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Cross-Ownership Rules Officially Are Dead

Also, FCC announces deadline for new comments about media ownership

FCC, Federal Communications CommissionAs of Wednesday it was official: The newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership and the radio/TV cross-ownership rules are off the U.S. federal rulebooks.

It was a formality; the Federal Communications Commission had already announced that the change was pending after the Supreme Court ruled in its favor in the case “Prometheus Radio Project vs. FCC” this spring.

[Read: FCC Wants More Input Before Finishing Rule Review]

But now a summary of the order has been published in the Federal Register and the FCC said the rules officially died on June 30.

The Television Joint Sales Agreement Attribution Rule also officially is eliminated; and the Local Television Ownership Rule and Local Radio Ownership Rule were reinstated, as were the eligible entity standard and certain other measures.

At the same time the commission announced deadline dates for fresh public comments about media ownership rules. Comments are due Aug. 2, and reply comments are due Aug. 30.

[Read: Further Relaxation of Ownership Rules Seems Unlikely]

As we reported earlier, acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel wants to update the record before the commission finalizes its 2018 Quadrennial Review proceeding. So the FCC is asking whether its media ownership rules remain “necessary in the public interest as the result of competition.”

For a full list of what the commission is asking, see the public notice. Filings should refer to MB Docket No. 18-349.

 

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