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 Federal  Communications  Commission  DA  01-  528 
 Before  the 
 Federal  Communications  Commission 
 Washington,  D.  C.  20554 


 In  the  Matter  of 
 the  Applications  of 


 UTV  of  San  Francisco,  Inc.,  KCOP  Television, 
 Inc. 
 UTV  of  San  Antonio,  Inc.,  Oregon  Television, 
 Inc.,  UTV  of  Baltimore,  Inc.,  WWOR-  TV,  Inc., 
 and 
 UTV  of  Orlando,  Inc.  and  United  Television,  Inc. 
 (Assignors) 


 and 
 Fox  Television  Stations,  Inc. 
 (Assignee) 


 For  Consent  to  the  Assignment  of  Licenses 
 for  Stations  KBHK-  TV,  San  Francisco,  CA; 
 KCOP-  TV,  Los  Angeles,  CA;  KMOL-  TV, 
 San  Antonio,  TX;  KPTV-  TV,  Portland,  OR; 
 WUTB-  TV,  Baltimore,  MD;  WWOR-  TV, 
 Secaucus,  NJ;  WRBW-  TV,  Orlando,  FL; 
 KMSP-  TV,  Minneapolis,  MN;  KTVX-  TV, 
 Salt  Lake  City,  UT;  KUTP-  TV,  Phoenix,  AZ 


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 File  Nos.  BALCT-  20000918ABB, 
 ABC,  ABD,  ABF,  ABK,  ABL, 
 ABM,  ABN,  ABU,  ABY,  ABG, 
 ABH,  ABI,  ABJ,  ABO,  ABP, 
 ABQ,  ABR,  ABS,  ABV,  ABW, 
 ABX,  ABZ,  ACA,  ACB,  ACC, 
 ACD,  ACE 


 ORDER  ADOPTING  PROTECTIVE  ORDER 
 Adopted:  February  27,  2001  Released:  March  1,  2001 
 By  the  Chief,  Mass  Media  Bureau: 
 1.  On  December  13,  2000,  The  News  Corporation  Limited  (News  Corp.)  offered  to  provide 
 information  regarding  the  financial  condition  of  The  New  York  Post  to  assist  the  Commission  in  its 
 review  of  the  above-  referenced  assignment  applications,  conditioned  upon  Commission 
 confirmation  that  “any  and  all  financial  information”  FTS  may  provide  in  the  future  would  be 
 treated  as  confidential  under  Sections  0.457  and  0.459  of  the  Commission’s  rules.  47  C.  F.  R. 
 §§  0.457  and  0.459.  News  Corp.  asserted  that  the  information  was  entitled  to  confidential 
 treatment  prior  to  review  by  the  Commission  because  it  was  not  the  type  that  would  customarily 
 be  made  available  to  the  public,  and  because  disclosure  would  cause  competitive  harm.  On 
 December  21,  2000,  the  Mass  Media  Bureau  issued  a  Letter  of  Inquiry  that  dismissed  the  original 
 request  for  confidential  treatment  as  premature.  News  Corp.  responded  by  filing  a  financial 
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 Federal  Communications  Commission  DA  01-  528 
 2 
 document  on  January  25,  2001,  accompanied  by  a  second  request  for  confidential  treatment 
 reiterating  the  arguments  raised  in  the  initial  request.  News  Corp.  further  requested  issuance  of  a 
 Protective  Order. 


 2.  The  Office  of  Communications,  Inc.  of  the  United  Church  of  Christ,  et  al.  (Petitioners) 
 filed  three  objections  to  News  Corp.  ’s  confidentiality  requests.  The  Petitioners  argued  that  News 
 Corp.  failed  to  demonstrate  that  confidential  treatment  of  the  financial  information  was  consistent 
 with  Section  0.459  of  the  Commission’s  rules,  and  that  a  Protective  Order  was  not  appropriate 
 within  the  context  of  a  broadcast  assignment  application.  On  February  8,  2001,  however,  News 
 Corp.  and  the  Petitioners  notified  the  Bureau  that  an  agreement  had  been  reached  regarding  the 
 form  and  substance  of  a  proposed  Protective  Order.  News  Corp.  and  the  Petitioners  jointly 
 requested  that  the  Commission  release  a  decision  adopting  the  negotiated  Protective  Order. 


 3.  After  due  consideration,  we  are  persuaded  that  the  public  interest  would  be  served  by 
 approving  the  attached  Protective  Order  (Appendix  A)  which  reflects  the  agreement  negotiated 
 between  News  Corp.  and  the  Petitioners.  We  conclude  that  granting  the  attached  Protective 
 Order  will  facilitate  the  prompt  resolution  of  the  issues  raised  in  this  proceeding.  This  Order  does 
 not  constitute  a  resolution  of  the  merits  concerning  whether  the  confidential  documents  would  be 
 released  publicly  by  the  Commission  upon  a  proper  request  under  the  Freedom  of  Information  Act 
 (FOIA)  or  otherwise. 


 4.  Accordingly,  IT  IS  ORDERED,  that  the  request  for  approval  of  the  attached  Protective 
 Order  IS  GRANTED. 


 FEDERAL  COMMUNICATIONS  COMMISSION 


 Roy  J.  Stewart 
 Chief,  Mass  Media  Bureau 
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