CENTRALIZATION OF MEDIA CONTENT

Relevant to the question of media ownership is the following quotation:

"In a sense, Spelling represented one of the final ties to a time when independent producers could amass enormous wealth by developing popular hits, during an era when the major networks were prevented from supplying their own programming — federal rules that have since been rescinded."

--Obituary for AARON SPELLING / 1923-2006
TV Mogul Spun Fluff Into Gold
By Brian Lowry, June 24, 2006

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-spelling24jun24,0,568231.story?coll=la-home-headlines

I'm interested in learning more about which federal rules created the division, and when and how they were rescinded. Perhaps this change in the law has something to do with quality of original programming being lower now (at least in my opinion) than in the '80s.