FCC to Combine Media Ownership

The FCC plans to bundle all of the media ownership proceedings into one, big combination with the goal of issuing new rules by the spring of ’03.
Why do all 6 together?
The commission staff thought it would be easier, and made sense to have a single framework from which to review all the rules, said Media Bureau Chief Ken Ferree.
“It would be hard to make progress if we did the rules separately. Also, it doesn’t do the industry any good (to review the rules separately),” said Feree.
Included in the commission’s efforts will be outside and in-house studies of how consumers use media, how advertisers use media, and a history of media ownership compared to what exists today. The public will get a chance to see these studies when the agency issues them for public comment, likely this fall.
Of the 6 rules being changed, 2 affect radio: the local radio ownership rules and the TV-radio combo ownership restrictions.
The commission is also taking its time crafting new rules because it doesn’t want its efforts overturned in court appeals, should a company challenge the new rules.
Some members of Congress have urged the agency to act quickly on media ownership issues.