U.S. FCC Withdraws Proposal To Eliminate Ban On Owning Multiple Media Outlets: Wall Street Journal

Dec 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has withdrawn a proposal to relax the long-standing ban on owning multiple media outlets in the same market, the Wall Street Journal reported.

More than a year ago, FCC circulated a draft that would eliminate the ban on owning a radio station and a newspaper in the same market.

The proposal would have also paved the way for smaller TV stations to own newspapers, a change pushed by the struggling newspaper industry.

However, on Monday, FCC said it has taken the item off the table while it reassesses the issue, the Journal said.

The FCC is in the process of reviewing broadcast ownership rules, including limits on the cross-ownership of a newspaper and a broadcast outlet in a single market. (http://link.reuters.com/fad55v)

In February, FCC said it will not vote on new media-ownership rules until an outside study of the impact on minority broadcasters is complete.

FCC could not immediately be reached for comment by Reuters outside of regular U.S. business hours. (Reporting by Sakthi Prasad and Rohit T.K. in Bangalore; Editing by Supriya Kurane)