Eighth Circuit Nixes Some FCC Broadcast Station Ownership Rules

Television broadcasters convinced the Eighth Circuit on Wednesday to vacate the Federal Communications Commission’s ownership limits on top-rated television stations.

The FCC’s decision to maintain a rule barring entities from owning more than one of the top four stations in the same market was arbitrary and capricious, since many of its justifications rely on out-dated reports and run contrary to evidence presented to the agency, the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit said.

But the agency’s limits on radio station ownership and market definitions stand, Judge Bobby E. Shepherd wrote.

The FCC is required under the 1996 ...