In what is likely to be one of his last major speeches as FCC chairman, Ajit Pai used a good portion of his time speaking virtually with the Media Institute on Tuesday, Dec. 15, about the continued fight over new media ownership rules.
The FCC under Pai’s time as chairman has been in a fight with the U.S. Third Circuit Court over changes to media ownership rules proposed in 2017. After multiple appeals to the court and ultimately denials, the FCC is taking its case to the Supreme Court.
One of the key arguments the Third Circuit has made in denying the FCC’s proposal is that it does not take into account the impact the rules will have on diversity ownership. Pai disagrees. He told the Media Institute that his administration has been an advocate for promoting diversity in media, and that the FCC proposal includes a broadcaster incubator program designed to encourage new and diverse voices into the industry.
Other elements of the proposal include eliminating the newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership ban established in 1975 and easing the local television ownership rule, which prevented a single company from owning two stations in a market unless there were at least eight independently-owned commercial TV stations in the market.
Read more at TV Technology.
