FCC Media Ownership Rules Delayed
A federal appeals court issued an emergency stay Wednesday delaying new Federal Communications Commission media ownership rules that would allow a single company to own newspapers and broadcast outlets in the same city.
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said a coalition of media access groups called the Prometheus Radio Project would suffer irreparable harm if the new rules were allowed to go into effect as scheduled Thursday.
The new ownership rules, which the FCC approved in June on a party-line, 3-2 vote, would also allow a single company to own TV stations reaching 45 percent of the nation's viewers.
Smaller broadcasters and network affiliates are concerned the new limit will allow the networks to gobble up more stations and limit local control of programming. Supporters say the changes will help broadcasters grow and compete in a market changed by cable television, satellite broadcasts and the Internet.
An attorney for the Prometheus Project, Samuel L. Spear, praised the decision. He said his clients, who are mostly advocates of low-power community radio stations, believe their ability to broadcast will be hurt by the growth of media conglomerates.
"It just allows the big media companies to grow bigger and to monopolize the industry more," Spear said.
The ruling followed a two-hour hearing in which the attorneys for the FCC argued that the rules could go into effect as scheduled Thursday without any long-term damage to the groups fighting it.
An FCC spokesman said the agency was disappointed by the decision and would continue to defend the new rules in court.
In its brief opinion on the stay, a three-judge panel did not comment on the merits of the complaint.
"While it is difficult to predict the likelihood of success on the merits at this stage of the proceedings, these harms could outweigh the effect of a stay," the judges wrote. "Given the magnitude of this matter and the public's interest in reaching the proper resolution, a stay is warranted pending thorough and efficient judicial review."
The ownership rules face other challenges.
The National Association of Broadcasters said the changes don't go far enough. The influential industry group filed an appeal last month to block changes to how radio markets are defined and overturn rules that still prevent TV station mergers in some smaller markets.
The House, over the objections of the Bush administration, voted overwhelmingly in July to block the FCC and the Senate is to vote next week on a resolution of disapproval for the rules changes, a seldom-used maneuver also called a "congressional veto."
Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., who, along with Trent Lott, R-Miss., has been leading a group of senators trying to undo all of the FCC changes, said the court's ruling "will give a boost to our efforts."
"The ruling recognizes what I hope most of the Senate recognizes: These rules are inappropriate," Dorgan said in an interview. "The commission did not do the job they should have done."
To succeed, the resolution needs majority approval in the Senate and House and President Bush's signature or enough votes to override his veto.
Blair Levin, a former FCC official who is an analyst with the Legg Mason investment firm, said a delay in the implementation of the new rules will likely have little immediate impact on media companies.
Newspapers and stations that had been contemplating mergers allowed by the looser ownership rules put most of their plans on hold following signals from Congress that it would try to stop the regulations from taking effect, he said.