The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted on Aug. 6 to rescind a rule limiting a TV station owner’s reach to 39 percent of U.S. households, paving the way for big broadcast mergers.
The tally was 2–1, along party lines. A case-by-case approach will be implemented in lieu of an ownership limit.
The 39 percent cap was established by Congress in 2004. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said that the law didn’t forbid future agency leaders from reconsidering the limit.
Carr said that undoing the limit is crucial to broadcasters’ financial standing, as they operate in a saturated media marketplace that includes cable and streaming rivals. Carr has defended the rescission as a way to limit the power of national TV programmers over affiliate station owners….