FCC to Vote on Ending 39% National TV Ownership Cap

FCC Chair Brendan Carr said Wednesday the agency will vote to rescind the 39% national television station ownership cap. The 85-year-old rule currently limits any single broadcaster from reaching more than 39% of U.S. households.

Carr outlined a new case-by-case approach in an essay published the same day. "Our new proposal would allow the FCC to approve deals that exceed the 39 percent cap, but only if doing so would promote the public interest," he said. Under existing rules, stations with weaker over-the-air signals receive only partial credit toward the cap.

In March the FCC approved Nexstar's $3.54 billion purchase of Tegna. The transaction would give Nexstar coverage of 80% of U.S. households. The agency waived the 39% limit to clear the deal, but a judge later halted it pending litigation.

President Donald Trump said in February that he supported the Tegna-Nexstar transaction. He has also pressed Carr to revoke the broadcast licenses of Comcast-owned NBC and ABC stations. Carr ordered an early license review of Disney's eight ABC stations.

FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez said the cap reflects Congress' judgment that excessive concentration threatens competition, localism, and viewpoint diversity. "It is the law," she stated. The National Association of Broadcasters welcomed the planned change, saying decades-old ownership restrictions that apply only to broadcasters are out of step with today's media marketplace.