Jared Huffman calls on FCC to reject sale of Eureka TV stations

March 31, 2022

Local television stations KIEM and KVIQ-LD are set to change ownership later this year and North Coast Rep. Jared Huffman is rallying to prevent the sale.

As announced on Wednesday by cable entertainment company INSP, affiliate company Imagicomm Communications will be acquiring 18 television stations across 12 U.S. markets from current owners Cox Media Group. The deal for an undisclosed amount is still subject to customary closing conditions and applicable regulatory approvals. Both entities are expected to close the transaction during the second half of 2022.

The two Eureka antennas were included as part of the deal. KIEM, channel 3, is the local NBC affiliate. KVIQ-LD, channel 14, is the local CBS affiliate.

The Times-Standard contacted INSP and Cox Media Group regarding the impact the transaction would have on the local stations. Cox Media Group declined to share anything beyond the news release. INSP did not respond by the Times-Standard publishing deadline.

Huffman (D-San Rafael) has previously proposed legislation to protect local broadcasters. In a statement to the Times-Standard, he called on the FCC to intervene in the exchange.

“Access to diverse and credible local news sources is essential to a robust democracy. We can’t allow media monopolies to keep expanding at the expense of customers who want unbiased local broadcasting, not messaging that conforms to a corporate, political or religious agenda. INSP is the successor corporation to the scandal-plagued PTL which was founded by televangelist grifters Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. It is rightwing religious media on steroids — hardly a fit for the local media market, and not a trustworthy purveyor of local news. I’ve been advocating against this kind of consolidation for years. We need the FCC to push back on this unfortunate trend and I am calling on them to reject this sale,” Huffman said.

Access Humboldt executive director Sean McLaughlin was not very familiar with the recently announced deal and what it entails for the two stations when reached by the Times-Standard, but stated his organization opposes non-local, absentee ownership of broadcasters by large conglomerates.

“Consolidated ownership of media is harmful to diversity of voices, and to getting local issues dealing with local needs and interests. We don’t like absentee ownership or concentrated ownership, and what we have is both right now. So this is a transaction that no one, local person will have any say in,” McLaughlin said.

Cox Media Group is not the only owner of multiple local stations. Sinclair Broadcast Group, the nation’s largest owner of local TV stations, acquired four local broadcasters in 2017. The company acquired ABC affiliate KAEF, Fox affiliate KBVU, CW affiliate KECA-LD and Univision affiliate KEUV-LP.

McLaughlin said the mass ownership removes access from local folks looking to contact the stations.

“We want more local ownership. We want less concentrated ownership. We need more diverse voices in our media — local, diverse ownership,” he said. “In a market like ours, every station should have a different owner, which should have somebody there, should be a locally available station. You should be able to go and talk to the owner of the station, but no, we have none of that.”

While Access Humboldt would like to see ownership closer to home, McLaughlin does recognize Cox managed the stations well.

“Cox was actually doing some strong work. They had that whole Spanish language newscast and they were sharing stuff on social media,” he said.


By:  Mario Cortez
Source: Eureka Times-Standard