Pai
FCC Chairman AJIT PAI told a House Communications Subcommittee oversight hearing today (10/25) that he will bring an overhaul of broadcast media ownership rules to a vote at NOVEMBER’s FCC Open Hearing. The proposed changes are expected to include elimination of newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership restrictions; the meeting is scheduled for THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16th.
In response to PAI’s comments, NAB EVP/Communications DENNIS WHARTON said, “NAB strongly supports Chairman PAI’s plan for modernizing broadcast media ownership rules. For 40 years, policymakers and the courts have blessed countless mega-mergers among national telco, cable, and satellite program giants, while at the same time blocking broadcast/newspaper or radio/TV combinations in single markets. This nonsensical regulatory approach has harmed the economic underpinning of newspapers, reduced local journalism jobs, and punished free and local broadcasters at the expense of our pay TV and radio competitors. We look forward to rational media ownership rules that foster a bright future for broadcasters and our tens of millions of listeners and viewers.”
This Article Was Originally Posted at www.allaccess.com