Commissioner Pai Statement on Media Ownership Proposal

The Federal Communications Commission’s rules should reflect the media marketplace of today. Unfortunately, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s media ownership proposal reflects the world that existed in the 1970s. In May, the FCC had no problem approving not one, but two multibillion dollar cable mergers. In 2015, it signed off on AT&T’s acquisition of DirecTV. Yet, it now gets the vapors at the prospect of a newspaper in Scranton (PA) owning a single radio station. Whatever the motivation for the Chairman’s proposal, it has nothing to do with the evidence in the record, principled decision-making, or the law. Indeed, given current trends, it is likely that the Commission’s newspaper broadcast cross-ownership restrictions will outlive the print newspaper industry itself.