• Broadcasting & Cable, Friday, November 9, 2007 12:15 PM

U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan has introduced a bill to keep the Federal Communications Commission from moving on new media-ownership rules until next year while opening a separate proceeding on broadcast localism. The North Dakota Democrat's "Media Ownership Act of 2007" is co-sponsored by colleagues from both sides of the aisle, including Trent Lott, a Republican from Mississippi. The bill would require the FCC to have a 90-day comment period on any proposed media-ownership rule changes, while forcing it to conduct a separate look at issues of localism and diversity with the same comment period.

Meanwhile, FCC chair Kevin Martin wants a vote on new media-ownership rules by the end of the year and says it is time to get the thing done after more than a dozen public hearings over the last few years. He plans to release his proposed rule changes Nov. 13, insiders say, and go for a vote a bit more than a month later. He is likely to propose dropping-or at least easing--the current ban on newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership.

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) is among those backing the Dorgan/Lott effort: "I don't think Americans are going to accept the excuse of unintended consequences from the ownership changes," he says. "I think the FCC needs to know that that approach will not stand and Congress is not going to allow it."

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