Editing Local marketing agreement (section)

==Uses==
===Consolidation===
The most common use of an LMA in television broadcasting is to create a "virtual duopoly", where the stations operated under the agreement are consolidated into a single entity. The operations of the stations can be streamlined for cost-effectiveness through the sharing of resources, such as facilities, advertising sales, personnel and programming.<ref name=tvnc-fire/> Many broadcasters that engage in the practice believe that such agreements are beneficial to the survival of television stations – especially in smaller markets, where the overall audience reach is considerably less than that of markets that are centered upon densely populated [[metropolitan area]]s, and the cost savings achieved through the consolidation of resources and staff may be necessary to fund a station's continued operation.<ref name=tvnc-fire/><ref name="nyt-change"/>

Sharing agreements may also be used as a loophole to control television stations in situations where it is legally impossible to own them outright. For instance, FCC regulations only allowed a single company to own more than one full-powered television station in a given market if there are at least eight distinct station owners, and also prohibits the ownership of two or more of the four highest-rated stations (based on total day viewership) in a market. An LMA or similar agreement does not affect the ownership of the station's license, meaning that they do not require the approval of the FCC to establish, and the two stations are still legally considered separate operations from a licensing standpoint.<ref name="nyt-change"/> Both [[Tribune Media]] and the [[Gannett|Gannett Company]] were required to use shared services agreements as a similar loophole to take control of certain stations in their respective 2013 purchases of [[Local TV LLC|Local TV]] and [[Belo Corporation|Belo]], as they did not have exemptions to the FCC's [[Media cross-ownership in the United States|newspaper cross-ownership restrictions]] in the affected markets.<ref name="adweek-gannett">{{cite journal|title=Public Interest Groups, Cable Companies Oppose Gannett-Belo Merger|url=http://www.adweek.com/news/television/public-interest-groups-cable-companies-oppose-gannett-belo-merger-151425|author=Katy Bachman|journal=[[Adweek]]|publisher=[[Prometheus Global Media]]|date=July 25, 2013}}</ref><ref name="dp-saletotribune">{{cite news|title=''Daily Press'' owner Tribune Co. to buy 19 TV stations, including WTKR |url=http://www.dailypress.com/business/tidewater/dp-nws-tribune-daily-press-buys-wtkr-20130701,0,6214410.story |author=Sarah J. Pawloski |work=[[Daily Press (Virginia)|Daily Press]] |date=July 2, 2013 |access-date=July 2, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130707182952/http://www.dailypress.com/business/tidewater/dp-nws-tribune-daily-press-buys-wtkr-20130701%2C0%2C6214410.story |archive-date=July 7, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Both companies have since spun out their publishing arms as independent companies; the [[Tribune Publishing Company]] and Gannett Company. [[Tegna Inc.|Tegna]], who holds the former Gannett's broadcasting and digital media properties, re-acquired the licenses for most of the affected stations following the split.<ref name=fcc-saletotegnacomplete/><ref name="usat-tegna">{{cite news|title=Gannett to change name to TEGNA amid print unit spinoff|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2015/04/21/gannett-changes-name-to-tegna/26127343/|author=Roger Yu|newspaper=[[USA Today]]|publisher=[[Gannett Company]]|date=April 21, 2015|access-date=April 21, 2015}}</ref> On November 16, 2017, under the [[First presidency of Donald Trump|Trump administration]], the FCC voted in favor of removing the requirement for a market to still have eight distinct station owners in order to allow duopolies, but the prohibition of owning two of the top four stations in a market remains.<ref name="bc-deregulate"/>

Broadcasters could also collect carriage fees for the stations they operate under sharing agreements on behalf of their owner, often bundling its carriage agreements with those of stations they own outright. This could, especially in LMAs between two stations affiliated with the "major" networks, allow the broadcaster to charge higher fees for [[retransmission consent]] to television providers for carrying the stations, which could result in smaller cable companies not being able to afford the higher fees imposed. Cable television providers advocated barring sharing agreements between television stations for this particular reason. In the United States, the FCC no longer allows broadcasters to collude with one another in negotiating retransmission consent fees.<ref name=tvnc-jointretrans/><ref name=tvnc-fire/><ref name="nyt-change"/>

===Operation on behalf of a third-party owner===
Although the majority of LMAs involve the outsourcing of one television station's operations to another, occasionally, a company may operate a station under an LMA, JSA or SSA even if it does not already own a station in that market. One example occurred in December 2013, when the Louisiana Media Company (owned by [[New Orleans Saints]] and [[New Orleans Hornets]] owner [[Tom Benson]]) entered into a shared services agreement with [[Raycom Media]] to run the former company's [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] affiliate in [[New Orleans]], [[Louisiana]], [[WVUE-DT]]; while Louisiana Media Company retained the station's ownership and license, other assets were assumed by Raycom, which owns stations in markets adjacent to New Orleans (including [[WAFB|Baton Rouge]], [[WLBT|Jackson]], [[WLOX-TV|Biloxi]], [[KPLC|Lake Charles]] and [[KSLA-TV|Shreveport]]) but not within New Orleans itself. Benson had received offers from Raycom and others to buy the station, but was not prepared to sell WVUE outright.<ref name="nola-vueraycom">{{cite news|title=Harry Connick Jr. may be a player in the 10 p.m. race between WWL, WVUE – both under new management|url=http://www.nola.com/tv/index.ssf/2014/01/harry_connick_jr_may_be_a_majo.html|author=Dave Walker|work=NOLA.com ([[The Times-Picayune]])|publisher=[[Advance Publications]]|date=January 15, 2014|access-date=January 22, 2014}}</ref><ref name="nola-raycomssa">{{cite news|url=http://www.nola.com/tv/index.ssf/2013/11/wvue_enters_into_shared-servic.html|title=WVUE enters into shared-services agreement with Raycom Media|author=Dave Walker|work=NOLA.com (The Times-Picayune)|publisher=[[Advance Publications]]|date=November 20, 2013|access-date=November 20, 2013}}</ref> On April 4, 2017, Raycom acquired the station for $51.8 million.<ref>{{cite web|title=Raycom Buys WVUE New Orleans For $51.8M|url=http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/102939/raycom-buys-wvue-new-orleans-for-518m|author=Harry A. Jessell|website=TVNewsCheck|publisher=NewsCheck Media|date=April 4, 2017|access-date=April 4, 2017}}</ref>

===Foreign control of broadcast outlets===
{{See also|Border blaster}}
LMAs can also allow companies to control foreign stations from outside of their respective country; Canadian media company [[Rogers Media]] used a joint sales agreement to operate [[Cape Vincent, New York|Cape Vincent]], [[New York (state)|New York]] radio station [[WLYK]] as a station targeting the nearby Canadian market of [[Kingston, Ontario|Kingston]], [[Ontario]], where it owns [[CKXC-FM]] and [[CIKR-FM]]. Rogers owned a 47% stake in WLYK's licensee, Border International Broadcasting.<ref name="fcc-rogerswlyk">{{cite web|title=FCC 323 (Ownership Report for Commercial Broadcast Stations)|url=http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1443431&Service=FM&Form_id=322&Facility_id=8567|publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]]|date=March 2013|access-date=June 19, 2013}}</ref><ref name="rinsight-wlyk">{{cite web|title=WLYK Relaunches as Adult Contemporary|url=http://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/70427/wlyk-relaunches-as-adult-contemporary/|author=Lance Venta|publisher=RadioBB Networks|work=RadioInsight|date=September 9, 2012|access-date=March 9, 2014}}</ref> In 2022, the principal owners of [[My Broadcasting Corporation]] acquired Border International Broadcasting via 1234567 Corporation, and assumed operations in February 2023.<ref name="ri-wlykpolestunt">{{cite news |last1=Venta |first1=Lance |date=February 28, 2023 |title=WLYK Hits A Pole |url=https://radioinsight.com/headlines/249253/wlyk-hits-a-pole/ |access-date=February 28, 2023 |work=RadioInsight}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-12-18 |title=Canadian Operators Acquire Upstate New York Signal |url=https://radioinsight.com/headlines/246247/canadian-operator-acquires-upstate-new-york-signal/ |access-date=2022-12-19 |website=RadioInsight |language=en-US}}</ref>

Similarly, [[Entravision Communications Corporation]] controls [[XHDTV-TDT]], a [[Tijuana]], Mexico-based station owned by Televisora Alco, which operated as an English-language station serving the border market of [[San Diego]].<ref name="fcc-xhdtv">{{cite web|url=https://licensing.fcc.gov/myibfs/welcome.do|title=Permit to Deliver Programs to Foreign Broadcast Stations|publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]]|date=January 8, 2009|access-date=March 31, 2014}}</ref>