FCC Withdraws Proposal Relaxing Ownership Rules

The Federal Communications Commission said it has withdrawn a proposal to relax the nation's long-standing ban on owning multiple media outlets in the same market, according to wsj.com.

More than a year ago, then-FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski circulated a draft item that would have eliminated the ban on owning a radio station and newspaper in the same market. The proposal would have also paved the way for smaller TV stations to own newspapers, a change pushed by the struggling newspaper industry.

Now under the leadership of Chairman Tom Wheeler, the commission said Monday it has taken the old item off the table while it reassesses the issue.

The commission has long limited the number of stations one company can own to prevent a single entity from dominating local news. It also generally bars newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership. Both the newspaper and broadcast industries have lobbied the FCC to relax that ban.

By law, the FCC must review its media ownership rules every four years.

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