FCC eases limits on media owners.

Byline: Stephen Labaton The New York Times

WASHINGTON - The Federal Communications Commission on Monday narrowly approved the most important changes to the nation's media ownership rules in a generation.

By a partisan 3-2 vote, the Republican-controlled commission relaxed many of the most significant restrictions on the ability of broadcast and newspaper conglomerates to both expand into new markets and extend their reach in the cities where they already have a presence.

The decision is among the far-reaching deregulatory actions during the Bush administration. It will permit a company to own up to three television stations, eight radio stations, a daily newspaper and a cable operator in the largest cities. The old rules had restricted a company from owning both a newspaper and broadcast station, prohibited a company from owning more than two television stations, and restricted a company from owning more than a total of eight broadcasters.

It will also permit the networks to buy more television affiliates.

The agency's chairman, Michael Powell, who was the architect of the changes, said Monday afternoon that court challenges were inevitable by critics who said the agency went too far and by some companies such as the television networks who wanted the commission to go further.

On Capitol Hill, a growing group of Republicans and Democrats have also vowed to move legislation to reverse portions of Monday's decision. More than 150 lawmakers, including many Republicans, had asked the agency to postpone its final rulemaking to allow more time to study the issues.

While all sides have heavily lobbied for and against the rules in Congress, the fear among politicians who have more dealings with their local television and newspapers than perhaps any other profession, was that the regulations would promote greater consolidation and media power in the hands of too few interests.

``I want to emphasize that there is not a partisan position here,'' said Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., at a news conference with two Democratic colleagues, Ernest Hollings of South Carolina and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, where they criticized the decision and described plans for rolling aspects of it back. ``A lot of Republicans - in fact, probably most of the Republicans in the Congress, would not agree with this decision.''

But there is hardly a consensus over how to proceed.

Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., called the FCC's ruling irresponsible and said it will lead to further concentration of media ownership.

"The radio industry provides an eerie premonition of what's to come under total media deregulation - the suffocation and elimination of independent voices," DeFazio said. "Relaxing media concentration rules and allowing media mammoths to buy out local radio stations, newspapers and television stations undermines public interest and the foundations of our democratic republic."

But Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La., who heads the House Energy and Commerce Committee, applauded the commission's decision but said it should have gone even further. He said the agency had ``taken a big step toward removing the regulatory muzzle from American broadcasters."

The Bush administration on Monday also applauded the FCC's decision.

"I commend the FCC for its action on media ownership today,'' Commerce Secretary Don Evans said. ``The FCC has answered the call of Congress and the courts to modernize its rules.''

The overhaul of regulations developed over more than six decades drew intense lobbying and more public attention in recent weeks than any other proceeding in the commission's history. The critics represented an ideologically diverse array of organizations. They included the National Rifle Association, the National Organization of Women, Common Cause, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Leadership Council on Civil Rights, the Writers Guild of America, and the Parents Television Council.

The groups said that they feared that the changes would prompt greater consolidation and make it more difficult to get diverse views on the airwaves, a position that was disputed by the advocates for change. Many of the nation's biggest newspaper companies, including Gannett, Tribune, and The New York Times, have long sought the elimination of the newspaper-broadcast cross ownership restrictions. And the networks, most notably News Corp., which owns Fox, and Viacom, owner of CBS, had sought a greater loosening of the rules governing how many stations that they can own.

But they had come under sharp opposition from the television affiliates. The affiliates have raised concerns that too many network-owned stations would tip the commercial balance in favor of the networks, make it more difficult for the independent programmers to reject network shows, discourage local news in favor of national broadcasts, and lead to more homogenized programming.

Powell and his two Republican allies said the changes were vital in light of a series of court opinions questioning the old rules and a marketplace where consumers have cable and satellite television services with hundreds of channels.

RADIO OWNERSHIP

Here are the two companies that own more than two stations within 40 miles of Eugene:

Clear Channel Communications: Owns KODZ-FM, KPNW-AM, KDUK-FM, KRKT-AM, KRKT-FM, KLOO-AM, KLOO-FM, KEJO-AM, KFLY-FM for 22.5 percent of the market

Cumulus Media: Owns KUGN-AM, KSCR-AM, KEHK-FM, KNRQ-FM, KZEL-FM, KUJZ-FM for 15 percent of the market

TELEVISION OWNERSHIP

Here are the commercial stations in Eugene and their owners:

KMTR: Ackerley Media Group, owned by Clear Channel Communications

KEZI: KEZI Inc., owned by Chambers Communications

KVAL: Fisher Broadcasting

KLSR: California Oregon Broadcasting, owned by Telecasters of Eugene, Inc.

- The Center for Public Integrity