Saban Opinion Morphs on Must-Carry

Yet another case of what they own determines what they say.

Almost eight years ago, then-Fox Family Channel president Rich Cronin, along with nearly two dozen other cable programming executives, stormed Federal Communications Commission headquarters in Washington, D.C., to meet with top agency leaders.

Their message: No more cable carriage handouts for local TV stations.

“They urged the [FCC] not to adopt digital must carry rules, which would unfairly put every broadcast station ahead of any cable program network and would result in a loss of program diversity,” National Cable & Telecommunications Association VP Jill Luckett explained in a memo on file at the FCC.

Fox Family Channel’s role then is somewhat ironic today as FCC chairman Kevin Martin attempts to force cable operators to transmit so-called must carry stations in both analog and digital on systems that have not converted completely to digital after Feb. 17, 2009.

In 1999, Fox Family Channel was approximately half owned by Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers entrepreneur Haim Saban, who made a fortune when he and News Corp. sold the channel and other assets to Walt Disney Co. for $5.3 billion in 2001.

Earlier this year, Saban kicked in $300 million to the $12.3 billion private equity takeover of Spanish-language broadcaster Univision Communications Inc., which owns and operates 60 full and low power TV stations.

As the deal was about to close, Saban and partners installed Joe Uva as Univision CEO. In an Aug. 24 letter to the FCC, Uva did not take the same position on cable carriage issues that Cronin did when he was working for Saban’s Fox Family Channel.

“The FCC’s proposal would ensure that all must carry television station signals will remain `viewable’ on all television sets connected to a cable operator’s system,” Uva said, applauding Martin’s de facto dual carriage requirement.

That a Saban-affiliated entity has shown up on both sides of the must carry debate at the FCC isn’t the only irony.

Here’s another: One of Univision’s largest owners is Providence Equity Partners, where former FCC chairman Michael Powell is a senior adviser. During his seven years at the FCC, Powell twice helped to scuttle some of the same cable carriage mandates that Martin is advancing today for the benefit of hundreds of local TV stations, including Univision.