News Corp. scandal sparks questions of U.S. broadcast licenses

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As News Corp.’s phone-hacking scandal spreads to the United States, experts say federal scrutiny of the media conglomerate’s practices probably won't result in the shutdown of the company’s broadcast licenses.

News Corp.’s broadcast TV licenses — including Fox — cover 40 percent of U.S. households, and jittery investors have asked telecom policy experts about how the widening scandal could affect those broadcast businesses, analysts say. The Federal Communications Commission has the broad statute to revoke broadcast licenses that are not in the public interest. But doing so would be difficult and the FCC hasn't shown interest in following the FBI in investigating the phone hacking scandal. “Even in the unlikely event the FCC were to pursue license revocation, it would likely happen only after years of litigation at the FCC and in federal courts,” said MF Global analyst Paul Gallant.


News Corp. scandal sparks questions of U.S. broadcast licenses Analysts: FCC likely won't strip News Corp. (Politico) FCC seen as unlikely to go after News Corp. (Politico - July 14)