Question

What effect(s) did the telecommunications act of 1996 have on the federal communications commission?

Answer 1

The 1996 Telecommunications Act was designed to allow fewer, but larger corporations, to operate more media enterprises within a sector (such as Clear Channel's dominance in radio), and to expand across media sectors (through relaxation of cross-ownership rules), thus enabling massive and historic consolidation of media in the United States.

What are the effects of the telecommunications act of 1996 on the federal communications commission?

• The 1996 Act crystallized changes that had become necessary because of technological progress.
• Rapid technological change has always been the original cause of regulatory change.
• The radical transformation of the regulatory environment and market conditions presently taking place due to the 1996 Act is no exception.
• Lifted the limit on local TV stations and radio stations any one corporation could own from 12 TV stations and 40 radio stations. These changes allowed huge media mergers and greatly increased media concentration, e.g. the creation of radio goliaths such as Clear Channel, with more than 1,200 stations, and Sinclair Broadcasting Corporation with 233 local television stations, reaching 40% of households.
• Increased audience reach from a previous maximum of 25% of U.S. households.
• Deregulated cable rates, allowing rates to skyrocket
• Permitted the Federal Communications Commission to ease rules on cable-broadcast cross-ownership. Ninety percent of the top 50 cable stations are owned by the same parent companies that own the broadcast networks, underscoring that cable is any real source of competition.
• The act also gave away the first TV digital broadcast stations for free. This was worth billions of dollars.
• The Act extended the term of a broadcast license from five to eight years.
• The Act authorized the FCC E rate program to expand broadband in schools and libraries.
• Section 202( h), buried in the text states “the Commission shall repeal or modify any regulation it determines to be no longer in the public interest.”

To learn more about the telecommunications act of 1996, refer to: brainly.com/question/3364707

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