WASHINGTON (AP) ­- Consumers would get less classical, jazz and gospel music on radio but little change in local TV news coverage if the government eases rules to allow more media consolidation, new studies say.

The reports released Monday by two private groups, the Benton Foundation and the Social Science Research Council, seek to counter the Federal Communications Commission’s contention that consolidation would improve programming due to synergy effects.

They found that a radio company owning more stations in a local market typically did not offer niche formats such as classical, bluegrass and Spanish-language stations. Rather, the larger companies were more likely to offer several versions of Top 40, adult contemporary and country music.

“FCC commission decisions are too often made with insufficient data,” said Gloria Tristani, a former FCC commissioner and president of the Benton Foundation. “These studies strongly suggest that ownership restrictions should be tightened, not relaxed.”

Former FCC Chairman Michael Powell pushed through loosened rules in 2003, but the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia threw them out on grounds that the FCC compiled an insufficient record to justify them.

The 2003 changes would have let one corporation own – in a single community – up to three TV stations, eight radio stations, the cable system, the only daily newspaper and the biggest Internet provider, according to Democratic commissioners who opposed the plan.

According to the studies released Monday:

-Cross-owned TV stations were more likely to offer local news, in part because larger news stations were usually the ones targeted for acquisition by newspapers. But when factoring out market size, the cross-owned ones did not provide more news than other stations in the local news business.

-Media ownership opportunities for women and minority groups remained limited. Of the 12,844 radio and television stations that filed reports with the FCC in 2005, women owned 3.4 percent and minorities 3.6 percent.

Many of the broadcast television networks and large media companies including the Tribune Co., Gannett Co. and the New York Times Co. have supported loosened rules, saying current restrictions are outmoded in a digital age in which consumers also have the Internet and cable TV to choose from.

The FCC has scheduled several hearings and allowed 120 days for public comment, which expired Monday. Current FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has supported eliminating the three-decade-old flat ban on cross-ownership.

The fate of media ownership proposals could be determined in part by the November congressional elections.

A switch to Democratic control in the House would be likely to hamper any attempts to let media conglomerates own more TV stations. In the Senate, Democrats such as John Kerry of Massachusetts and Barack Obama of Illinois – two possible 2008 presidential contenders – have urged the agency to consider diversity when reviewing ownership rules.

The FCC and its staff declined to predict how long the review process will take. The agency held its first public hearing in Los Angeles earlier this month.