The U.S. Court of Appeals in Philadelphia said yesterday that loosening ownership rules so companies can own newspapers, television and radio stations, and cable networks in the same market was “arbitrary and capricious” and must be reconsidered by the Federal Communications Commission, the New York Times reported.
The decision “means that big broadcasting and publishing companies, which have lobbied and litigated for years in an effort to ease these rules, will have to hold off on any attempts to expand,” the Times’ story said.
” The court decision was a victory for smaller broadcasters and a coalition of labor, consumer, religious, artistic and civil rights organizations, which have said that the relaxation of the media ownership rules threatened to reduce the diversity of voices on the airwaves and would lead to declining standards in television and radio programming,” the story said.