FCC Approves Media Cross-Ownership

Sure, you could try to maintain your CorporateDaily(TM) hegemony in a market like Jackson by locking up free distribution points in exclusive contracts. Or, you could turn to a variety of non-daily products, including forced circulation papers you toss in people's yards or send to their mailbox regardless of their interest in your product. You might even paper the sidewalks with half-assed competitors to your competitors...cookie-cutter print manifestations of your print partnerships in sites like Cars.com and Apartments.com.

But what if, instead of all that rigamarole, you could shore up your profits by buying a local TV station? Consolidate the rate card, offer JoJo and his elephant a chance at both TV and newspaper stardom...and then sit back and let all those independent media voices quiet down a bit more. Wouldn't that be nice?

A divided Federal Communications Commission approved what could be the biggest change in the country’s media-ownership rules in more than a decade, allowing newspapers and broadcasters in a market to buy each other.

On a 3-to-2, party-line vote, the FCC approved Chairman Kevin J. Martin’s plan to eliminate its more than 30-year-old ban on cross-ownership. Instead, newspapers in the top 20 markets will be able to buy any station that isn’t among the top four in its market. In smaller markets, such a purchase could be approved if the buyer promises to add at least seven hours of news a week to the bought stations.