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                            Before the
                Federal Communications Commission
                      Washington, D.C. 20554

In re Application of            )
                                )
MEREDITH CORPORATION            )  File No. BPCT-960626KE
                                )
For Construction Permit to Modify the)
Licensed Facilities of Television Station)
WOFL(TV), Orlando, Florida      )

                  MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

   Adopted:  November 3, 1998           Released: November 5, 1998

By the Chief, Mass Media Bureau:


     1. The Commission, by the Chief, Mass Media Bureau, acting pursuant to delegated
authority, has before it for consideration the above-captioned unopposed application of Meredith
Corporation (Meredith) for a construction permit to modify the licensed facilities of television
station WOFL(TV) (FOX), Channel 35, Orlando, Florida ("WOFL").  Meredith is also the licensee
of WOGX-TV (FOX), Channel 51, Ocala, Florida ("WOGX").  Because the Grade B contour of
WOFL's proposed facilities overlaps the Grade B contour of WOGX, Meredith requests a waiver
of the Commission's television duopoly rule, 47 CFR  73.3555(b), to allow common ownership of
WOFL as modified and WOGX.

     2.  Background.  Previously, in Letter to John Newcomb from Barbara A. Kreisman, Chief,
Video Services Division (September 1, 1995), the Commission granted Meredith a permanent
duopoly waiver based on the de minimis nature of the two stations' overlapping Grade B contours. 
The Commission has characterized a de minimis signal overlap as one in which the overlap area
represents less than 1% of both the area and population of the Grade B contour of each station.  See
Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc., 2 FCC Rcd 7374 (1987).  As demonstrated in the engineering exhibit
included with the WOFL modification application, the proposed changes to the facilities of WOFL
will, for the most part, increase the amount of Grade B overlap with WOGX, both in terms of land
area and population, to more than 1%.  Therefore, the overlap is no longer de minimis. 
Nevertheless, Meredith maintains that a grant of a further duopoly waiver would be consistent with
Commission precedent and the public interest.


     3. Duopoly Waiver Request. Meredith's engineering exhibit demonstrates that, even after
WOFL modifies its facilities, there will be no Grade A contour overlap between WOFL and WOGX. 
According to Meredith's calculations, the Grade B overlap area of the proposed facilities of WOFL
and WOGX encompasses 15,063 individuals and 318 square kilometers, comprising approximately
0.73% of the population and 1.75% of the land area within WOFL's proposed Grade B contour and
2.5% of the population and 2.1% of the land area within WOGX's Grade B contour.  Meredith
contends that the extent of the overlap created by the proposed modification is well below the
thresholds granted by the Commission in recent overlap cases.

     4.  Meredith calculates that a total of 12 television stations (10 commercial and 2
noncommercial), excluding WOFL and WOGX, serve part or all of the Grade B overlap area. 
Meredith states that the area is served by at least 8 AM radio stations providing at least a 0.5 mV/m
signal and 26 FM radio stations providing at least a 1 mV/m signal over the entire overlap area. 
Additionally, Meredith states that the overlap area is served by 27 cable television operators with
a cable penetration rate of 78% and 4 daily newspapers.

     5.  Meredith maintains that the Ocala and Orlando television markets are quite distinct and
that each community is located in a different Designated Market Area ("DMA").  Ocala is located
in the Gainesville DMA, the 167th largest, and Orlando in the Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne
DMA, the 22nd largest.  Meredith states that these communities are located approximately 70 miles
apart and the stations serve different geographic areas.  WOGX, licensed to Ocala, serves the western
side of Florida, with its Grade B signal reaching the Gulf of Mexico.  In contrast, WOFL, licensed
to Orlando, serves the central and eastern portions of the state, with its Grade B contour reaching the
Atlantic Ocean.  Meredith points out that grant of the WOFL modification application will not
permit the station's Grade B signal to be received in any additional counties located in the overlap
area.
          
     6.  Meredith states that, in order to achieve staffing efficiencies and to avoid duplication of
resources in operating WOGX, some WOFL department heads hold combined responsibilities for
both WOFL and WOGX in management, news, sales, traffic, promotion, business, production,
programming, and engineering.  However, Meredith notes that it employs 22 persons full-time
whose responsibilities are dedicated solely to the operation of WOGX.  As for programming, both
stations are Fox affiliates and Meredith states that all WOGX programming originates from the
WOFL studios.  The 30 minute news program broadcast daily on both stations is dedicated
exclusively to Ocala-Gainesville news with reports gathered by WOGX news staff.  The opening
nine minute segment of the news program is separately programmed for each television station,
providing a discrete, locally-oriented opening news summary to each station's audience.   

     7.  Discussion.  In adopting the duopoly rule's fixed standard of prohibiting overlap of Grade
B service contours, the Commission also acknowledged the need for "flexibility" in that rule's
application, noting that waivers should be granted where rigid conformance to the rule would be
"inappropriate."  Multiple Ownership of Standard, FM and Television Broadcast Stations, 45 FCC
2d 1476, 1479 n.12, recon. granted in part, 3 RR 2d 1554 (1964).  To that end, the Commission has
developed a set of factors to be considered when evaluating an applicant's request for waiver of the
duopoly rule, including the extent of the overlap, the number of media voices available in the overlap
area, the distinctness of the respective markets, the independence of the stations' operations, and the
concentration of economic power resulting from the combination.  See Iowa State University
Broadcasting Corporation, 9 FCC Rcd 481, 487-88 (1993), aff'd sub nom. Iowans for WOI-TV, Inc.
v. FCC, 50 F.3d 1096 (D.C. Cir. 1995); H&C Communications, Inc., 9 FCC Rcd 144, 146 (1993). 
After weighing the factors, the Commission considers any public interest benefits proposed by the
applicant to determine whether, in light of the overlap, the benefits outweigh any detriment which
may occur from grant of the waiver.  See, e.g., Iowa State University, 9 FCC Rcd at 487-88.  As with
any waiver, it will only be granted if the Commission concludes that the waiver is in the public
interest.

     8. Currently, the Commission is reexamining its broadcast television ownership policies,
including the duopoly rule.  In January 1995, the Commission proposed a new analytical framework
within which to evaluate its broadcast television ownership rules.  See Television Ownership Further
Notice, supra.  Subsequent to the release of the Television Ownership Further Notice, Congress
directed the Commission to conduct a rulemaking proceeding to determine whether to retain, modify
or eliminate existing limitations on the number of television stations that an entity may control
within the same television market.  See Section 202(c) of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Pub.
L. No. 104-104, 110 Stat. 56 (Feb. 8, 1996) ("Telecomm Act").  In response to this Congressional
directive in the Telecomm Act and to update the record, the Commission released the Television
Ownership Second Further Notice.  In that Second Further Notice, the Commission tentatively
concluded to authorize common ownership of television stations that are in separate DMAs and
whose Grade A contours do not overlap.  Television Ownership Second Further Notice at  57.

     9. The Commission stated in the Television Ownership Second Further Notice that it will be
inclined, during the pendency of the television ownership proceeding, to grant temporary duopoly
waivers involving stations in different DMAs with no overlapping Grade A contours, conditioned
on coming into compliance with the outcome of the proceeding within six months of its conclusion. 
It also noted there its tentative conclusion that the record in that proceeding "supports relaxation of
the geographic scope of the duopoly rule from its current Grade B overlap standard to a standard
based on DMAs supplemented with a Grade A overlap criterion."  Id. at  57.  The Commission
further stated that "we do not believe granting waivers satisfying the proposed standard, and
conditioning them on the outcome of this proceeding, will adversely affect our competition and
diversity goals in the interim."  Id.  Additionally, the Commission gave the staff delegated authority
to act on applications seeking waivers consistent with this interim policy.  Id.  

     10.  Given the clearly articulated policy in the Television Ownership Second Further Notice,
we do not believe that an unconditional grant of a duopoly waiver to permit common ownership of
the modified facilities of WOFL and WOGX is appropriate.  See WHOA-TV, Inc., 11 FCC Rcd
20041, 20046-47 & 20051 (1996).  However, we believe that grant of a conditional waiver of the
duopoly rule, subject to the outcome of the pending ownership proceeding, is justified in this case. 
The temporary common ownership of the modified facilities of WOFL and the licensed facilities of
WOGX would be consistent with the interim policy set forth in the Television Ownership Second
Further Notice, as the stations are in separate DMA's and there is no Grade A overlap between them. 
Moreover, our examination of the record presented here reveals nothing suggesting that we should
not follow the established interim policy in this case.  Accordingly, we conclude that grant of a
temporary waiver, conditioned on the resolution of the pending broadcast television ownership
rulemaking, will serve the public interest, convenience and necessity.  Any requests to extend this
conditional waiver should be filed at least 45 days prior to the end of the six-month period and would
be closely scrutinized.  Additionally, we find Meredith has met our technical requirements and we
grant the application for modification of WOFL.  
     
      11.  Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, that the request for a conditional waiver of Section
73.3555(b) IS GRANTED to permit the common ownership of the modified facilities of WOFL and
WOGX, subject to the outcome of the Commission's pending broadcast ownership rulemaking in
MM Docket Nos. 91-221 and 87-8.  Should divestiture be required as a result of that proceeding,
Meredith Corporation is directed to file, within six months from the release of the final order in MM
Docket Nos. 91-221 and 87-8, an application for Commission consent to dispose of such station as
would be necessary for it to come into compliance with the rules as provided in the final order.

     12.  IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, that the application for modification of license of
WOFL(TV), Orlando, Florida (BPCT-960626KE) IS GRANTED. 
 
                              FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION



                              Roy J. Stewart
                              Chief, Mass Media Bureau