Pai Sees ‘70s Outlook in Ownership Draft

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pai-testifyingFCC Commissioner Ajit Pai says the media ownership proposal circulating among his fellow commissioners smacks of the ‘70s.


We reported the chairman’s draft contains minor changes.

Broadcasters had hoped for more, having told the comission and lawmakers their businesses are hampered by many of the restrictions.

Pai says the agency approved two multibillion dollar cable deals last month and last year signed off on AT&T’s acquisition of DirecTV. “Yet, it now gets the vapors at the prospect of a newspaper in Scranton, Pennsylvania owning a single radio station.”

Given current trends, it is likely the commission’s newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership restrictions will outlive the print newspaper industry itself.”