FCC Votes to Repeal National Broadcast Ownership Cap

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has decided to repeal the national broadcast ownership cap, replacing it with a case-by-case review, according to a vote by a 2-1 margin on Thursday. The cap, established in 2004 by Congress, restricts entities from owning or controlling broadcast television stations that collectively reach over 39% of TV households in the United States.

This decision was made as local TV conglomerates such as Nexstar and Sinclair have previously advocated for the cap to be raised or removed, citing that competition is now not just rival broadcasters, but also streaming platforms and technology behemoths like Amazon and YouTube. The FCC granted a waiver for Nexstar's merger with Tegna worth $6.2 billion, necessitating the divestiture of six stations within two years of the deal's completion.

However, this move has faced criticism from both political sides and has resulted in an antitrust lawsuit filed by state attorneys general and DirecTV, seeking to halt the deal. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr emphasized that the repeal would provide crucial relief for local broadcasters, restoring a healthy competitive balance to counteract the escalating dominance of national programming.

Carr stressed that local broadcast television must be preserved, as its decline mirrors the challenges faced by local newspapers. Carr's fellow Democrat Commissioner Anna Gomez disagreed, contending that the repeal contravenes the law, oversteps the FCC's jurisdiction, and undermines essential principles of localism, viewpoint diversity, and competition.

Gomez warned that the concentration of ownership among a few large media conglomerates does not genuinely represent the desires of local broadcasters, who are, in fact, large national companies that own local stations and increasingly dictate their content without meaningful local input. While Gomez acknowledged the financial pressures faced by broadcasters, she cautioned that addressing these issues without considering the broader regulatory landscape risks setting the wrong incentives.

FCC Chairman Carr cited a D.C. Circuit court ruling that setting the cap at a specific percentage marks "the starting point from which the Commission was to assess the need for further change." Carr and commissioners remain open to appeals of the FCC's decision, but affirmed their commitment to ensuring broadcasters can compete on equal footing with other media providers.