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FCC Loosens Cross-Media Ownership Ban

Posted Dec 18, 07 4:05 PM CST in Politics,  Business,  Technology,  US 

(Newser) – The FCC loosened a 32-year-old ban on simultaneous ownership of a newspaper and a radio or TV station in the same city today, the Washington Post reports. The commission voted 3-2 along party lines after a dispute-filled meeting. Afterward, one of the Democratic commissioners said, "Powerful companies are using political muscle to sneak through rule changes that let them profit at the expense of the public interest."

Chairman Kevin Martin had pushed the rule change, which allows a newspaper in a top-20 media market to merge with a broadcast station as long as the station is not one of the city’s four most popular. In a contrasting decision, a measure banning cable companies from servicing more than 30% of the US market drew fire from a Republican commissioner, who called it "archaic."

Sources Washington Post, Bloomberg

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Members of the activist group Code Pink, including co-founder Medea Benjamin, third from right, demonstrate during a hearing at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in Washington, Tuesday, Dec....   (Associated Press)
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein speaks during a hearing regarding lifting the ban on cross-media ownership, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2007, at FCC headquarters in Washington....   (Associated Press)
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Kyle Copps, left, speaks during a hearing regarding lifting the ban on cross-media ownership, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2007, at FCC headquarters in Washington....   (Associated Press)
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Kevin Martin speaks during a hearing regarding lifting the ban on cross-media ownership, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2007, at FCC headquarters in Washington. (AP...   (Associated Press)
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