Fox Seeks NBCO Waiver

The FCC should grant a temporary waiver of the newspaper cross-ownership rule to Fox so it can continue owning the New York Post and two TV stations in New York and New Jersey while the agency considers petitions for reconsideration of media ownership rules, said Fox Television Stations in a waiver request posted in docket 07-260 Wednesday. Under existing rules, Fox had until Wednesday to come into compliance with the NBCO rule or file a new waiver request, it said. “Grant of the requested relief will allow the newly reconstituted Commission time to consider the status of the NBCO rule as part of the pending 2014 Quadrennial Review reconsideration proceeding without disrupting the highly competitive New York media marketplace or impairing the viability of diverse sources of information in that market." The FCC is seen as likely to relax ownership rules under Chairman Ajit Pai (see 1702160064). The broadcaster also argued its combination is legal even under the existing NBCO rules.