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 Federal  Communications  Commission  DA  00-  937 
 Before  the 
 Federal  Communications  Commission 
 Washington,  D.  C.  20554 


 In  the  Matter  of  : 
 Time  Warner  Inc. 
 Petition  for  Special  Relief 
 Requesting  Waiver  of 
 47  C.  F.  R.  §  76.501(  a) 


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 CSR  4998-  X 


 MEMORANDUM  OPINION  AND  ORDER 
 Adopted:  April  24,  2000  Released:  April  27,  2000 
 By  the  Chief,  Cable  Services  Bureau: 
 1.  In  connection  with  Time  Warner  Inc.  ’s  (“  TWI”)  merger  with  Turner  Broadcasting  System, 
 Inc.  (“  Turner”),  TWI  applied  to  the  Commission  for  consent  to  transfer  the  license  of  television  broadcast 
 station  WTBS(  TV),  channel  17,  Atlanta,  Georgia,  from  Turner  to  TWI.  TWI’s  application  requested  a 
 temporary  waiver  of  the  Commission’s  cable/  broadcast  television  cross-  ownership  rule  1  to  enable  it  to 
 divest  a  cable  system  serving  three  Georgia  counties  that  fall  within  the  predicted  Grade  B  contour  of 
 WTBS(  TV).  2  The  Commission  granted  TWI  a  twelve-  month  waiver  to  divest  the  cable  system.  3  In  the 
 temporary  waiver  grant,  the  Commission  instructed  TWI  to  take  actions  necessary  to  divest  itself  of  its 
 media  properties  that  would  be  inconsistent  with  Section  76.501(  a)  of  the  Commission’s  rules.  4  Thereafter, 
 TWI  filed  a  petition  for  special  relief  seeking  a  permanent  waiver  or,  alternatively,  an  extension  of  the 
 temporary  waiver  of  the  cable/  broadcast  television  cross-  ownership  rule  granted  on  October  9,  1996.  The 
 Bureau  denied  both  waiver  requests.  5 


 2.  TWI  next  requested  that  the  Bureau  stay  enforcement  of  Section  76.501(  a)  of  the 
 Commission’s  rules.  The  Bureau  granted  TWI’s  request  for  stay.  6  TWI  thereafter  filed  a  petition  for 


 1  47  C.  F.  R.  §  76.501(  a).  Section  76.501(  a)  of  the  Commission’s  rules  prohibits  cross-  ownership  of  a  cable 
 system  and  a  television  broadcast  station  when  the  station’s  predicted  Grade  B  contour  overlaps  some  or  all  of  the 
 cable  system’s  service  area. 
 2  TWI  directly  or  indirectly  owned  and  controlled  Summit  Communications  Group  which  served  in  excess 


 of  68,000  cable  subscribers  in  Cherokee,  Cobb  and  Fulton  counties  in  Georgia. 
 3  Turner  Broadcasting  System,  Inc.  and  Time  Warner,  Inc.,  11  FCC  Rcd  19595  (1996). 


 4  Id.  at  19613,  19615. 
 5  Time  Warner  Inc.  Petition  for  Special  Relief  Requesting  Waiver  of  47  C.  F.  R.  §  76.501(  a),  12  FCC  Rcd 
 15300  (CSB  1997). 
 6  Time  Warner  Inc.  Emergency  Request  for  Stay  Pending  Action  on  Petition  for  Reconsideration,  13  FCC 


 (continued…) 
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 Federal  Communications  Commission  DA  00-  937 
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 reconsideration  seeking  review  of  the  Bureau’s  decision  denying  its  request  for  permanent  or  extended 
 waiver.  TWI  has  now  filed  a  letter  stating  that  it  has  sold  the  cable  system  at  issue  to  MediaOne  Group, 
 Inc.  7  The  letter  requests  that  TWI’s  petition  for  reconsideration  be  withdrawn  as  a  result  of  its  sale. 


 3.  Accordingly,  IT  IS  ORDERED,  pursuant  to  Sections  4(  i)  and  405  of  the 
 Communications  Act  of  1934,  as  amended,  47  U.  S.  C.  §§  154(  i)  and  405,  authority  delegated  by  Section 
 0.321  of  the  Commission’s  Rules,  47  C.  F.  R.  §  0.321,  and  Section  1.106  of  the  Commission’s  Rules,  47 
 C.  F.  R.  §  1.106,  that  the  Petition  for  Reconsideration  and  the  associated  stay  requests  filed  by  Time  Warner 
 Inc.,  ARE  DISMISSED. 


 FEDERAL  COMMUNICATIONS  COMMISSION 


 Deborah  A.  Lathen 
 Chief,  Cable  Services  Bureau 


 (…  continued  from  previous  page) 
 Rcd  7934  (CSB  1997). 
 7  Letter  from  Arthur  H.  Harding,  Counsel  for  Time  Warner  Inc.  to  Magalie  Roman  Salas,  Secretary,  dated 


 September  21,  1999.  We  note  that  TWI  retained  the  otherwise  prohibited  interests  from  the  date  of  the  merger  in 
 1996  until  the  cable  system  was  sold  in  1999. 
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