Business As Usual
Posted on | October 18, 2007
The FCC Chairman thinks American media aren’t consolidated enough:
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin’s proposal would allow for public comment on the proposed rules in mid-November and a commission vote on Dec. 18.
Among the rules that are potentially on the chopping block is a ban on one company owning a newspaper and broadcast station in the same market. The rule is of particular interest to Tribune Co., which is the subject of a pending buyout led by real estate magnate Sam Zell.
Tribune has waivers that allow the company to own both newspaper and broadcast properties in New York, Los Angles, Chicago, Hartford/New Haven and Miami/Fort Lauderdale. The waivers will not transfer to the new owners.
But if the FCC agrees to Martin’s schedule, and then votes to eliminate the cross-ownership ban, it becomes a moot point, and allows the company to close on the transaction by year’s end, as it had hoped.
Martin confirmed the details of his plan in an interview with The Associated Press Wednesday. The plan the chairman is considering is far more open and involves far more public input than the process followed by then-Chairman Michael Powell in 2003, Martin said.
Prepare for an even greater echo chamber effect.
