By Seth Sutel
The Associated Press

NEW YORK - A U.S. appeals court on Thursday largely reversed rule changes from the Federal Communications Commission that would have allowed companies to own more radio and television stations in the same market.

The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit in Philadelphia marked a major setback to the FCC's efforts to deregulate media ownership rules.

The rule changes have been the subject of much debate about the concentration of media ownership ever since they were announced in June 2003. The plaintiffs against the FCC said the rules would limit the diversity of voices on the airwaves, while the FCC said the old rules had become outdated.

The court also kept in place an order it made last September blocking the rules from taking effect.

In their 2-to-1 decision, the judges threw out rules that would have allowed greater ownership of TV and radio stations in the same market. However, they found that the FCC was within its rights to repeal a blanket prohibition on companies owning both a newspaper and a television station in the same city.