One small sentence in the AllAccess coverage of the FCC Commissioners hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee:
Commissioner AJIT PAI ....repeated his call for ending the 25% cap on foreign investment in media.
If that was approved, it would finally allow a realistic buyer for heavily debted companies like Clear Channel. More than 20 years ago, large American companies like Westinghouse and RCA got out of radio ownership. Same with large insurance companies like Nationwide and American Life. The trend lately has been for American companies to sell their corporate headquarters to foreign companies. One example is the former Sears Tower in Chicago. Broadcasting has been restricted to American companies. Rupert Murdoch had to renounce his Australian citizenship and change the entire structure of his company in order to buy US TV stations. Most foreign companies aren't willing to do that, especially given US tax laws. But allowing foreign investment in radio would change all that.
What could this lead to? Countries like Qatar, who recently bought Current, to buy broadcast radio and TV stations. Companies like Sony and Vivendi, who own major record labels, to buy US radio stations. Before 1988, record labels like Columbia and RCA were owned by US companies that also owned major market radio and TV stations. When those labels were sold to foreign conglomerates, that situation changed.
It's clear that the structure of American business is no longer built around holding and managing large assets like radio and TV stations. Foreign companies seem more interested in that, especially when they're influencial cultural institutions like radio stations. There were no Congressional hearings when the record labels were sold to foreign companies. No one ever discussed the idea that copyrights for such American cultural icons as Bob Dylan, Hank Williams, The Beach Boys, and other music legends were sold to the French and Japanese. But this change in ownership would require some discussion. It would open an interesting door, of American resources, regulated by the government, being owned by foreign companies. I don't know of any other similar resource that allows such ownership.
Commissioner AJIT PAI ....repeated his call for ending the 25% cap on foreign investment in media.
If that was approved, it would finally allow a realistic buyer for heavily debted companies like Clear Channel. More than 20 years ago, large American companies like Westinghouse and RCA got out of radio ownership. Same with large insurance companies like Nationwide and American Life. The trend lately has been for American companies to sell their corporate headquarters to foreign companies. One example is the former Sears Tower in Chicago. Broadcasting has been restricted to American companies. Rupert Murdoch had to renounce his Australian citizenship and change the entire structure of his company in order to buy US TV stations. Most foreign companies aren't willing to do that, especially given US tax laws. But allowing foreign investment in radio would change all that.
What could this lead to? Countries like Qatar, who recently bought Current, to buy broadcast radio and TV stations. Companies like Sony and Vivendi, who own major record labels, to buy US radio stations. Before 1988, record labels like Columbia and RCA were owned by US companies that also owned major market radio and TV stations. When those labels were sold to foreign conglomerates, that situation changed.
It's clear that the structure of American business is no longer built around holding and managing large assets like radio and TV stations. Foreign companies seem more interested in that, especially when they're influencial cultural institutions like radio stations. There were no Congressional hearings when the record labels were sold to foreign companies. No one ever discussed the idea that copyrights for such American cultural icons as Bob Dylan, Hank Williams, The Beach Boys, and other music legends were sold to the French and Japanese. But this change in ownership would require some discussion. It would open an interesting door, of American resources, regulated by the government, being owned by foreign companies. I don't know of any other similar resource that allows such ownership.
