Proposed Law Would Restrict FCC's Merger Authority

RADIO ONLINE | Wednesday, November 2, 2011 | 11:20pm CT

Republican lawmakers plan to introduce legislation to reduce the FCC's authority over mergers, reports Reuters. Republicans are seeking standardized FCC practices to replace the FCC's current "public interest" standard that is used when reviewing mergers. The "narrower standard" would be based on merger-specific harms.

Introduced by House Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden and Senator Dean Heller, the bill would restrict the Commission's ability to place limit conditions on companies that are seeking to merge. The measure would require the agency to identify a specific market failure or consumer harm before adopting new rules, and/or to justify any burden placed beyond merger-specific harms.

"We have reached out to our Democratic colleagues, Chairman Genachowski, each commissioner, and job creators to identify what current FCC processes work and what can be improved," said Walden. "Taking this feedback into account, we developed a series of sensible process reforms to improve the way the Commission operates."