Murdoch challenges F.C.C. rule
By Leah McBride Mensching, Wednesday 23 April 2008 at 23:47 :: Media Ownership :: #1572 :: rss
Should his tentative deal to buy Newsday from the Tribune Company, Rupert Murdoch will likely “pose the first significant challenge” to the Federal Communications Commissions' recently adopted media ownership rule, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
If the purchase goes through, Newsday will be Murdoch's third New York newspaper.
However, even without buying Newsday, Murdoch was already seeking waivers to continue controlling The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post, as well as New York area TV stations, WNYW and WWOR (fourth and sixth largest in the New York market), The New York Times reported.
The F.C.C.'s new rule was approved in December, and states that a company may own one newspaper and one television station in the same city in the top 20 markets in the United States, as long as there are at least eight other independent news sources, and the TV station is not in the top four.
Murdoch's waiver requests are pending with the F.C.C., and the Newsday deal means Murdoch must apply for a waiver to own three newspapers and two TV stations in the same market, which is in the top 20 U.S. media markets, according to The New York Times.
For a previous article on the Newsday sale, visit our partner site, Editorsweblog.org.
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