FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler assured members of the Congressional...
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler assured members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) that reviews of proposed media transactions will be open and transparent “with ample opportunity for the public to voice their views and concerns,” he said in a letter…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
to Caucus head Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio, posted Friday (http://bit.ly/Vr4Yrt). Wheeler pointed to the update of FCC rules to attribute TV joint service agreements, and other recent commission action, that may help reverse the decline of ownership diversity in the industry. Fudge and the CBC urged the FCC to incorporate guiding principles on diversity when reviewing proposed media industry mergers and acquisitions. Applicants should include within their applications the companies’ diversity goals, and how they intend to integrate diversity and minority inclusion as a part of the corporate culture, members said in a letter to Wheeler this month (http://bit.ly/Vr4Yrt). Applicants for the proposed transactions, like the Comcast/Time Warner Cable and AT&T/DirecTV deals, should detail how the deals “will create minority ownership opportunities in the sale of cable television and wireless cellular systems,” it said. They also should provide how they will include minority and women-owned real estate professionals in matters involving the acquisition and disposition of company real estate, it said.