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Sources Say FCC Won’t Loosen Cross-Ownership Rules

Feb 7, 2014  •  Post A Comment

Sources are saying the Federal Communications Commission won’t loosen its cross-ownership rules when it delves into its March agenda, B&C reports.

"Sources inside and outside the FCC are looking for the chairman to put a media ownership rule review item on the March agenda dealing primarily with making joint sales agreements (JSAs) for more than 15% of a station’s ad inventory attributable as ownership under FCC local ownership limits," the story reports. "But while it will tighten those regs, it will no longer loosen others on broadcast and newspaper crossownership, as new FCC chairman Tom Wheeler’s predecessor had proposed."

The report adds: "Wheeler is widely expected to get the requisite votes for the change, most likely from his Democratic colleagues. Republican commissioner Ajit Pai, by contrast, has been vocal about the value of TV station sharing arrangements to save costs on services viewers want and broadcasters want to offer."

The piece also notes: "Loosening the newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership ban and lifting it on TV-radio and newspaper-radio combos, as former chairman Julius Genachowski proposed in his 2010 quadrennial media ownership item, would not be part of the order. Instead those would be put out for yet more comment in a further notice."

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