admin
07-18-2003, 06:26 PM
A House panel, by a substantial majority, has voted to prohibit the FCC from implementing the media ownership rule. The vote is significant because it was by a substantial majority and thus bi-partisan.
The White House and the House leadership have opposed an effort to overturn the rule.
This vote, coupled with the Senate action described in an earlier posting on this forum, suggests that the FCC rule is in trouble. It is in trouble not only because of the vote, but because of the split in the National Association of Broadcasters. Issues like this can destroy a trade association.
As the Wall Street Journal states:
“The fight over media-ownership rules escalated as a House panel voted to block federal regulators from relaxing the limit on how many local stations a television network can own.
The Appropriations Committee's 40-25 vote reflects strong bipartisan opposition to the Federal Communications
Commission's decision last month to allow a single company to own TV stations that reach as much as 45% of the national audience. That is a major increase from the current 35% cap, and has touched off a grass-roots-lobbying campaign by local affiliates and badly split the powerful National Association of Broadcasters.”
See New Feature: OMB Policy Statements
http://www.thecre.com/ombpapers/policy.html
The White House and the House leadership have opposed an effort to overturn the rule.
This vote, coupled with the Senate action described in an earlier posting on this forum, suggests that the FCC rule is in trouble. It is in trouble not only because of the vote, but because of the split in the National Association of Broadcasters. Issues like this can destroy a trade association.
As the Wall Street Journal states:
“The fight over media-ownership rules escalated as a House panel voted to block federal regulators from relaxing the limit on how many local stations a television network can own.
The Appropriations Committee's 40-25 vote reflects strong bipartisan opposition to the Federal Communications
Commission's decision last month to allow a single company to own TV stations that reach as much as 45% of the national audience. That is a major increase from the current 35% cap, and has touched off a grass-roots-lobbying campaign by local affiliates and badly split the powerful National Association of Broadcasters.”
See New Feature: OMB Policy Statements
http://www.thecre.com/ombpapers/policy.html