The Federal Communications Commission has voted to advance its regulatory review of broadcast ownership rules and will seek public input on whether it should retain, modify or eliminate the local radio, local television and dual network rules.
“In recent years, numerous online audio and video streaming services have emerged, fundamentally changing how broadcast radio and television compete in the media marketplace,” FCC chairman Brendan Carr said during the agency’s Open Committee Meeting on Tuesday. “Our broadcast ownership rules should reflect these changes.”
The agency is required to review certain broadcast ownership rules every four years to determine whether the rules remain necessary in the public interest as the result of competition.
“Our primary goal is to promote investment in local broadcasters who provide trusted news and information vital to the communities they serve. We will also consider whether public safety, national security and other public interest goals should be part of this review process,” Carr added. “If we determine that any rule no longer serves the public interest, we will fulfill our statutory duty to modify or eliminate those rules.”
The Local Radio Ownership rule limits the total number of stations that may be commonly owned in a local market. The comment period will evaluate possible modifications, including the “relevant product market, market size tiers and numerical limits.” It will also look at retaining, modifying, or eliminating the separate limits, known as subcaps, that restrict the number of radio stations a licensee can own in the same service (AM or FM) in a single market.
The Local Television rule allows a single entity to own more than two television stations in the same local market, so long as at least one of the stations is not ranked among the top-four stations. The comment period will evaluate possible modifications, including the “relevant product market, the numerical limit, and consideration of television market characteristics.”
The Dual Network rule prohibits merger between or among the Big Four broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC). The comment period will evaluate whether to modify or eliminate the rule.
The review comes after the Eighth Circuit Court vacated the FCC’s decision to retain the “top four” rule, which prohibited a single entity from owning or controlling two of the top four television stations in a local market.
It also follows the FCC’s decision to refresh the record and seek public comment on whether to retain, modify or eliminate the National Television Multiple Ownership rule, which limits entities from owning or controlling broadcast television stations that, in the aggregate, reach more than 39% of TV households in the United States.
The public comment period for the National Television Multiple Ownership rule ended on Aug. 22. Carr has previously expressed support for modifying or eliminating the cap, calling the current broadcast ownership rules “arcane” and “artificial.”
In her remarks prior to the vote, the FCC’s sole Democrat Anna Gomez slammed Carr for threatening to go after ABC over comments late night host Jimmy Kimmel made about Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin as a “pretext to punish speech it disliked.”
Kimmel was pulled from ABC’s airwaves as well as from affiliate stations owned by Nexstar and Sinclair. The move would trigger protests from writers and union members, calls to cancel Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ subscriptions and an open letter from the American Civil Liberties Union signed by over 400 artists. However, the decisions would later be reversed following Disney leadership’s discussions with Kimmel and Nexstar/Sinclair.
“That led to a new low of corporate capitulation that put the foundation of the First Amendment in danger. This was no simple business decision. It was an act of clear government intimidation,” Gomez argued. “While the FCC does not have the authority, the ability or the constitutional right to police lawful content or to punish broadcasters for speech the government dislikes, even the threat of revoking a license is no small matter. It poses an existential risk to a broadcaster, which cannot exist without its license.”
The dispute came as Nexstar Media Group is seeking to merge with its rival Tegna in a $6.2 billion deal, which would create a combined entity that would reach 80% of U.S. households. The merger, which is expected to close in the second half of 2026, is subject to shareholder and regulatory approval.
Sinclair has also launched a strategic review of its broadcast business, which will look at opportunities including acquisitions, strategic partnerships and business combinations with potential partners in the broadcast and the broader media and technology ecosystem. Both Nexstar and Sinclair have also been lobbying the FCC to lift the 39% ownership cap.
“Ultimately, after days of bipartisan pushback against this weaponization of government power, Disney backed off. However, for several days, the corporate behemoths who own large swaths of local stations across the country did not that’s because these billion dollar media companies have business before the FCC,” Gomez continued. “They will need regulatory approval of their transactions, and are pushing to reduce regulatory guardrails so they can grow even bigger. That has left local stations trapped in the middle as these massive companies impose their will and their values upon local communities.”
Gomez noted that the Kimmel dispute “neatly encapsulates the danger of allowing vast and unfettered media consolidation,” warning it could “drastically alter the media ecosystem and the number of voices that are a part of it.” She also said the public has raised “serious concerns that large station groups made programming decisions to serve their national corporate interests, not their communities of license” and believes the 39% cap can only be lifted by Congress.
“We need to ensure our rules prioritize viewpoint diversity and incentivize broadcasters to serve their communities of license,” she added. “The broadcast ecosystem is a long-standing public private partnership, and I call on all stakeholders to approach this pivotal moment with an open mind to identifying modifications to current rules that would both shore up the economics of broadcast television and preserve the public interest.”
