FCC to Repeal 39 Percent TV Ownership Cap

Monday, July 20, 2026

The Federal Communications Commission will vote to repeal the National Television Ownership Rule that is supposed to prevent a single broadcast station owner from reaching more than 39 percent of all TV households in the US. The proposed change sets up a likely court battle over the FCC claim that it has authority to repeal a limit set by Congress.

Posted by lamplighter at 03:34 PM | 14 COMMENTS | permalink | Comment on This Entry |

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Brendan Carr Is Illegally Dismantling U.S. Media ConsolidationÂ Law Brendan Carr and the Trump FCC are finalizing plans to illegally eliminate what's left of the country's already barely ... https://www.techdirt.com/2026/07/20/brendan-carr-is-illegally-dismantling-u-s-media-consolidation-law/

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-- Techdirt (@techdirt.com) 8:25 AM Â· Jul 20, 2026

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More from the article ...

... FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has already treated the rule as more of a suggestion. In March, the Carr FCC granted a waiver allowing Nexstar Media Group to buy Tegna in a deal that let it reach over half of TV households. The Carr FCC argued that Congress gave it authority to modify or waive the rule.

Carr now plans to repeal the 39 percent limit and replace it with a "case-by-case review" of each proposed merger, the chairman announced today in an op-ed published on Breitbart.

The change would make it easier for the FCC to pick and choose which station groups get to surpass the limit.

Under Carr, this would likely benefit news companies that provide favorable coverage for President Trump. ...

#1 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-07-17 01:54 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

... The president said networks that didn't air his primetime address on election security had committed "fraud." ...

#2 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-07-17 02:01 PM | Reply

I'd like to thank Bill Clinton, here, for setting us all on this road by allowing increased media consolidation during his term.
Once again, Slick Willie screwed us all.

#3 | Posted by morris at 2026-07-17 02:33 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

there are a million streamers, podcasts, etc.. 50 years ago this is bad, let them do it. Propaganda is easy to spot.

#4 | Posted by Brennnn at 2026-07-17 03:29 PM | Reply | Funny: 1

United States "President" William Jefferson Clinton sold off the publics spectrum, privatizing OUR future.

Every CEO should be buried.

Every advertiser caged.

Parasite culture.

#5 | Posted by redlightrobot at 2026-07-19 12:35 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

I'm going to wager Trump isn't happy his rambling nonsense wasn't covered by most media outlets.

#6 | Posted by ClownShack at 2026-07-19 12:41 PM | Reply

Meanwhile back in Russia, where gas lines are as bad as in Crimea... State Propaganda Media is eating itself:

www.youtube.com

#7 | Posted by Corky at 2026-07-20 04:27 PM | Reply

there are a million streamers, podcasts, etc.. 50 years ago this is bad, let them do it. Propaganda is easy to spot.

#4 | Posted by Brennnn

I am fine with it as well. As long as CONGRESS repeals it. Not unelected Republican deep state bureaucrats.

#8 | Posted by gtbritishskull at 2026-07-20 05:27 PM | Reply

And if Congress REPEALS it. So that it is applied evenly. Not so those same unelected Republican deep state bureaucrats can pick and choose who they apply it to (or which of their friends they don't).

#9 | Posted by gtbritishskull at 2026-07-20 05:28 PM | Reply

@#8 ... I am fine with it as well. As long as CONGRESS repeals it. ...

Exactly.

It is not up to the FCC to decide which laws to obey.

#10 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-07-20 06:42 PM | Reply

Vital to understand that modern fascism is about the billionaire oligarchs ruling like gods, buying up the political world, and owning all of the once independent media, then ruling by installing fascists like Trump and Rubio to make sure the people never have the power to actually rule their own land. Russia is a fascist land, run by Putin for the oligarchs..and its forever war with Ukraine...just par for the Orwellian course.

#11 | Posted by Hughmass at 2026-07-21 06:49 AM | Reply

I live in a area that has no receivable broadcast television signal, and as I rely solely on SS in my old age for income, even basic cable is completely unaffordable given my circumstances. My window to the world is now what info I can glean from the internet and YouTube videos. I have no doubt there are corporate ghouls out there right now scheming how to openly consolidate that as well. One. Big. Company. Store.

#12 | Posted by dutch46 at 2026-07-21 02:44 PM | Reply

This is very very wrong.

#13 | Posted by eberly at 2026-07-21 02:47 PM | Reply

Last century before cable TV, some people set up multiple TV aerials on their chimneys or rooftop poles, aimed at different directions to get channels from various broadcast sites.

For free, a homeowner near Albany could watch a Buffalo Bills NFL game, a Boston Bruins game, or a NY Yankees game with the proper array.

WOR-TV aired roller derby, the NY Rangers, The Avengers and UFO.

WABC ran free professional boxing on Saturdays.

New Yorkers used to receive several PBS stations using antennae pointed in different directions.

Now eveything is cable and monetized and the vile Trumpf junta cut PBS funding.

One. Big. Company. Store.

#14 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS at 2026-07-21 03:07 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 1