By Paul Davidson for USA Today:
FCC to review media ownership caps later

The FCC is also reviewing prohibitions on ownership of a newspaper and TV station in the same market and limits on local radio concentration. Analysts expect the rules to be relaxed. Consumer advocates say that would fuel more media consolidation, elbow out local broadcasters and reduce diversity.

Here's the whole article in case the link goes bad in the future:

http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20020618/4201004s.htm

FCC to review media ownership caps later

By Paul Davidson
USA TODAY

The Federal Communications Commission said Monday that it will review most of its media ownership limits in one sweeping proceeding, delaying an expected relaxation of the caps for nearly a year.

The move rankled some broadcasters anxious to snap up TV stations and newspapers to achieve efficiencies and better compete against cable.

''It certainly leaves a tremendous cloud over our ability to pursue certain types of transactions,'' says Mark Hyman, vice president of Sinclair Broadcasting.

But Legg Mason analyst Blair Levin said many media companies would forge ahead with deals, expecting the FCC to suspend limits until it eases them.

Analysts and FCC officials said the agency was largely taking a cue from recent court rulings that chided it for not grounding its ownership limits in a more solid, consistent analysis.

''You can't look at the rules in isolation,'' said Kenneth Ferree, chief of the FCC's media bureau.

Changing one rule before another also could ''free up one industry segment first,'' giving it ''an arbitrage advantage over other potential buyers in the market.''

The FCC delay appeared to be a reaction to political forces, says George Reed-Dellinger of Washington Analysis. Democratic lawmakers recently asked the FCC to move more slowly. And by deferring the agency's initiatives until after the November elections, FCC Chairman Michael Powell also may be banking on a shift to a Republican Senate that would be unlikely to nullify FCC's actions, Reed-Dellinger says.

An appeals court this year ordered the FCC to justify caps that prevent a broadcaster from owning TV stations that reach more than 35% of U.S. households and from owning two TV stations in smaller cities.

The FCC is also reviewing prohibitions on ownership of a newspaper and TV station in the same market and limits on local radio concentration. Analysts expect the rules to be relaxed. Consumer advocates say that would fuel more media consolidation, elbow out local broadcasters and reduce diversity.