U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin proposed Tuesday to relax a 32-year-old ban that does not allow companies to own a newspaper and television station in the same market, a move that would benefit News Corp. and Tribune Co., Bloomberg reported.

Martin's proposal would let newspaper publishers in the 20 largest U.S. markets to own either a radio or television station, but would not allow a company to own a TV station ranking in the market's top four, he said in a conference call.

The move to allow cross ownership would make billionaire Sam Zell's takeover of Tribune for $8.2 billion much easier.

“We will seek an expansion of cross-ownership relief beyond that contained in Chairman Martin's proposal” by filing public comments with the FCC, Dennis FitzSimons, Tribune's CEO, told employees in a letter obtained by Bloomberg News.

Martin has set a Dec. 11 deadline for comments on the issue.