F.C.C. Opens Door to More Consolidation in TV Business<br />“And most Americans are unaware that the agency established to protect the public interest has traded in<br />that role for the chance to grant the wish lists of billion-dollar companies.”<br />While local news audience numbers have declined in recent years, about 57 percent of Americans get most of their news from television, with local news leading cable outlets<br />and national broadcasts, according to the Pew Research Center.<br />Mr. Pai, who was appointed by President Trump, has said the media ownership rules — including<br />the cross-ownership ban between newspapers and television and radio stations — was outdated.<br />WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission voted on Thursday to allow a single company to own a newspaper<br />and television and radio stations in the same town, reversing a decades-old rule aimed at preventing any individual or company from having too much power over local coverage.<br />And it’s about time.”<br />Democrats on the commission said that rolling back the rules would hurt people who relied on local stations for news coverage.<br />As part of the vote, the agency also increased the number of television stations a company could own in a local market.<br />“These actions on Thursday shut out our voices.”<br />Some academics are skeptical that the relaxation in rules will result in more robust local news coverage, as Mr. Pai envisions<br />“It’s a simple proposition: The media ownership regulations of 2017 should match the media marketplace of 2017,” Mr. Pai said on Thursday.
