The Weed whacker was put to action by a whipper snapper and two of his GOP colleagues at the Commission on Thursday, as the FCC voted 3-2 to eliminate its cross-ownership rules for newspaper and broadcast media and for radio and TV, respectively.
The “Eight-Voices Test” is also gone.
The FCC’s two Democratic Commissioners were vociferous in their opposition, but further action to stop the changes embraced by not only Chairman Ajit Pai but also the NAB, is now up to Congress or the Courts, as dissenting Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel suggests.
While there’s little that the radio industry can rejoice about today’s actions at The Portals, TV industry C-Suiters and Wall Street investors are likely pleased; activity on Wall Street was largely positive across Thursday’s trading session.
Until today (11/16), the FCC’s broadcast ownership rules limited a single entity’s ownership of television, radio, and newspaper properties within a local market — rules codified and finalized when “The Hustle” was America’s favorite dance and Captain Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy was a best-selling LP for Elton John.
Per the Telecommunications Act of 1996, signed into law by President Clinton, the FCC is required to review its rules every four years to determine whether they remain “necessary in the public interest as the result of competition” and to “repeal or modify any regulation [the Commission] determines to be no longer in the public interest.”
In August 2016, the Wheeler Commission adopted by a 3-2 Democratic vote a Second Report and Order that left the rules enacted in 1975 largely unchanged.
The Wheeler Commission also reinstated the television Joint Sales Agreement (JSA)
attribution rule, and the revenue-based eligible entity standard for ownership diversity purposes. It also required the disclosure of shared services agreements (SSAs) for commercial television stations.
attribution rule, and the revenue-based eligible entity standard for ownership diversity purposes. It also required the disclosure of shared services agreements (SSAs) for commercial television stations.
Then came the election of Donald Trump as U.S. President, and a shift in FCC control to a 3-2 GOP majority. With that shift came a promise to modernize and reduce Commission rules and regulations, under the belief that this would help broadcast media against fervent competition in the digital space—something that barely existed in 1996, let alone 1975.
With that, the Pai-led Commission moved forward with an Order on Reconsideration of an NAB petition and a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would finally achieve what a host of pro-broadcasting industry groups and leaders have sought.
Their long-desired wishes will come true 30 days after the Order appears in the Federal Register.
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