FCC Petitions For Full Third Circuit Hearing On Ownership Rule Changes

Petition

The FCC is appealing the THIRD CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS' ruling that vacated the FCC's 2017 broadcast ownership rule changes that loosened cross-ownership and duopoly prohibitions and remanded them to the Commission for further consideration of how the changes affect ownership diversity. The Commission filed a petition TODAY (11/7) asking for the ruling by a three-judge panel to be heard by the entire THIRD CIRCUIT panel.

In the filing, the Commission contends that the three-judge panel's ruling is in conflict with the requirements of the Administrative Procedures Act and "would work a sea change in administrative law, hamstringing agencies in the innumerable cases where there are arguable gaps or shortcomings in a rulemaking record" by requiring the Commission to produce evidence to justify its actions. The FCC filing also calls the earlier ruling "second-guessing" that "undermines Congressional intent" and ignores precedent.

The NAB, with NEXSTAR, FOX CORP., BONNEVILLE, CONNOISSEUR MEDIA, SINCLAIR, and the NEWS MEDIA ALLIANCE, also filed a petition for an en banc hearing with the full THIRD CIRCUIT, contending that the FCC properly followed its statutory mandate and that the three-judge panel improperly inserted its own concerns about diversity in place of the statutory competition analysis.

CONNOISSEUR MEDIA added in a separate statement that it supports the FCC's action and noted that a rule change near and dear to the company's heart -- a change to treat suburban "embedded market" stations in the NEW YORK suburbs as separate from the full-market stations for ownership cap purposes -- was "thrown out like the proverbial baby with the bathwater" in the three-judge panel's decision.

The case is PROMETHEUS RADIO PROJECT, et al., vs. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION.

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