WASHINGTON -- House lawmakers voted today to block a new regulation that would allow individual companies to buy up television stations reaching nearly half the nation's viewers.

It's extremely rare to be able to reverse a regulatory decision that gives away the store to the big boys.

Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., chief sponsor of the provision to derail the FCC change

The provision, included in a spending bill approved 400-21, would roll back part of a Federal Communications Commission decision overhauling decades-old restrictions governing ownership of newspapers and television and radio stations. That June 2 ruling by the Republican-dominated FCC was a victory for media companies who sought relaxed rules.

Opponents, from consumer groups to songwriters to small broadcasters, say the changes could lead to a wave of mergers leaving a dwindling number of companies controlling what people see, hear and read. They are urging Congress to roll back all the changes, but the House measure only addresses TV station ownership.

The FCC voted to allow single companies to own TV stations reaching 45 percent of U.S. households. The House measure would return the cap to 35 percent.

"It's extremely rare to be able to reverse a regulatory decision that gives away the store to the big boys," said Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., chief sponsor of the provision to derail the FCC change.

The fight now moves to the Senate, where several lawmakers of both parties want to include a similar provision in their version of the spending bill. Broader rollback efforts also are being considered.

Top Republicans are hoping that, with leverage from the threat of a first-ever veto by President Bush, the final House-Senate compromise bill later this year will drop the provision.

FCC Chairman Michael Powell defended his agency's decision before the House vote.

"We created enforceable rules that reflect the realities of today's media marketplace," Powell said in a statement. "The rules will benefit Americans by protecting localism, competition and diversity."

The FCC also allowed individual companies to own more TV stations in some cities and largely ended a ban on one company owning a newspaper and a broadcast station in a community.

Michael Copps, one of two Democrats on the five-member FCC who opposed the changes, told the Senate Commerce Committee that the new rules "surrender awesome powers over our news, information and entertainment to a handful of large conglomerates."

The committee voted last month for a bill that would undo much of the FCC changes, including rolling back the ownership cap and reinstating the broadcast-newspaper cross-ownership ban.

A bipartisan group of senators also have introduced a "resolution of disapproval" to undo all of FCC's changes. To succeed, the seldom-used legislative maneuver would need majority approval in the Senate and House and the president's signature.

With resistance from Republican leaders in the House, the prospects for legislation opposing the new ownership rules had initially appeared bleak.

"We've been facing a total roadblock on doing anything in the House," said Gene Kimmelman, public policy director for Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports magazine. He said the House vote meant "that roadblock will be torn apart."

Many media companies said the FCC changes were needed because the old restrictions hindered their ability to grow and compete in a market changed by cable TV, satellite broadcasts and the Internet.

News Corp., owner of Fox, and Viacom Inc., which owns CBS and UPN, benefit from a higher national TV ownership cap because deals have left them above the 35 percent level. If that lower level is ultimately enforced, the companies could be forced to sell stations.

Smaller broadcasters said a higher cap would allow the networks to gobble up stations and take away local control of programming. The major networks wanted the cap eliminated.

NBC lobbyist Bob Okun praised the FCC decision and called the House legislation "extremely disappointing."

On Tuesday, a White House budget office statement threatened a veto if the final bill contains the FCC provision or something similar. The administration said the new FCC rules "more accurately reflect the changing media landscape and the current state of network station ownership, while still guarding against undue concentration in the marketplace."

The FCC provision was included last week in a $37.9 billion measure financing the departments of Commerce, State and Justice next year.

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Copyright © 2003, The Associated Press

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