"It is now time for the commission to act," the Louisiana Republican said. "In a highly competitive, diverse 21st century marketplace, the idea of the federal government trying to regulate media ownership should be as offensive to Americans as trying to regulate free speech itself."

But it is short-sighted to simply say that we can't have consolidation because diversity is important, when the alternative is de facto consolidation, without which stations would go out of business. It is simply not profitable anymore to independently operate a television station in many mid-sized television markets. Sure, you can make money off of the WB or Pax affiliate in Miami, but how about in Corpus Christi or Shreveport or Fargo? Without co-ownership and taking advantage of economies of scale in these markets, those WB and Pax affiliates will go off the air. Now what's happened to your diversity of voices? Economies of scale is not just about efficiency and profit, but in the TV business, it's about survival.