Fcc revisiting Ownership limits - What's this mean for the area

[shilton]

Just read on R&R that the FCC is going to revisit ownership limits? I wonder what this would mean for local ownership structures? If they change anything, I wonder will they force people to divest, or do you suppose current owners would be grandfathered?

At any rate, its nice news to see that the Commission is at least concerned enough about the size of some media giants to visit the issue. Should be interesting to see how it all unfolds?

 

[missaretha]

> Just read on R&R that the FCC is going to revisit ownership
> limits? I wonder what this would mean for local ownership
> structures? If they change anything, I wonder will they
> force people to divest, or do you suppose current owners
> would be grandfathered?
>
> At any rate, its nice news to see that the Commission is at
> least concerned enough about the size of some media giants
> to visit the issue. Should be interesting to see how it all
> unfolds?

I would expect a grandfathering but who can really say? From reading the article, it appears that any decisions that come out this meeting may take a while to implement. It's the government. If any changes are decided, wouldn't take a year or longer for anything to really happen?

 

[dbrooks]

> > Just read on R&R that the FCC is going to revisit
> ownership
> > limits? I wonder what this would mean for local ownership
>
> > structures? If they change anything, I wonder will they
> > force people to divest, or do you suppose current owners
> > would be grandfathered?
> >
> > At any rate, its nice news to see that the Commission is
> at
> > least concerned enough about the size of some media giants
>
> > to visit the issue. Should be interesting to see how it
> all
> > unfolds?

The FCC didn't revisit the ownership rules because the FCC felt they were unfair or the public placed undue pressure on them to do so; this is in response to the US Supreme Court's refusal to overturn a lower federal court's ruling rejecting FCC ownership rules.

Granted, the FCC will have to revisit and rewrite the rules, but do you think the lobbyists hired by Clear Channel, Infinity, Forever/Keymarket, etc. will permit the FCC to draft regulations drastically reversing the current regulations that would jeopardize their radio holdings/clusters? I don't think so, and I don't look for a drastic change in local ownership from revised ownership regulations.

 

[mountaineer]

If anything, they'll raise the caps further or eliminate them entirely. The administration is very much pro-Big Business... the bigger, the better. They won't let deregulation go so far as to allow legal monopolies, but they'd be happy to see American industry boil down to just a handful--Oligopoly. It's all part of unfettered free enterprise capitalism--letting the marketplace rule.


> The FCC didn't revisit the ownership rules because the FCC
> felt they were unfair or the public placed undue pressure on
> them to do so; this is in response to the US Supreme Court's
> refusal to overturn a lower federal court's ruling rejecting
> FCC ownership rules.
>
> Granted, the FCC will have to revisit and rewrite the rules,
> but do you think the lobbyists hired by Clear Channel,
> Infinity, Forever/Keymarket, etc. will permit the FCC to
> draft regulations drastically reversing the current
> regulations that would jeopardize their radio
> holdings/clusters? I don't think so, and I don't look for a
> drastic change in local ownership from revised ownership
> regulations.
>