The FCC Media Bureau should reverse a market...

The FCC Media Bureau should reverse a market modification decision to give WHIO-TV Dayton must-carry status in 23 communities in the area of Ohio’s Auglaize County, said Block Communications in an application for review (http://bit.ly/19YTik3). “Unless reversed, the decision will produce a result inconsistent with the purpose of the must carry rules and undermine, rather than further, localism,” said the filing. WHIO licensee Miami Valley Broadcasting -- an affiliate of Cox Media -- filed a request Tuesday for a time extension to respond to Block’s application for review (http://bit.ly/1kYUjg5). Block owns Lima, Ohio, stations WLIO and WOHL, and had opposed WHIO’s must-carry petition. The bureau did not give enough weight to the Block stations’ historical carriage and “superior” signal coverage, said the application for review. The must-carry decision “directly conflicts with the statute, case precedent and established Commission policy,” said the Block application.