FCC Seeks Comments on Media Ownership Rules—Again
The FCC wants further comment on media ownership rules to address a federal court ruling that thwarted the Commission’s relaxation of media limits, FCC sources said. At its July 14 meeting, the FCC is expected to issue a further notice of proposed rulemaking on media ownership rules remanded by the 3rd U.S. Appeals Court, Philadelphia, sources said.
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The issue of the UHF discount, which counts the audience reach of UHF stations as half that of VHF stations, likely will not come up at the meeting, a source said. The court had found the UHF issue to be mooted by congressional action. The FCC also won’t address the media ownership cap, which the court also ruled mooted by congressional action.
In 2003 the Republication-dominated FCC completed 2 years of review, voting 3-2 along party lines to ease decades-old ownership restrictions. The changes included letting a single company own TV stations and newspapers in the same area. The court faulted the FCC’s decisions, mainly its diversity index, that loosened restrictions on local-cross media ownership and local TV ownership. But the court upheld an agency decision to keep a bar against combinations of top-4 stations in local markets. The Bush Administration opted not to appeal the lower court ruling to the Supreme Court.
The Media Access Project welcomed the Commission’s plan to move forward on media ownership, said MAP Pres. Andrew Schwartzman. Addressing the issue at this time is a “tad ambitious” due to recent changes at the Media Bureau, he said, predicting “it may take a bit longer” to solidify new rules.
Also on the FCC agenda from the Media Bureau is an order on DTV must carry, a source said. A draft circulating on the 8th floor would let broadcasters elect for cable to carry either their analog or digital signals. Both signals can’t be carried, the source said. The FCC also will issue a notice of proposed rule making on broadcasters’ closed captioning rules. Further details weren’t available.