FCC Announces 10 Studies on Media Ownership

FCC Public Notice, November 22, 2006:

The Commission will be conducting 10 economic studies as part of its review of its media
ownership rules. Each of these studies will be peer reviewed.

Included in these are studies on the effect of ownership structure on programming in television and radio, news coverage of cross-owned television stations and newspapers, and a study on how people get news, which will be conducted by Nielsen. With the announcement of such a comprehesive set of studies, the FCC is showing that it is sensitive to the fears espoused by very many people during the last round of public hearings on ownership rule changes. This public announcement will also help to ensure that the results of these studies will be presented, regardless of their findings. Given the recent controversy concerning the suppressed localism study, that is a good sign that the Commission is taking this issue seriously and will act more transparently than it has in the past.