FCC Appeals 3rd Circuit Media Ownership Loss to SCOTUS

The FCC and the Office of the Solicitor General filed a cert petition at the Supreme Court seeking reversal of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision in Prometheus IV. Parties to the case sent us the filing, which wasn't yet online or confirmed by the FCC.

A similar petition from NAB and several broadcasters is also expected to be filed Friday. The 3rd Circuit sent back some media ownership rules to the commission.

“For the past 17 years, the same divided Third Circuit panel has repeatedly prevented the Commission from fulfilling Section 202(h)’s mandate that the agency ‘shall’ repeal or modify any ownership rule it determines is no longer ‘necessary in the public interest,'" the government said. “The panel’s repeated vacaturs and remands, and its retention of jurisdiction over subsequent appeals, have had far-reaching consequences for domestic broadcast markets.”