Court overturns FCC rules on media ownership

A federal court of appeal has quashed an effort by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to relax the rules on media ownership.

The US Court of Appeals 3rd Circuit rejected the FCC's decision to put an end to a decades-old ban on a single entity with both a newspaper and a television channel in a major market, citing the taking into account the repercussions on the property of women and racial minorities.

The FCC is also trying to ease the rules preventing owners from buying other TV channels in the same market, local outlets selling their advertising time collectively and homeowners. buy radio stations in some markets, reported Reuters.

FCC President Ajit Pai said in a statement that the commission intended to challenge the decision, saying the 3rd circuit court had disrupted rule updates for 15 years.

"It has become clear that there is no evidence or reason – bankruptcy papers, broadcast radio problems, an audiovisual television that faces more competition than ever before – that will persuade them to change their minds," he said. said Pai in his statement.

The FCC voted by 3 votes to 2 in 2017 to cut regulations with a Republican-led commission that, according to the Democratic legislator, would allow the Sinclair broadcast group to reach 72% of the country's viewers.