Tripartite Regulation in the Public’s Interest: The Overlapping Roles of the DOJ, FCC, and FTC in Consolidation of the Communications Industry

Abstract

Concern about the continuing media consolidation has led to questions about the regulatory process by which media consolidation is policed—and the roles of the government agencies responsible for policing. In the USA, the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice are the trio of federal agencies that conduct the merger review processes by which proposed consolidation is approved or denied. Their jurisdiction and corresponding authority and standards of review create regulatory overlap, viewed by some as anti-democratic, by others as inefficient, and still by others as inequitable. Concerns about phalanxes of well-heeled, “revolving door” lobbyists speak to a perceived lack of regulatory transparency and fears of skewed regulatory policies augured by inequitable access to government decision-makers.