The future of the broadcast ownership cap still is in doubt, afte...

The future of the broadcast ownership cap still is in doubt, after the Senate failed to invoke cloture for the Omnibus Appropriations bill Tues. The Senate rejected the call to end debate on the bill by a vote of 48-45, with 60 votes needed to invoke cloture. The bill includes a provision that would establish a 39% broadcast ownership cap. The provision is authorizing, not appropriations, language, which means it would effectively be a permanent ownership cap. The ownership cap language is part of the Commerce Justice State (CJS) appropriations bill, which also includes funding for the Commerce Dept., FCC and FTC. It was unclear whether Senate Majority Leader Frist (R-Tenn.) would give up efforts to pass the omnibus or would call for another cloture vote in the coming days. However, Gerry Waldron, of the Network Affiliated Stations Alliance (NASA), said he expected the omnibus to be ratified in the near future. “We understand there are larger politics at play,” he said: “We expect it ultimately to pass.” Although a compromise on the 35% cap that NASA sought, Waldron said the compromise was significant because the cap would be permanent. (Technically, the FCC could raise the ownership cap at any time through a rulemaking.) Waldron said NASA was encouraged because Senate Appropriations Chmn. Stevens (R-Alaska) had urged the FCC to treat this as a permanent cap. Media ownership was mentioned during the debate on the bill Tues., but most objections from Democrats were focused on overtime rules and country-of-origin labeling for food products. House leaders have said they wouldn’t reopen debate on the omnibus. The alternative probably would be a continuing resolution (CR) until Sept. 30 -- the end of the fiscal year -- which would freeze funding for those agencies at 2003 levels. Frist warned senators that a CR until Sept. 30 would sap funding for several important programs and Stevens also warned that rejection of the omnibus would eliminate appropriations earmarked for their states.