FCC to Drop ‘Red-Flagging’

The FCC is dumping the so-called “red flagging” of transactions that would result in one radio group having too much concentration in a market. Both Chairman Michael Powell and Media Bureau Chief Ken Ferree says the agency has to under the new ownership rules.
Powell said red flagging a deal for giving one radio group too much control in a market (usually around 50 %) was a policy, not a rule, and the court found the commission no longer needed the policy.
Commissioner Michael Copps is worried about ditching the extra check on broadcasters.
Powell says the agency will still apply the public interest standard when it reviews transactions but notes, “The new rule is a week old” and it’s too early to put limits on how the Media Bureau can administer it.