Ad Rates for Politics to Hit Web

Broadcast television stations would soon be required to disclose on the Internet the rates they charge for political TV ads under new rules circulated at the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC's commissioners are expected to vote on the new rules at an April 27 meeting. If approved, they could go into effect later this year. Broadcasters are expected to fight the change. They say it would cost them significant time and money because the new rules would require them to update their online files on political ads expeditiously in the final weeks before an election. Broadcasters have also called the proposal unfair because their competitors -- including cable channels -- wouldn't have to disclose their political-ad rates.