Federal Communications Commission Washington, D.C. 20554 DA 10-2336 Released: December 10, 2010 Chicago Media Action and Milwaukee Public Interest Media Coalition c/o Andrew Jay Schwartzman, Esq. Media Access Project Suite 1000 1625 K Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20006 Re: Application for Review filed by Chicago Media Action and Milwaukee Public Interest Media Coalition Gentlemen: We have before us the Application for Review (“Application”) filed on February 16, 2010, by Chicago Media Action (“CMA”) and Milwaukee Public Interest Media Coalition (“MPIMC”) and the responsive pleadings thereto. For the reasons set forth below, we dismiss the Application. In the Application, CMA/MPIMC allege staff error of law in a series of decisions related to their petitions to deny the license renewal applications of television stations serving the Chicago and Milwaukee markets for failure to present adequate coverage of state and local elections during the final four weeks of the 2004 campaign.1 These latest allegations, however, are untimely and do not warrant further consideration. Section 1.115(d) of the Commission’s rules provides that an application for review “shall be filed within 30 days” of public notice of the action at issue.2 CMA/MPIMC satisfy this requirement only with respect to the 2010 Letter Decision, which correctly dismissed their Second Petition for Reconsideration as repetitious.3 They cannot, however, seek review of a procedurally faulty pleading and, thereby, bootstrap substantive arguments that otherwise would be untimely. 1 Chicago Media Action and Milwaukee Public Interest Media Coalition, 22 FCC Rcd 10877 (Vid. Div. 2007); Chicago Media Action and Milwaukee Public Interest Media Coalition, 23 FCC Rcd 10608 (Vid. Div. 2008); Chicago Media Action and Milwaukee Public Interest Media Coalition, 25 FCC Rcd 167 (Vid. Div. 2010) (“2010 Letter Decision”). 2 47 C.F.R. § 1.115(d). 3 See Great Lakes Broadcast Academy, Inc., Memorandum Opinion and Order, 19 FCC Rcd 11655, 11656 (2004) (observing that “neither [the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, nor the Commission’s rules] provides for the filing of a second petition for reconsideration should the original petition be denied” and that “[i]f the ‘tacking’ of petitions were permitted, Commission actions might never become final and the rule would become nugatory”) (citing Brainerd Broadcasting Co., 25 RR 297, 298 (1963)). 2 Accordingly, the Application for Review filed by Chicago Media Action and the Milwaukee Public Interest Media Coalition IS DISMISSED. Sincerely, Barbara A. Kreisman Chief, Video Division Media Bureau cc: Howard F. Jaeckel CBS 1515 Broadway New York, NY 10036 WBBM-TV Margaret Tobey NBC Telemundo License Co. 1299 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW 11th Floor Washington, DC 20004 WSNS-TV; WMAQ-TV R. Clark Wadlow Sidley Austin Brown & Wood LLP 1501 K Street NW Washington, DC 20005 WGN-TV J. Brian DeBoice Cohn and Marks, LLP 1920 N Street, NW Suite 300 Washington, DC 20036 WCIU-TV; WDJT-TV; WMLW-TV John R. Feore, Jr. M. Ann Swanson Dow, Lohnes & Albertson, PLLC 1200 New Hampshire Avenue, NW Suite 800 Washington, DC 20036 WCPX-TV; WPXE-TV 3 Mace J. Rosenstein Covington & Burling LLP 1201 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20004 WTMJ-TV Mark J. Prak Brooks Pierce McLendon Humphrey & Leonard, LLP 1600 Wachovia Capitol Center 150 Fayetteville Street Mall Raleigh, NC 27601 WISN-TV Denise B. Moline Law Offices of Denise B. Moline 358 Pines Boulevard Lake Villa, IL 60046 WJJA-TV Richard R. Zaragoza Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman 2300 N Street, NW Washington, DC 20037 Illinois Broadcasters Association Wisconsin Broadcasters Association WCGV-TV; WVTV-TV John W. Zucker ABC, Inc. 77 West 66th Street 16th Floor New York, NY 10023 WLS-TV Colby M. May Law Offices of Colby M. May 205 Third Street, SE Washington, DC 20003 WWRS-TV Antoinette Cook Bush Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP 1440 New York Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20016 WFLD-TV; WPWR-TV; WITI-TV 4 James R. Bayes Wayne D. Johnsen Wiley Rein LLP 1776 K Street, NW Washington, DC 20006 WVCY-TV