Comments on H.R. 6228

H.R. 6228, a bill to amend the Communications Act of 1934, provides that the Federal Communications Commission, in considering applications for the renewal of broadcast station licenses, shall not take into account any ownership interest of the applicant in other broadcasting stations or in other communications media. In an earlier report on selected regulatory policies for radio and television, GAO stated that, since there is no conclusive evidence that newspaper-broadcast, television-radio, and AM-FM co-ownerships provide better service or that their divestiture would cause public harm, Congress should decide, as a matter of policy, (1) the relative importance to be placed on ownership and diversification and industry stability in formulating broadcast station ownership rules, and (2) the circumstances under which divestiture by established broadcast licensees would be appropriate for fostering competition and diversity. By codifying the Commission's cross-ownership rules and eliminating consideration of ownership diversification and owner participation in station management for license renewals, H.R. 6228 conforms to these recommendations and, therefore, GAO supports it. Four other points made in connection with H.R. 6228 were that: (1) GAO does not foresee the development of new telecommunications technology as changing the Commission's treatment of cross-ownership and integration in comparative renewals; (2) H.R. 6228 would have little, if any, impact on the Commission's ability to determine whether a renewal would serve the public interest, convenience, and necessity; (3) GAO holds no opinion on whether radio and television licences should be treated differently within the context of H.R. 6228; and (4) by codifying the Commission's newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership rules, H.R. 6228 will resolve uncertainty surrounding the diversification issue.