FCC Withdraws Proposal on Cross-Ownership

The Federal Communications Commission withdrew from consideration a review of an agency rule that prohibits a company from owning a newspaper and TV station in the same market.

A handful of big media companies including Gannett Co., and Tribune Corp., owner of the Los Angeles Times, have been pushing for a relaxation of the cross-ownership rule.

The move came early Tuesday after Republican FCC Commissioner Harold Furchgott-Roth and Democrat Gloria Tristani raised objections to the controversial reform proposal.

At the agency’s meeting Thursday, commissioners had planned to take up a proposal that would have paved the way for the FCC to relax or eliminate the cross-ownership rule later this year.