Freeing the Air Waves

Ever since Congress passed the Communications Act of 1934, the broadcasting industry has chafed under increasingly heavy regulation. The reason: the air waves were considered to be a limited resource that needed to be carefully controlled by Government in the public interest. But last week the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) took a major step toward deregulation of the broadcast industry by relaxing a 31-year-old restriction on the number of radio and television outlets that a company can own. The old 7-7-7 Rule, as it was known, stated that no company could own more than seven AM radio stations, seven FM ones and seven television stations. The commissioners voted 4 to 1 to raise the figures to 12-12-12, and said that most remaining restrictions on station ownership will end in 1990. The FCC noted that since the 7-7-7 Rule was established in 1953, the number of television stations has increased from 199 to 1,169, while radio outlets have tripled, to more than 9,000. Cable and satellite technologies have also enhanced the variety of programming choices. Therefore, the commission concluded, the increased concentration of ownership that will result from the new ruling does not threaten "the diversity of independent viewpoints in the information and entertainment markets."