The Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday voted to consider relaxing \u2013 or outright eliminating \u2013 long-running rules that limit the number of radio stations a company can own in a local market.<\/p>\n
The next step in the Quadrennial Review of its broadcast ownership limits will have the Commission seek public comments before deciding how to proceed with its Local Radio Ownership Rule.<\/p>\n
The vote came during a marathon three-hour open meeting that included a swarm of national news outlets and a chorus of protesters. It officially launched a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would also reassess rules that prohibit a merger of any of the four largest broadcast TV networks and prevent a company from owning more than two TV stations in a local market.<\/p>\n
While the final text of the rulemaking has not yet been publicly released, Media Bureau officials said it is essentially the same as a draft issued earlier<\/a> this month but also contains edits suggested by Commissioner Anna Gomez, the sole Democrat on the current three-member Commission.<\/p>\n Chairman Brendan Carr signaled he supports major changes. \u201cThe old regulatory silos have been breaking down for quite some time, so the Commission must move forward with a keen understanding of today\u2019s converged markets\u2014and that\u2019s exactly what we\u2019re doing with today\u2019s item,\u201d Carr said at the meeting. \u201cIn recent years, numerous online audio and video streaming services have emerged, fundamentally changing how broadcast radio and television compete in the media marketplace. Our broadcast ownership rules should reflect these changes.\u201d<\/p>\n