FCC Chairman Defends Easing of Rules
Mon Jun 2, 1:36 AM ET Add U.S. Government - AP to My Yahoo!
By DAVID HO, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - A move to ease rules governing ownership of newspapers and television and radio stations will not lead to "a massive wave of mergers," Federal Communications Commission (news - web sites) Chairman Michael Powell says.
In a vote set for Monday, Powell and two fellow Republicans on the five-member commission were expected to allow companies to buy more television stations and, in some cases, own both a newspaper and a broadcast station in the same city.
Diverse interests opposed to deregulation say relaxed rules will kick off a merger frenzy, putting a few large companies in control of what people see, hear and read. They say that will homogenize viewpoints and diminish local emphasis in news and entertainment.
Powell said Sunday the changes are more modest than critics contend.
"This is not a complete deregulation of the media," Powell said on ABC's "This Week." "There will be rules and restrictions. Everything that a media company would like to do is not going to be permitted."
Powell said some industry consolidation will follow the changes, but "just because somebody can buy something doesn't mean it makes strategic or financial sense to do so."
"I don't particularly believe there will be a massive wave of mergers," he said.
The rules expected to be eased include a limitation on a company owning television stations reaching more than 35 percent of U.S. households and restrictions on a single company owning combinations of newspapers and TV and radio stations in the same city. Another rule facing an overhaul limits local TV ownership so a company can control, at most, two stations in a market.
The government adopted the ownership rules between 1941 and 1975 to encourage competition and prevent monopoly control of the media.
A 1996 law requires the FCC (news - web sites) to study ownership rules every two years and repeal or modify regulations determined to be no longer in the public interest. Many changes proposed since then were sent back to the FCC after court challenges.
Many media companies say outdated rules have limited their growth and competitiveness in a world changed by cable television, satellite broadcasts and the Internet.
As the vote approached, opposition intensified. Critics bought television and newspaper ads, wrote letters and e-mails, and demonstrated outside television stations owned by major media companies.
Some ads have taken on Rupert Murdoch, whose News Corp. owns Fox News Channel, 20th Century Fox TV and film studios, the New York Post and other media properties. Murdoch told a Senate committee last month he has no plan for a media buying spree after the changes, other than his proposed acquisition of DirecTV, the nation's largest satellite television provider.
The critics of eased rules include consumer advocates, civil rights and religious groups, small broadcasters, writers, musicians, academicians and the National Rifle Association. They say most people still get news mainly from television and newspapers, and combining the two is dangerous because those entities will not monitor each other and provide differing opinions.
Large newspaper companies such as Tribune Co. and Gannett Inc. disagree.
"Newspaper-owned television stations program more and better news and public affairs than any other stations," said John Sturm, president of the Newspaper Association of America.
News Corp. and Viacom Inc., which owns CBS and UPN, stand to benefit from a higher national TV ownership cap because mergers have left them above the 35 percent level. Those companies, along with NBC, persuaded an appeals court last year to reject that cap and send it back to the FCC for revision.
Lawmakers have split mainly along party lines. Democrats demand more public scrutiny of the changes while Republicans support Powell. Some lawmakers critical of the FCC have proposed legislation to counter relaxed regulations.