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 For decades, U.S. media markets have operated under rules that
prohibit one owner from controlling both a newspaper and a
television or radio station in a single market.
More than a year ago, the previous FCC chairman, Julius Genachowski,
circulated a proposal that would have relaxed the ban, eliminating
the restrictions on one owner controlling a radio station and a
newspaper in the same market.
The current chairman, Tom Wheeler, took Genachowski's proposal off
circulation on Dec. 6, an FCC official said, adding that the
agency would soon follow up with further actions on the matter.
Congress requires the FCC to reassess its media ownership rules
every four years to make sure they are in the public interest. The
ongoing 2010 quadrennial review is now butting into the new 2014
one. Wheeler's proposals are expected to be part of the new
quadrennial review.
Many FCC staff and industry insiders have long said they had given
up on any major change coming from the 2010 review. Wheeler had been
expected to close the current proceeding or merge it with the new
one on his own terms.
The details of Genachowski's proposal were never made fully public
and, according to sources familiar with the proceeding, Genachowski
left the FCC without even casting his own vote on the proposal after
failing to corral the unanimous support of the other two Democratic
commissioners.
The matter has become a hot and sensitive topic.
Those who favor relaxed rules argue they are necessary to let big
media companies with TV-driven profits invest in and revitalize the
struggling newspaper industry. Those who support current or tighter
rules say that without restrictions, corporations might marginalize
women and minorities.
Both the broadcasting and the newspaper industries have urged more
flexible rules in hopes of spurring investment.
Several previous chairmen had made such proposals, but courts told
the FCC it did not properly study the impact of the rules on
diversity of viewpoints and diversity of media owners.
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The U.S. media marketplace, in the meantime, has seen continued
consolidation among newspaper and broadcast companies in part thanks
to the waivers the FCC has issued in some of the biggest markets.
This year, Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune publisher Tribune
Co announced plans to buy 19 TV stations, and the largest newspaper
chain, Gannett Co Inc, announced a deal to buy Belo Corp and its 20
local TV stations.
The FCC in February delayed its vote on the Genachowski proposal to
wait for an outside study that looked at how female and minority
broadcasters were affected by cross-ownership.
Released in May, the study from the Minority Media and
Telecommunications Council found female and minority broadcasters
did not appear concerned about one owner controlling newspapers,
radio and TV stations in the same market.
But the study faced an outcry from public interest groups, and the
review of FCC's rules was paused as Genachowski left.
The FCC has since also launched a study of Americans' information
needs and another on the Hispanic TV market.
The agency is also considering relaxing the limits on foreign
investment in U.S. broadcast companies.
(Reporting by Alina Selyukh; additional reporting by Sakthi Prasad
and Rohit T.K. in Bangalore; editing by David Gregorio)
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