FCC Chairman Michael Powell opposes legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate this week by Commerce Committee Chairman Fritz Hollings, D-S.C. to require the FCC to report to Congress any proposed changes that would repeal or relax station ownership limits. The bill specifies an 18-month waiting period any such changes and when they would take effect. The point of the legislation is to slow the pace of media consolidation.
Powell says the agency would begin a review of the prohibition against one entity owning both a TV station and a newspaper in the same market in the next two months.
