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FillmoreSlim · 06-02-2003, 01:40 AM

WASHINGTON, June 2 (Reuters) - New rules allowing media companies to expand their reach are expected to be approved on Monday by a divided U.S. Federal Communications Commission amid fears the move may reduce the variety of viewpoints available to consumers.

After months of debate and lobbying by companies and consumer advocates, the three Republican commissioners are likely to approve the new rules despite the objections of the two Democrats on the panel. Their meeting is due to start at 9:30 a.m. EDT (1330 GMT).

The new rules could lead to the television networks gobbling up more local stations while other changes will allow companies to own two stations in more markets, and newspapers to buy television stations that serve the same markets.

"The changes ... affect everybody, but I don't think you're going to see a big rush of big deals -- mostly trades, swaps, one-off deals between companies," said Blair Levin, a former FCC official and now analyst at Legg Mason.

The push to change the decades-old media ownership limits follows federal appeals court criticism that the FCC had not justified the need for them.

FCC Chairman Michael Powell brokered a compromise on relaxing the rules with his fellow Republican commissioners that he believes reflects the proliferation of new cable and Internet sources for entertainment, information and news.

But FCC Commissioners Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps, both Democrats, have sided with a wide array of interest groups who oppose relaxing the rules for fear that independent voices would be silenced and local reporting would suffer.

Media conglomerates lobbied the FCC for even looser rules or their elimination. Many industry experts think the new rules are almost certain to be challenged in court.

At its meeting, the FCC is expected to continue a ban on mergers among the four largest television networks -- ABC owned by Walt Disney Co. DIS.N , CBS owned by Viacom Inc. VIAb.N , News Corp.'s NCP.AX Fox network and NBC, run by General Electric GE.N .

The FCC is likely to leave alone limits on radio stations, but modify how the markets are defined to prevent a company from owning all the stations that serve a city.

Clear Channel Communications Inc. CCU.N owns almost 1,200 and has been pilloried by lawmakers and consumer groups for dominating the airwaves in small towns and cities. While the FCC will take action to prevent that from happening again, the agency is not expected to try to break the company's grip.

06-02-2003, 01:40 AM
FillmoreSlim Confirmed User Join Date: May 2003 Location: streetz Posts: 1,236	FCC poised to ease media ownership limits WASHINGTON, June 2 (Reuters) - New rules allowing media companies to expand their reach are expected to be approved on Monday by a divided U.S. Federal Communications Commission amid fears the move may reduce the variety of viewpoints available to consumers. After months of debate and lobbying by companies and consumer advocates, the three Republican commissioners are likely to approve the new rules despite the objections of the two Democrats on the panel. Their meeting is due to start at 9:30 a.m. EDT (1330 GMT). The new rules could lead to the television networks gobbling up more local stations while other changes will allow companies to own two stations in more markets, and newspapers to buy television stations that serve the same markets. "The changes ... affect everybody, but I don't think you're going to see a big rush of big deals -- mostly trades, swaps, one-off deals between companies," said Blair Levin, a former FCC official and now analyst at Legg Mason. The push to change the decades-old media ownership limits follows federal appeals court criticism that the FCC had not justified the need for them. FCC Chairman Michael Powell brokered a compromise on relaxing the rules with his fellow Republican commissioners that he believes reflects the proliferation of new cable and Internet sources for entertainment, information and news. But FCC Commissioners Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps, both Democrats, have sided with a wide array of interest groups who oppose relaxing the rules for fear that independent voices would be silenced and local reporting would suffer. Media conglomerates lobbied the FCC for even looser rules or their elimination. Many industry experts think the new rules are almost certain to be challenged in court. At its meeting, the FCC is expected to continue a ban on mergers among the four largest television networks -- ABC owned by Walt Disney Co. DIS.N , CBS owned by Viacom Inc. VIAb.N , News Corp.'s NCP.AX Fox network and NBC, run by General Electric GE.N . The FCC is likely to leave alone limits on radio stations, but modify how the markets are defined to prevent a company from owning all the stations that serve a city. Clear Channel Communications Inc. CCU.N owns almost 1,200 and has been pilloried by lawmakers and consumer groups for dominating the airwaves in small towns and cities. While the FCC will take action to prevent that from happening again, the agency is not expected to try to break the company's grip. __________________ New and Improved Chameleon Submitter 2.0 - Submit to TGP and MGP sites - GET YOURS TODAY!