Prometheus Radio Project v. Federal Communications Commission [Prometheus I]
United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
373 F.3d 372 (2004)
- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) (defendant) had authority to regulate broadcast media in the public interest. The FCC’s authority included promulgating ownership rules to limit the number of television stations, radio stations, and newspapers that a single company could own in a market. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 directed the FCC to review such ownership rules every two years and to repeal or modify any regulation it determined to no longer be in the public interest. In 2016, the FCC concluded that its ownership rules remained necessary to promote the FCC’s public-interest goals of promoting competition and a diversity of viewpoints in local markets. In 2017, the FCC analyzed record evidence of dramatic changes in the media market over the last several decades. Based on this analysis, the FCC issued an order repealing rules limiting newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership and radio/television cross-ownership and replacing them with a single set of cross-media restrictions. Regarding local television ownership, the FCC created a numerical formula based on a market-consolidation index used by the Federal Trade Commission in reviewing mergers. The FCC built the formula with a goal of six equal-sized competitors in a given market. Regarding local radio ownership, the FCC retained existing numerical limits on ownership. Prometheus Radio Project (Prometheus) and other entities (plaintiffs) petitioned for review of the changes, arguing that the FCC’s decision was arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Ambro, J.)
Concurrence/Dissent (Scirica, C.J.)
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