MUMBAI: Fox Television Stations, Inc. filed applications with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seeking approval of the transfer of the licenses of its 35 owned-and-operated stations to a domestic subsidiary of News Corporation and its shareholders.
 
 

The request follows the 12 November, 2004 reincorporation of News Corporation, which was previously an Australian company, in the United States. The proposed transfer will be accomplished by an internal restructuring of the relevant corporate entities and will not affect the equity ownership of the Fox-owned stations or any aspect of their day-to-day operations.
 
 

Restrictions on foreign ownership of broadcast stations had prohibited News Corporation from controlling the Fox-owned stations when it was an Australian company.

Now that News Corporation is based in the US, and both its voting and total shares outstanding are overwhelmingly owned by US citizens, ownership of the stations can be legally transferred to News Corporation and its shareholders. The proposed transfer will reduce corporate complexity for News Corporation.

Fox Television Stations, Inc., one of US' largest owned-and-operated network broadcast groups, comprises 35 stations in 26 markets, covering nearly 45 per cent of US television homes. This includes five duopolies in the top 10 markets: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas and Washington D.C., as well as duopolies in Houston, Minneapolis, Phoenix and Orlando.