Posted on: Sunday, June 1, 2003
FCC expected to OK rule changes for media
By Michael Liedtke
Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO — Many media companies are eagerly awaiting the loosening of rules on how many newspapers and broadcast stations they can own. Critics fear the result will be fewer public voices.
The changes, expected to pass 3-2 in a Federal Communications Commission vote tomorrow, will end a 28-year ban on ownership of newspapers and broadcast stations — television or radio — in the same market. The prohibition was intended to preserve a variety of viewpoints.
Cross-ownership has been barred in all but a few cities, including Chicago, Atlanta and Milwaukee, where it existed before the ban.
The FCC also is expected to let companies build their portfolio of TV stations up to a new limit of 45 percent of the total U.S. market. The limit now is 35 percent.
The vision of fewer owners controlling more communication channels deeply troubles some people. They predict even more cutbacks in already-shrinking newsrooms, resulting in more superficial, homogeneous coverage that ignores crucial community issues.
"If the FCC does this, we will have started down the path to the end of democracy," said Seattle Times publisher Frank Blethen.
Supporters of the changes envision more nimble and profitable businesses, pooling the resources of newspapers and broadcasters to deliver better coverage.
"It gives you a much bigger megaphone to talk through," said William Dean Singleton, president of Denver-based MediaNews Group, a newspaper publisher considering expansion into TV.
With the rise of cable TV and the Internet, top media companies persuaded the FCC's three Republicans that the restrictions are no longer needed. The commission's two Democrats are not convinced.
The FCC has indicated the new rules will allow cross-ownership mostly in large and medium-sized markets. Restrictions would still apply in many small markets where there is only one paper and a few broadcast stations.
Markets eligible for cross-ownership span the nation, from San Francisco to Portland, Maine.
The maneuvering has already begun.
The stock of TV network owner Paxson Communications, for instance, has nearly doubled since mid-May, reflecting investor expectations that its 61 stations will make an attractive takeover target.
The Journal Co., parent of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and 42 radio and TV stations, has announced plans for an initial public offering of stock to raise as much as $250 million so it can expand under the new rules.
Expected to join is a long list of other media companies, including Gannett Co., owner of The Advertiser, Tribune Co., Hearst Corp., Media General, Belo Corp. and E.W. Scripps Co.
The FCC will also vote on relaxing rules on ownership of multiple stations in one market. If the change is approved, it would allow two Honolulu TV stations — Fox affiliate KHON and CBS affiliate KGMB — to be kept by Emmis Communications Corp., an Indianapolis-based company that has owned both stations for two years under temporary FCC exemptions.
