FCC Relaxes Radio Station Owner Rules

The Federal Communications Commission, seeking to bolster the ailing radio industry, voted Thursday to let financially successful broadcast owners buy more radio stations.

The FCC will now allow one company to own 30 AM and 30 FM stations nationwide, instead of 12 AM and 12 FM stations, with only one of each in a single community.

A company will be able to buy from three to six stations in a single market, depending on the size of the community.

Commissioner Andrew Barrett abstained from the 4-0 vote, saying the action seemed “based more on wishful thinking and personal goals than upon a thorough and balanced examination of real-world market implications, public interest concerns and economic factors.”

Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), chairman of the House telecommunications subcommittee, also criticized the decision, saying it would stifle diversity. He said he will introduce legislation to reinstate stricter rules.

But FCC Chairman Alfred C. Sikes and the others voting for the plan said the action was necessary to save failing radio stations.

Of about 10,800 commercial radio stations in the country, more than 100 have shut down in the last year, a number are in bankruptcy and hundreds are restructuring debts, industry analysts say.