Broadcast industry could be in for more deregulation

San Antonio Business Journal talks about more ownership deregulation that would allow big broadcast companies to own even more radio stations and open up cross ownership of media outlets.

It all goes back to the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

Here's part of the article linked above.

U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., is urging the FCC to move quickly in raising the limit on the number of radio stations broadcast companies can own in some markets. Upton chairs the House subcommittee on telecommunications and the Internet.

Fellow Congressman Joe Barton, R-Texas, is also expected to push for certain rewrites to the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Barton chairs the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, whose jurisdiction extends over five cabinet-level departments and seven independent agencies -- including the FCC.

In addition to federal lawmakers, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is also calling on the FCC to further deregulate the industry. One of the restrictions NAB would like to see lifted is the cross-ownership rule prohibiting broadcast companies from owning a major newspaper in the same market where they also own at least one radio or television station.
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"We're strongly opposed," says Craig Aaron, spokesman for Free Press, a national nonpartisan organization focused on public participation in media policy issues. "We feel (consolidation) has already gone too far and the vast majority of the American people feel the same."

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NAB leaders hope the changes they are seeking will result in more flexibility for broadcast companies. Among them: Removal of the cross-ownership prohibition.

"NAB supports your recognition of the need to reform the prohibition on owning a newspaper and even a single broadcast outlet in the same market," Rehr writes in his letter to Martin.

He says that cross-ownership restriction is "anachronistic."

Officials with nonprofit research foundation The Media Institute share that sentiment.

"We think the cross-ownership rules should have been abolished years ago," says Media Institute spokesman Rick Kapler. "(Lawmakers) have another chance to take care of that now and we hope they will."

As for changes that would allow companies like Clear Channel to own more stations in certain larger markets, Kapler says it's another step in the right direction.

"It's a good thing," he says, explaining that it would strengthen the companies competing for audiences in any given market, creating "better competition."