As part of the quadrennial review of its broadcast ownership rules, the FCC released a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) on May 25. Federal law requires the Commission to review its broadcast ownership rules every four years to determine whether the rules continue to serve the public interest. Commission staff have repeatedly said it will view this proceeding with a “fresh look.”

The rules under consideration in the ownership proceeding include: local television ownership, local radio ownership, newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership, radio/television cross-ownership and dual network ownership rules. The NOI asks numerous questions about the current media landscape and the goals the Commission seeks to achieve through its multiple and cross-ownership rules (i.e., competition, diversity and localism). It asks several questions concerning the dynamic changes in the advertising market and how these changes are affecting broadcast outlets and their viewers. The NOI also seeks comment on the impact of the Internet on consumer usage of radio and television.

Comments in response to the NOI are due July 12 and replies on July 26, 2010.

This proceeding will be the Commission’s fifth review of media ownership since the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. During the last quadrennial review, the FCC voted to modestly relax the newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership rule while leaving the remaining rules intact. Broadcasters appealed the FCC’s decision arguing that the agency did not sufficiently deregulate in light of changing market circumstances. That case remains pending in the Third Circuit, with the parties filing briefs this summer. The Third Circuit’s decision in this case may well be issued before the FCC’s current quadrennial media ownership proceeding is concluded.

To read the FCC’s NOI, click here.