Affiliates ticked by Powell's news putdown.(Capital Watch)(Brief Article)

Broadcasting & Cable, November, 2003

Network affiliates say FCC Chairman Michael Powell is wrongly dissing their newscasts. The NAB and the Network Affiliated Stations Alliance penned a letter to Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain last week asking the Arizona Republican to ignore Powell's repeated assertion that network O&Os do a better job of local news than affiliates.

Powell's claim, a response to McCain's questions about the national TV-ownership cap, is based on FCC data that affiliates say ignores that their stations tend to be in smaller markets with less ad revenue to support newscasts. "The commission should explain why it refuses to address ... market size," the trade groups told McCain.