Murdoch's Fox TV licenses seen surviving UK scandal

Rupert Murdoch faces limited risk of losing News Corp's broadcast permits in America, even amid screaming headlines in Britain that the media mogul is unfit to run a major company.

The Federal Communications Commission has the power to deny a license renewal if it finds the license is not being used by people of good "character" who will serve "the public interest." But former FCC officials and other experts say the agency has been loath to use that power in the past, and is highly unlikely to challenge News Corp's 27 Fox U.S. television licenses despite calls from a Washington-based ethics watchdog to do so. "As a result of Reagan-era deregulation and broadcaster-friendly legislation in 1996, it is very, very hard for the FCC to take away a license," said communications lawyer Andrew Schwartzman.