NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Federal Communications Commission, is expected to soon issue a report concluding that the cable industry's market share has passed a key threshold that will give the agency broad power to ensure that there is sufficient diversity on the airwaves, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin plans to argue for a steep decline in the rates the cable industry is permitted to charge programmers to lease access to spare channels from them, the Wall Street Journal said citing industry sources.

Martin has been outspoken about the need for reform of the lease access rules recently, and has argued that if rates are set lower, then minority and women's groups would be able to afford them and have easier access to the airwaves, according to the article published on the Journal's Web site.

The FCC is required to carry out an annual review of the state of competition in the pay television market. The FCC could not be reached for comment.
© Copyright 2007 Reuters.