Newspaper Group Seeks FCC Rule Suspension

A newspaper industry group petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to suspend a new rule that relaxes local broadcast ownership regulations. The FCC rule creates unfair competition for newspapers because it doesn’t repeal a 25-year-old ban on newspaper ownership of radio and television stations in a paper’s market, said the Newspaper Assn. of America, which represents more than 2,000 papers in the U.S. and Canada. On Aug. 5, the FCC ruled that television station groups can own two TV outlets in a market with numerous competing stations. The agency also voted to allow a single entity to own up to two TV stations and six radio stations in markets with at least 20 unaffiliated media outlets, including radio, TV and newspapers, or one TV station and seven radio stations. As a result, newspapers fear that broadcasters will take the lead in the rush to acquire local stations.