CONSOLIDATION:

In comments filed with the Federal Communication Commission Jan. 2, the broadcast industry called on the agency to ease the nation's broadcast ownership rules, while public interest groups asked the commission to maintain and strengthen them. The FCC is undertaking the most extensive rewriting of the nation's broadcast ownership rules in its history.

NBC, Fox and CBS parent company Viacom urged the FCC to scrap the current ownership rules. The Network Affiliated Stations Alliance called on the commission to maintain the current rule that caps the audience reach by a network to 35%.

The National Association of Broadcasters called for the elimination of the local broadcast/newspaper and radio/TV regulations.

Meanwhile, a number of public interest advocates such as The Center for Digital Democracy and the Media Access Project urged strengthening the rules to protect a diverse and open communications system.

The Minority Media Telecommunications Council called the declining share of broadcast owners of color "an emergency." It proposed a "staged implementation plan" that allows for local deregulation only if a market has enough owners of color.

The National Association of Hispanic Journalists filed comments and questions with the FCC, urging it to examine the effects of consolidation on the quality of journalism.

Meanwhile, Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.) said he plans to introduce legislation to curb radio consolidation.

NEW SITE:

New York City's el diario/LA PRENSA, one of the nation's oldest daily Spanish-language newspapers, launched its www.eldiariony.com Web site Jan. 1.