Nashville, Tennessee will sponsor the Federal Communications Commission’s latest hearing on its media ownership guidelines, the Commission announced this week.
The December 11th meeting will be the second of six public gatherings on broadcast ownership issues. The meeting will "provide an opportunity for those in the Nashville area to broadly discuss media ownership issues as well as those of concern to their community," according to the FCC.
The FCC's announcement, released on Tuesday, did not disclose why the Commission chose Nashville for its second hearing, but the city happens to be the hometown of FCC Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate.
"Nashville is home to some of the greatest songwriters and musicians in the world," Tate said in a statement released with the announcement. "It is hard to think of a more appropriate location for discussing how the Commission’s rules may affect these artists and their audience."
In June the Commission launched a 120-day public comment cycle on its media ownership rules. The FCC must assess these rules every four years. The FCC has promised to hold six public hearings across the nation on these rules, accept public comments, and conduct studies to gain information on media ownership.
In 2003 the FCC dramatically relaxed its media ownership limits, but these changes met several petitions for reconsideration. In its 2004 Prometheus v. FCC decision the Third Circuit Court of Appeals reversed much of what the FCC changed. The Commission therefore seeks comment on many of these issues again.
The Commission wants comments on topics including:
- The number of television stations that can be owned by a single entity
- The number of local radio stations that can be owned by a single entity
- Limits on cross-media ownership (ownership of a combination of radio, newspaper or television stations)
- The FCC's present ban on mergers between major TV networks such as ABC, CBS, Fox or NBC
The first of the agency's six meeting took place in Los Angeles. The Commission has not yet announced the dates and locations of the remaining gatherings. But other cities have scheduled unofficial hearings:
- Northeast Citizens for Responsible Media will hold a public hearing [1] on media ownership in Hyde Park, New York on November 21st. The event will include Congressmember Maurice Hinchey.
- FCC Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein will appear at the Seattle Public Library's main auditorium [2] on November 30th to discuss broadcast ownership questions.
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