The changes, which are set to be approved today by the Federal Communications Commission, will allow companies to own more television stations, as well as newspapers and televisions stations in the same markets.
The changes are being opposed by Democrats on the FCC panel, but US media watchdog chairman Michael Powell, son of secretary of state Colin Powell, and two other Republican members of the five-strong commission are in favour of easing regulations.
One of the legislation changes would allow a single company to own TV stations that reach 45% of US households instead of the current 35% limit.
It is thought unlikely that the changes given the go-ahead by the Republican-dominated committee will lead to any mega mergers as the ban that stops the four major TV networks -- ABC, owned by Walt Disney; CBS, owned by Viacom; News Corp's Fox; and General Electric's NBC -- merging is likely to be kept in place.
Critics have warned that any easing of these rules would allow just a small number of companies to control what Americans watch on television and read in their newspapers.
The changes have been bitterly opposed in the US, where critics have argued that the FCC has failed to make a case.
±±¾©Èü³µpk10ers have been using the image of Rupert Murdoch in their fight against changes, depicting him in a TV ad campaign as "The man who wants to control America".
Pressure groups, including , have collaborated against the liberalisation of US media ownership laws to come up with the ads.
Murdoch is not the biggest media player in the US, but his empire is growing. He owns Fox Television, the Twentieth Century Fox film studio, and newspapers including the New York Post. His latest purchase is the $4bn takeover of satellite TV broadcaster DirecTV.
The pressure groups are supported by the Democrats on the FCC, Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps, who believe that relaxing the rules will have a detrimental affect on American life.
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