OUTFOXING THE REGULATORS

Media baron Rupert Murdoch won akey battle to hold onto his Fox television networkwhen the Federal Communications Commission today allowed him to retain his eight TV station licenses. Murdoch had been accused of concealing the fact that his Australia-based News Corp. owned 99 percent of Fox when he sought permission a decade ago to acquire stations that formed the backbone of the network. To hold onto his victory, he'll still have to make a case that waiving foreign ownership restrictions would be in the public interest. Though the FCC found that Murdoch waited years to disclose the extent of Fox's foreign ownership, at least three commissioners are inclined to let him off the hook because Fox has created thousands of jobs and revived flagging TV stations.