58 Properties:  The company’s broadcasting facilities are ade- quately equipped with the necessary television broadcasting equipment. The company owns transmitter sites in 23 locations and leases sites in eight others.  During the past five years, new broadcasting facilities or  substantial improvements to existing facilities were completed in Phoenix, Jacksonville, Knoxville and Columbia. A new facility was completed in December 2000 in Cleveland. Facility expan- sion to accommodate Digital Television (DTV) was completed at five sites in 1998/1999, three sites in 2000 and one site in 2001. Twelve additional station facilities are scheduled to be converted to DTV in 2002. The company’s broadcast facilities are adequate for present purposes.  Competition:  In each of its broadcasting markets, the compa- ny’s stations compete for revenues with other network-affiliated and independent television and radio broadcasters and with other advertising media, such as cable television, newspapers, magazines and outdoor advertising. The stations also compete in the emerging local electronic media space, which includes Internet or Internet-enabled devices and any digital spectrum opportunities associated with DTV. The company’s broadcasting stations compete principally on the basis of their market share, advertising rates and audience composition. Local news is most important to a station’s success, and there is a growing emphasis on other forms of programming that relate to the local community. Network and syndicated programming constitute the majority of all other programming broadcast on the company’s television stations, and the company’s competitive position is directly affected by viewer acceptance of this pro- gramming. Other sources of present and potential competition for the company’s broadcasting properties include pay cable, home video and audio recorders and video disc players, direct broadcast satellite and low power television. Some of these  competing services have the potential of providing improved  signal reception or increased home entertainment selection,  and they are continuing development and expansion. Pursuant to the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act of 1999, several of the company’s television stations are currently being delivered by satellite carriers to subscribers within the  stations’ market. The company has entered into retransmission consent agreements with satellite carriers that authorize such delivery that expire in mid-2004. This law also permits satellite carriers to retransmit distant network television stations into areas served by local television stations if it is determined, using FCC-approved signal strength measurement standards, that local stations do not deliver an acceptable viewing signal. Additional information about the company’s television  stations may be found on page 69 of this annual report. The FCC rules permit common ownership of a number (depending on market size) of radio stations and television  stations serving the same community but continue to prohibit a party from having attributable interests in television stations that collectively reach more than 35 percent of all U.S. television households. The FCC will continue to review this limitation as required by Congress, and as it was specifically ordered to do so by a federal court in February 2002. Constitutional challenges to these ownership restrictions are pending in several federal courts. Presently, the company’s 22 television stations reach an aggregate of 17.7% of U.S. TV households.  FCC Regulations also prohibit concentrations of broadcasting control and regulate network programming. FCC Regulations  governing multiple ownership limit, or in some cases, prohibit the common ownership or control of most communications media serving common market areas (for example, television and radio; television and daily newspapers; radio and daily newspa- pers; or television and cable television). The FCC’s broadcast ownership rules permit common ownership of two television stations in the same market, provided eight independently owned television stations remain in the market following the combina- tion and provided that at least one of the commonly owned  stations is not among the market’s top four rated stations. It is under this standard that the company acquired a second televi- sion station in the Jacksonville, Fla. The FCC has instituted a rule-making proceeding to examine possible modifications to  the daily newspaper/television broadcast ownership restrictions. Television broadcast licenses are granted for periods of eight years. They are renewable by broadcasters upon application to  the FCC and usually are renewed except in rare cases in which a conflicting application, a petition to deny, a complaint or an adverse finding as to the licensee’s qualifications results in loss of the license. The company believes it is in substantial compliance with all applicable provisions of the Communications Act and FCC Regulations. Regulation: The company’s television stations are operated under the authority of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) under the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (Communications Act), and the rules and policies of the FCC (FCC Regulations).