Rules Of The Game

The rules have changed, to Sam Zell's detriment. The man who would be a media mogul in Chicago cannot have things quite as he might have wished. Blame the FCC on this one.

Who started up the television station when the industry was young and new? It was the World's Greatest Newspaper, the Chicago Tribune, that founded WGN as a small local station in Chicago. They created it, and so they owned it, and all was well in the world. WGN brought us Bozo's Circus and Lunchtime Little Theatre and Garfield Goose and a slew of Baby Boomer fodder. The FCC was fine with it. They probably liked watching Diver Dan and the Adventures of Clutch Cargo themselves.

Now Sam Zell is poised to buy up the lot, all that is part or parcel of the Tribune Company. Like a true White Sox fan, he's not having anything to do with the Cubs franchise, which will be sold separately. When the deal goes down, he'll own the biggest daily in Chicago, with the aura of Col. Robert McCormick floating through the halls of an architecturally significant building. The FCC, according to new rules put in place about thirty years ago, will not let him own WGN and its stable of stars. Weatherman Tom Skilling will not answer to Mr. Zell if it rains on a Harley Davidson parade.

The FCC wants diversity and competition, hence the law that prohibits consolidation of media in a single market. A newspaper, a radio station and a television station are too much for one company, and the Tribune got away with it because they had it before the law came into effect. Under a new owner, the grandfather clause is no longer valid, and Mr. Zell may have to divest some parts, or the Tribune Company will have to break up their empire and sell off the components.

The Tribune Co. is still working on obtaining waivers from the FCC in a few other markets where it bought up newspapers and took possession of television outlets. Their argument is an interesting one, pointing out the spawn from hell that is the Internet, the biggest competitor for television and newspapers. Why not let them own a paper and a channel, the logic goes, because whatever they put out is going out on the Internet as well, faster and cheaper. If that's not competition, well, take a look at how Internet access has cut the heart out of the printed page.

Market analysts ponder the mindset of the FCC commissioners, taking a political angle on the question. Will the Democratic members take a jaundiced look at a real estate billionaire taking possession of a staunchly Republican newspaper? Do these same analysts realize that Sam Zell is born, bred and residing in Highland Park, Illinois? Quick to brush off his place of residence with a snort, labelling the town as another in the string of high-end, conservative suburbs that hug the North Shore of Lake Michigan, but if they took a gander at the demographics, they would not be so fast. In a sea of conservative Republicanism, Highland Park is an island of liberal Democrats. The deal's not washed up yet.