The FCC is petitioning the Supreme Court to hear its case after the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit overturned its most recent ownership rule changes last fall.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai released the following statement,
In November 2017, we adopted long-overdue reforms of our media ownership rules to allow broadcasters to compete in today’s dynamic media marketplace. Our action was consistent with Congress’s command that we repeal or modify any such rules that are no longer in the public interest as a result of competition. It’s unfortunate that the same divided panel of the Third Circuit yet again has blocked the Commission’s efforts to modernize our media ownership rules—the latest obstruction of Commission action and congressional intent in several cases over the last 17 years. As our filing notes, the court’s decisions have frozen in place decades-old ownership restrictions that have outlived their competitive usefulness in the digital age. Throughout our proceedings, the FCC has solicited extensive public input, reviewed voluminous record materials, and adopted policies that the Commission determined would strengthen local news outlets. Absent further action by the Supreme Court, broadcasters will continue to be saddled with outdated regulations. The Supreme Court’s intervention is necessary to restore the Commission’s discretion to regulate in the public interest and modernize media ownership regulation for the digital age, as Congress intended.
The overturned rule changes included:
- Eliminating the newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership rule preventing a company from operating a newspaper and a broadcast outlet in the same market.
- Eliminating the radio/television ownership subcaps so a television station no longer counts towards the limit of eight radio stations (maximum of five on each band) that a company can own.
- Eliminating the requirement that at least eight independently owned television stations must remain in the market following the combination of two television stations in a market
- Modifying the ban against common ownership of two top-four rated tv stations in a market to allow waivers on a case-by-case basis
- Eliminating the JSA Attribution Rule requiring television stations to count a station it sells more than 15% of ad time for under the ownership cap.