Sarah Lai Stirland has posted a nice graphic representing the current media concentration.
Strap in, because things are going to get more concentrated. My own feeling (along with nearly everyone else except for some communiations businesses and leadership in the Republican Party) is that removing restrictions will be negative to the democratic process, but that is untested. In fairness, here is what Mr Powell has to say on the subject (unfortunately the FCC will not release their research that shows this is true and the three Republican members of the commission have said that public hearings aren't necessary as this is too complex for the average citizen to contemplate. The same three members have avoided the unofficial hearings..)
If the ruling comes as Powell predicts one would guess that several challenges will immediately be filed (this is probably true no matter what the outcome is as billions of dollars are riding on this).
What happens if it is upheld in court?
There are cases where increased concentration hasn't worked - AOL-TW is probably the best example. Perhaps investors will be leery and cementing these things may be difficult. One can imagine that the asking prices for properties will be high and the new owners will have to show value.
It is fascinating to look at the Clear Channel story. Local programming has gone away for a huge number of stations and large numbers of staff dismissed. The content is aimed at whatever the average consumer is imagined to be (with the far right politics of the owners thrown in - these guys are closely associated with Bush and Cheney). People have reacted by tuning out - radio listening has dropped over the past few years especially in CC markets. The very average listener may be well served, but most of the public isn't core average.
The Internet was supposed to fix these issues, but already we are seeing bandwidth caps on some broadband networks that prevent large amounts of high quality audio over the net (128kbps and above) - not to mention licensing issues that have put many of these guys out of business.
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Whatever you do it makes sense to hold Mr Powell to his word when he claims that we will see increased diversity. You can call the FCC at 888-225-5322 and send Mr Powell email at mpowell@fcc.gov. The companies that want less diversity already have his direct line.
5:17:31 AM 
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