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Senators want more comments on ownership rules

Three US Senators have told FCC Chairman Michael Powell they want him to seek more public comments and come before Congress before making any changes in the FCC's media ownership rules.

In a letter to Powell, Senators Wayne Allard (R-CO), Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Susan Collins (R-ME), urged the FCC to slow down on making any changes.

"Please do not proceed with a final rule until the commission provides both a full description of all proposed changes and the empirical foundation for the changes, as well as provide for an ample public comment period, so that members of the public and Congress will have an opportunity to evaluate the new rules' potential impact," the trio said.

RBR Observation:

Surely these three lawmakers didn't just become aware of the rule changes the FCC has been considering for months and, in some cases, years. So much has been said about the crossownership rule, the national TV cap, TV duopolies, market definitions and such that we challenge anyone to come up with a single new idea. The FCC has collected thousands and thousands of comments from broadcasters, interest groups and individual citizens - - even Members of Congress. There have been public hearings and Commissioner Michael Copps has been roaming the country listening to more people repeat the same arguments he and the other commissioners have heard over and over. Apparently he's the only one who isn't tired of hearing the same comments repeated by different people in different towns.

The record is complete. It's time for decisions to be made.