FCC chief's plan eases media-ownership ban
— -- The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday proposed easing a 32-year-old ban on a single company owning a newspaper and TV or radio station in the same market but said he doesn't want to relax other media ownership constraints.
The long-awaited plan, which Kevin Martin called "modest," would chiefly affect only the 20 largest markets and smaller TV stations in those markets. It represents a sharp scaleback from a sweeping relaxation of media ownership rules proposed four years ago by former chairman Michael Powell. That proposal was later modified by Congress and struck down by a federal appeals court.
Martin says his plan would bolster newspapers, which are struggling under sharp declines in circulation and advertising revenue. Mergers would permit TV stations and newspapers to share news-gathering resources. Martin also says the cross-ownership ban is outmoded in an age when many people get their news from the Internet and cable TV.
"It's a significantly different media landscape for newspapers," Martin told reporters.
Under the plan, a merger that combines a big daily newspaper with a TV or radio station would be allowed in any the USA's 20 largest markets if at least eight independently owned "major media voices" — including TV stations or major newspapers — remain after the deal. Martin said all top 20 markets now meet that standard. Also, cross-ownership deals could not involve any of the top four TV stations in a market.
Opponents of loosening cross-ownership rules have argued such set-ups give a company too much influence over what people see, hear and read.
However, Martin's proposal would permit a case-by-case consideration of newspaper-broadcast mergers that don't meet his criteria if, for example, it would rescue a failing newspaper or increase the amount of local news in a market. By the same token, even a merger in a top-20 market could be rejected if, for instance, opponents argue the newspaper is financially healthy.
The proposed rule could clear the way for Chicago investor Sam Zell's $8.2 billion purchase of Tribune Co. trb, whose newspapers include the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune. Under loopholes in the rules, Tribune owns both newspapers and TV stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Hartford, Conn., and South Florida. It's aiming to complete the deal by year's end for tax purposes and must get a waiver or rule change to do so. Since Hartford is not a top-20 market, Tribune would have to sell its newspaper or TV station there.
Gene Kimmelman of Consumers Union says that although he opposes Martin's proposal, it at least "puts some very significant limitations on some of the worst dangers to democracy and competition" by limiting deals to top markets and smaller TV stations.
Powell's plan would have permitted newspaper-TV combinations in most U.S. markets and ownership of two TV stations in small to midsize cities.
Andrew Schwartzman, president of Media Access Project, says Martin's plan "vastly liberalizes the grounds for (case-by-case) waivers" by considering factors such as the amount of extra local news coverage a merger would produce.
Martin has said he wants the FCC's five commissioners to vote on his plan by Dec. 18. A relaxation of the cross-ownership ban has been backed by the FCC's three Republicans and opposed by the two Democrats. In an interview last week, Democratic Commissioner Michael Copps said Martin "might package this as moderate but we have no business doing this."
Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., says Martin is rushing through the changes before completing a separate review of the amount of local news and public affairs programming on TV. He has introduced legislation that would force the FCC to delay the vote.