Karmazin sees no gold rush. (Regulation).(Brief Article)

Broadcasting & Cable, June, 2003 by Higgins, John M.

Mel Karmazin (pictured) isn't looking for a stampede following the FCC's expected June 2 decision to loosen media-ownership rules.

The Viacom president recalled last week that, when the FCC last relaxed TV-station--ownership rules, in August 1999, when Karmazin was CEO of CBS, he pounced. "The first phone call I made was to Sumner. The second was to Chris-Craft." News Corp. wound up snagging Chris-Craft's New York and L.A. stations, creating lucrative duopolies, but the call to Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone led to Viacom's takeover of CBS. "When the TV-duopoly rule changed, that enabled Viacom to get it done," Karmazin points out.

Karmazin doesn't expect dramatic deals this time around, though. Newspaper companies will start buying TV stations...

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