With a 2-1 vote Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission discarded the rule barring one company’s television stations from reaching more than 39% of US households, betting that larger broadcast groups can compete more effectively with streaming services and technology platforms. Future station deals will receive individual public-interest reviews instead of facing a fixed national ceiling.
Republican FCC Chair Brendan Carr and Commissioner Olivia Trusty approved the change; Democratic Commissioner Anna Gomez dissented. Carr portrayed the cap as a relic from another media age, when viewers had fewer alternatives and Google, Meta, Netflix, and other digital powers did not command national audiences.
“We should stop hamstringing this one segment of the broader market with outdated restrictions,” Carr said, warning that local broadcasting could follow newspapers into decline. The FCC says streaming services now reach more than 80% of US adults.
The old boundary dated to 2004, when Congress settled a bruising fight over broadcast ownership by setting the figure at 39%. That history is now the fuse for an expected court battle: Did Congress create a binding limit, or merely direct the FCC to revise its own regulation?
Opposition has scrambled familiar political lines. Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, said, “I am skeptical a change can be made absent an act of Congress.” Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy was blunter: “The FCC actually claims allowing two or three TV companies to buy up their competitors creates competition. Anyone with a brain understands it does the opposite.”
Progressive groups reached much the same destination. Free Press Vice President Matt Wood said, “Brendan Carr cannot undo the limit that Congress set just because he feels like it.” Public Knowledge Legal Director John Bergmayer warned, “Consolidation does not serve local broadcast audiences or give them more local news and information.”
Gomez called the repeal “unlawful on its face” and said it could transfer more control over public airwaves to a small group of corporations.
The immediate backdrop is Nexstar’s acquisition of Tegna, a transaction that would give the combined operation access to roughly 80% of US television households. A federal judge has blocked the companies’ integration while an antitrust challenge proceeds.
Broadcasters see scale, investment, and survival. Critics see fewer owners, higher carriage fees, standardized news, and less room for independent voices. The regulators have voted. The judges are likely to speak next.
