Regulatory reform: The Telecommunications Act of 1996 and the fcc media ownership rules Bruce m. Owen May 2003 Abstract The Federal Communications Commission has regulated ownership of mass media out- lets since the 1920s. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 abolished some of these regu lations, changed others, and required the FCC to review its rules regularly and to repeal hose no longer required There is little opposition to the idea that media ownership policy should promote eco- nomic competition( to increase the economic welfare of consumers)and First Amend- ment values(to preserve the political freedom of citizens) This paper examines, from an economic perspective, federal administrative restrictions on ownership of media properties, including both antitrust and First Amendment policy bases for the rules. It concludes that the present rules are duplicative of antitrust law en- forcement and should therefore be abolished as wasteful of public resources and a burden on consumer welfare. It argues that First Amendment goals are not threatened by aboli- Keywords: mass media ownership, FCC media regulation, First Amendment policy, anth trust in media industries, Merger Guidelines, television broadcasting, radio broadcasting, newspaper publishing, cable television, horizontal concentration, vertical restraints, mar ket definition, concentration measures, radio spectrum, scarcity doctrine The author is Gordon Cain Senior Fellow in the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research and Professor, by courtesy, of Economics, Stanford University2 Regulatory Reform: The Telecommunications Act of 1996 and the FCC Media Ownership Rules by Bruce M. Owen May 2003 Abstract The Federal Communications Commission has regulated ownership of mass media out￾lets since the 1920s. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 abolished some of these regu￾lations, changed others, and required the FCC to review its rules regularly and to repeal those no longer required. There is little opposition to the idea that media ownership policy should promote eco￾nomic competition (to increase the economic welfare of consumers) and First Amend￾ment values (to preserve the political freedom of citizens). This paper examines, from an economic perspective, federal administrative restrictions on ownership of media properties, including both antitrust and First Amendment policy bases for the rules. It concludes that the present rules are duplicative of antitrust law en￾forcement and should therefore be abolished as wasteful of public resources and a burden on consumer welfare. It argues that First Amendment goals are not threatened by aboli￾tion. Keywords: mass media ownership, FCC media regulation, First Amendment policy, anti￾trust in media industries, Merger Guidelines, television broadcasting, radio broadcasting, newspaper publishing, cable television, horizontal concentration, vertical restraints, ma r￾ket definition, concentration measures, radio spectrum, scarcity doctrine. The author is Gordon Cain Senior Fellow in the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research and Professor, by courtesy, of Economics, Stanford University