Whoa, in the recent excitement, this one slipped by me.
The [FCC] is preparing to impose significant new regulations to open the cable television market to independent programmers and rival video services after determining that cable companies have become too dominant in the industry, senior commission officials said.
Also expected is yet another plan to relax ownership requirements of newspapers and television stations in the same markets. All of this and more may happen before the month is out.
Update: Chairman Kevin Martin just held a conference call to propose a “modest” reform of the media cross-ownership rule. “The rule changes would go some way to removing the regulatory obstacles to the completion of the sale of the Tribune Co. to real estate magnate Sam Zell,” explains Dow Jones.