WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission voted on Thursday to allow a single company to own a newspaper and television and radio stations in the same town, reversing a decades-old rule aimed at preventing any individual or company from having too much power over local coverage.
The Republican-led F.C.C. eliminated the restrictions, known as a media cross-ownership ban, in a 3-to-2 vote along party lines. As part of the vote, the agency also increased the number of television stations a company could own in a local market. A company will more easily be able to own two of the four largest stations in a market, instead of only one.
The vote was the latest action in a deregulatory blitz at the agency cheered on by media, broadband and cable corporations, but opposed by many Democrats and consumer advocates, who say Americans will be hurt from greater consolidation in those industries.
In April, the agency relaxed other limits on television ownership. Shortly after, Sinclair Broadcast Group reached a deal with Tribune Media for a $3.9 billion merger that would allow Sinclair to reach 70 percent of American households. Some lawmakers have called for an investigation into the relationship between the agency’s chairman, Ajit Pai, and Sinclair.
