Re: X calls

[Garrett Wollman <wollman@khavrinen.lcs.mit.edu>]

<<On Tue, 21 May 2002 15:57:18 -0400 (EDT), Sven Franklyn Weil <sven@gordsven.com> said:

> they just rent it?  I thought only citizens of a particular country could 
> own radio stations in that country:

No.  Only US citizens may own an attributable interest in US
licensees.  (RCA was formed to take over the US assets of Marconi when
that company was disqualified from station ownership.)  Most other
countries have no such restrictions.  I happen to own a tiny amount of
stock in CanWest Global, which owns two Canadian TV networks, all but
one of Canada's English-language daily newspapers, radio networks in
Ireland and New Zealand, and a 40% interest in an Australian
television network.

I believe that Mexico does have some restrictions on foreign
ownership, and stations which broadcast in English must be expressly
licensed to do so by the Mexican authorities.  Mexican stations must
also apply for permission (from the FCC) to operate a US studio, and
of course are not allowed to hold auxiliary licenses (STL, RPU,
satellite uplink, etc.) since these are tied to a station's main
broadcast license.

-GAWollman