{"id":30938,"date":"2026-08-07T09:49:35","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T04:49:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=30938"},"modified":"2026-08-07T09:49:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T04:49:35","slug":"fcc-votes-to-lift-broadcast-ownership-cap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=30938","title":{"rendered":"FCC votes to lift broadcast ownership cap"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/hcmRSs1sEsHhUNZUHj3dRlNF3S8=\/0x558:5241x3506\/1366x768\/2026\/08\/06\/1786047915041.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The FCC on Thursday voted 2-1 to eliminate the national TV ownership cap rule that bars a single broadcaster from owning stations that reach more than 39% of U.S. TV households.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why it matters<\/strong>: The party-line vote clears the way for local broadcasters to merge, giving single broadcast ownership groups far more reach than they previously could have. <\/p>\n<hr>\n<ul>\n<li>FCC chairman Brendan Carr has long argued that the cap was outdated and limits the ability of broadcasters to consolidate to compete with tech firms and streamers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Zoom in<\/strong>: The FCC said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.fcc.gov\/public\/attachments\/DOC-424076A1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">statement<\/a> that deals would be evaluated on a case-by-case basis that authorizes deals that satisfy the agency&#8217;s public review standard. <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;This will empower the FCC to approve deals that promote the public interest while allowing the agency to reject any deals that do not meet that standard,&#8221; it said. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What they&#8217;re saying<\/strong>: In a statement, a Nexstar spokesperson said &#8220;For too long, local broadcasters were handcuffed from reaching the scale they needed to compete on a more level playing field.&#8221;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;Modernizing these rules will help ensure broadcasters can continue investing in local journalism and providing the free, trusted news and information that communities across America rely on every day.&#8221; <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Between the lines<\/strong>: Nexstar is the clearest example of a beneficiary of the raised cap.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Its $6.2 billion <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2025\/08\/19\/nexstar-tegna-6-billion-broadcast-deal\" target=\"_blank\">takeover<\/a> of rival Tegna is currently on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/04\/20\/judge-orders-nexstar-tegna-to-pause-merger\" target=\"_blank\">pause<\/a> as a federal judge considers an antitrust lawsuit filed by DirecTV and several state attorneys general. <\/li>\n<li>The FCC&#8217;s Media Bureau approved Nexstar&#8217;s application to transfer Tegna&#8217;s broadcast licenses without a full, public commission vote in March. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Reality check:<\/strong> Thursday&#8217;s vote to lift the cap doesn&#8217;t resolve the antitrust lawsuit that put the deal on pause. <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>That suit addresses issues outside of the FCC&#8217;s cap vote.<\/li>\n<li>DirecTV says the deal would allow Nexstar to have pricing leverage over pay-TV distributors and those costs would be passed on to consumers. <\/li>\n<li>There&#8217;s an ongoing debate over whether the FCC has the authority to lift the cap.  <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Context<\/strong>: FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez \u2014 the lone Democrat \u2014 voted in dissent, arguing Congress removed the FCC&#8217;s authority to adjust the ownership cap after approving the current limit in 2004.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The Biden-era FCC opposed lifting the cap, and the FCC <a href=\"https:\/\/link.axios.com\/click\/42429001.156\/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYXhpb3MuY29tL3Byby9tZWRpYS1kZWFscy8yMDIzLzA1LzIyL3N0YW5kYXJkLWdlbmVyYWwtdGVnbmEtZGVhbC1kZWFkP3V0bV9zb3VyY2U9bmV3c2xldHRlciZ1dG1fbWVkaXVtPWVtYWlsJnV0bV9jYW1wYWlnbj1uZXdzbGV0dGVyX21lZGlhdHJlbmRzX2V4ZWN1dGl2ZSZzdHJlYW09dG9w\/5b97e02b3f92a471b92d70f9Bac844122\" target=\"_blank\">killed<\/a> Tegna&#8217;s $5.4 billion attempt to combine with Standard General in 2023.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What&#8217;s next<\/strong>: The vote will likely be met with legal resistance by consumer advocacy groups. <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Already, Free Press, a media advocacy non-profit, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.freepress.net\/news\/free-press-plans-take-carr-court-over-repeal-ownership-cap\" target=\"_blank\">said<\/a> it plans to appeal the vote. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The FCC on Thursday voted 2-1 to eliminate the national TV ownership cap rule that bars a single broadcaster from owning stations that reach more than 39% of U.S. TV households. Why it matters: The party-line vote clears the way for local broadcasters to merge, giving single broadcast ownership groups far more reach than they&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30939,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/hcmRSs1sEsHhUNZUHj3dRlNF3S8=\/0x558:5241x3506\/1366x768\/2026\/08\/06\/1786047915041.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30938\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/30939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}