{"id":5130,"date":"2026-08-07T04:09:32","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T04:09:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=5130"},"modified":"2026-08-07T04:09:32","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T04:09:32","slug":"fcc-broadcast-ownership-rule-ends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=5130","title":{"rendered":"Brendan Carr officially unleashes broadcast consolidation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">The agency\u2019s two Republicans, Chair Brendan Carr and Commissioner Olivia Trusty, voted to end the ownership cap, which restricts broadcast owners from holding stations that reach a combined more than 39 percent of US TV households, while Democratic Commissioner Anna Gomez dissented. It formalizes a policy Carr has long criticized, and which he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/policy\/966283\/fcc-broadcast-ownership-cap-brendan-carr\">announced last month<\/a> that he would seek to end at Thursday\u2019s open FCC meeting. In place of a set limit, the FCC says, there will now be \u201cgranular, case-by-case review\u201d to determine if broadcast consolidation is in the public interest. That will let the agency avoid having to \u201cshow special circumstances that would justify a waiver of a rule that no longer serves the public interest,\u201d according to an FCC press release.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-pullquote c39lj10\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup c39lj12 _19wv7tc9\">In place of a set limit, the FCC says, there will now be \u201cgranular, case-by-case review\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">Carr has often criticized the rule as an artificial limit that restrains broadcast owners from competing with social media and streamers that can reach \u201c100 percent of the country\u201d without accessing broadcast licenses. This is happening at the same time Carr and President Donald Trump have threatened broadcasters for coverage they view as unfair. For example, the FCC <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/policy\/919739\/fcc-disney-abc-broadcast-licenses-threat\">demanded early renewal of ABC\u2019s broadcast licenses<\/a> shortly after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/policy\/919337\/president-trump-jimmy-kimmel-fire-abc\">Trump criticized the network<\/a> for late night host Jimmy Kimmel\u2019s joke about his wife. The agency said its decision was connected to an investigation into the company\u2019s diversity, equity, and inclusivity (DEI) policies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">Those who oppose ending the ownership cap, <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.fcc.gov\/public\/attachments\/DOC-423096A1.pdf\">including Gomez<\/a>, say that allowing broadcast owners to gobble up as many stations as they can buy will disincentivize local reporting on public airwaves and drive up consumer costs. They also say that only Congress has the power to lift the ownership cap, since the figure was written into a 2004 law, leaving it open to legal scrutiny.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">Still, the FCC under Carr has already found ways to work around the rule, even before voting it off the books. Carr <a href=\"https:\/\/subscriber.politicopro.com\/article\/2026\/03\/19\/trumps-regulators-approve-tv-merger-that-set-off-conservative-media-feud-00837225\">agreed to waive<\/a> the cap to approve the $6.2 billion merger of broadcasters Nexstar and Tegna. A federal judge has <a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/2026\/04\/nexstar-tegna-merger-blocked-2-1236784770\/\">paused the merger<\/a> pending a challenge by a group of state attorneys general.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/policy\/976287\/fcc-broadcast-ownership-rule-ends\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The agency\u2019s two Republicans, Chair Brendan Carr and Commissioner Olivia Trusty, voted to end the ownership cap, which restricts broadcast owners from holding stations that reach a combined more than 39 percent of US TV households, while Democratic Commissioner Anna Gomez dissented. It formalizes a policy Carr has long criticized, and which he announced last [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4691,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[74,75,179,76],"class_list":["post-5130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-gadgets","tag-policy","tag-politics","tag-regulation","tag-speech"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Brendan Carr officially unleashes broadcast consolidation - Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Federal Communications Commission voted to end the 39 percent cap on broadcast ownership in a party-line vote.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=5130\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Brendan Carr officially unleashes broadcast consolidation - 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