No fake: U.S. media stocks on a rally

Wednesday when newly designated FCC chair and net-neutrality opponent Ajit Pai said in Senate testimony that approval of the pending merger between

and probably falls outside his jurisdiction. This lines up with Pai’s previous call for “light-touch regulation,” just one part of a rollback investors see spurring further industry consolidation.

“The biggest driver in the media rally since the election has been greater regulatory openness to value creation though potential M&A,” Paul Gallant, a Washington-based analyst at Cowen & Co., said in a phone interview.

Companies regulated by the FCC share investor enthusiasm for Pai’s nomination. AT&T said Pai already has worked to remove “outdated and unnecessary regulations,” while Charter Communications Inc. said he “understands that regulatory stability allows businesses to grow and create jobs.”

Pai, who has been on the commission since 2012 and the agency’s chairman since being designated by Trump in January, has also spoken out against TV station ownership restrictions and privacy requirements for broadband providers. He’s criticized the net-neutrality rules adopted by Democrats in 2015, already suspending a requirement that Internet service providers safeguard customers’ data.

While a primary driver of the post-election rally has been optimism that the FCC may ease rules, Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker has also previously cited the potential for higher spending by advertisers amid expectations of lower taxes and health-care costs under Trump.