance Nancy C. Garrison Catherine G. O’Sullivan Robert J. Wiggers Robert B. Nicholson United States Department of Justice Appellate Section Room 3224 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20530 Counsel for USA Richard E. Wiley James R.W. Bayes Eve Reed Kathleen A. Kirby Helgi C. Walker Wiley Rein 1776 K Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20006 Counsel for: Newspaper Association of America, Morris Comm Co, LLC, Clear Channel Communications, Belo Corp, Gannett Co Inc., CBS Broadcasting Inc., CBS Corp. Case: 08-3078 Document: 00319839278 Page: 7 Date Filed: 10/01/2009 08-3078, et al. Carter G. Phillips James C. Owens, Jr. Mark D. Schneider *Jennifer B. Tatel James P. Young *Kurt A. Wimmer R. Clark Wadlow Sidley Austin 1501 K Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20005 Counsel for: Tribune Co., Fox TV Stations Inc. Michael D. Hays John R. Feore, Jr. M. Anne Swanson Kevin F. Reed Dow Lohnes 1200 New Hampshire Avenue, N.W. Suite 800 Washington, D.C. 20036 Counsel for: Fox TV Stations Inc., Cox Entertainment Inc., Cox Broadcasting, Media General Ian H. Gershengorn Elaine J. Goldenberg Jenner & Block 1099 New York Avenue Suite 900 Washington, D.C. 20001 Counsel for: National Association of Broadcasters Robert A. Long, Jr. Enrique Armijo Covington & Burling 1201 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20004 Counsel for: Coalition of Smaller Market TV Stations, Raycom Media Inc., Lewis A. Tollin Craig E. Gilmore Kenneth E. Satten Wilkinson Barker Knauer 2300 N Street, N.W. Suite 700 Washington, D.C. 20037 Counsel for The Scranton Times/Scranton Tribune, Bonneville International Corporation *Bruce T. Reese Bonneville International Corporation 55 North 300 West Salt Lake City, UT 84101-3580 Counsel for: Bonneville International Corporation Parul Desai Andrew J. Schwartzman Media Access Project 1625 K Street, N.W. Suite 1000 Washington, D.C. 20006 Counsel for: Prometheus Radio Project. Christopher Murray 1101 17 th Street, N.W. Suite 500 Washington, D.C. 20036 Counsel for: Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union Marvin Ammori Free Press 501 Third Street, N.W. Suite 875 Washington, D.C. 20001 Counsel for: Free Press Case: 08-3078 Document: 00319839278 Page: 8 Date Filed: 10/01/2009 08-3078, et al. John F. Sturm Newspaper Association of America 4401 Wilson Blvd., Suite 900 Arlington, VA 22203 Counsel for: Newspaper Association of America *Jane E. Mago *Jerianne Timmerman National Association of Broadcasters 1771 N Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036 Counsel for: NAB /s/ Jacob M. Lewis Clifford M. Harrington Jack McKay Pillsbury, Winthrop, Shaw & Pittman 2300 N Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037 Counsel for: Sinclair Broadcasting, Sinclair Acquisitions, WRGT, WVAH, and WTAT Licensee Glenn B. Manishin Duane Morris LLP 505 9 th Street, N.W. Suite 100 Washington, D.C. 20004 Case: 08-3078 Document: 00319839278 Page: 9 Date Filed: 10/01/2009