Committee Votes to Roll Back FCC Rules

By: Todd Shields (Mediaweek.com) The Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday moved to reverse much of the Federal Communications Commission's recent relaxation of media ownership rules, casting bipartisan votes to restore limits on TV network size and prohibitions on cross-ownership of newspapers and broadcast stations.

As part of the same bill, senators voted to force radio companies to sell stations that exceed new local market limits proposed by the FCC, even if the stations were legally acquired under the looser guidelines in effect until the FCC's June 2 ownership decisions.

The action sends the issue to the Senate floor, where supporters are hopeful of passage. No legislative action is final without concurrence of the House, and it appeared the measure faced a tougher road there. Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-La.), chair of the Commerce Committee that would handle the legislation, has voiced support for the FCC's action.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and others, passed on a voice vote in the 23-member Commerce Committee chaired by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

If enacted, the measure would:

* Roll back the FCC's loosening of the so-called network cap. The FCC decided companies could own TV stations that can reach 45% of the U.S. TV households; Thursday's bill restores that figure to 35%, the level that Congress chose in 1996 and that has been in effect since.

The bill would require station divestiture by Viacom and Fox, which both own stations that bring them over the 35% level.

* Restore the prohibition on common ownership of daily newspapers and nearby broadcast stations. The committee adopted an exception offered by Stevens that makes it easier for state authorities to intercede with the FCC on behalf of stations that might fail if not in partnership with a newspaper. The exception would apply for the smallest 60 of the 210 designated market areas.

* Remove the grandfathering provisions that the FCC included as it voted to tighten local market definitions, in effect lowering the number of radio stations one owner could hold in many small and mid-sized markets. McCain said the action would affect Clear Channel Communications and Viacom's Infinity, but that the FCC was unable to tell him what other companies might be affected.