FCC TV Ownership Move Raises Hopes For Radio Deregulation.

In what may be the clearest signal yet that local radio ownership limits may be rolled back in the coming months, the Federal Communications Commission has taken its first steps to rewrite the media rulebook. Chairman Brendan Carr says the Commission will vote Aug. 6 on an order that will repeal the cap that prevents local television operators from reaching more than 39% of TV households nationwide. The proposal will instead replace the current ceiling with a case-by-case review process.

Carr says the limit on TV ownership is “forcing the market out of balance” by applying rules to local TV stations that are not similarly applied to cable channels, streaming services, social media, and podcasts.

“The cap is not protecting local broadcasters, it is preventing them from gaining the same scale that their competitors are free to enjoy,” Carr writes in an op-ed. He says the result has been that local stations have lost the power to preempt national programming that doesn’t fit their communities’ values. “It’s time to restore balance to the broadcast airwaves,” Carr says.

The move comes as part of the government’s quadrennial media ownership review (MB Docket No. 22-459) that is also examining local radio ownership limits. Carr has called it a “break glass moment” for local broadcasting and that he remains “very open-minded” on how the FCC will move forward.

Connoisseur Media CEO Jeff Warshaw is among those who believe there should be no caps in radio and he has been making that case in Washington in recent months alongside other executives. While it remains unclear how far the FCC may be willing to go, he is encouraged by the announcement on lifting local TV limits.

“I think it’s positive in that it shows that the FCC understands that legacy media is fighting for its life against the massive digital platforms that do nothing for local communities,” Warshaw says.

The National Association of Broadcasters has been pushing for lifting ownership caps in radio and TV alike. NAB President/CEO Curtis LeGeyt said in an interview prior to the FCC’s announcement that he expected to see action — including on radio — by the end of the year. Yet how far they’ll lean into deregulation remains uncertain.

“The Commission’s demonstrated that they are very open-minded on taking a look at how changed this audio marketplace is,” LeGeyt said. “But it’s hard to predict beyond that.”

A potential challenge will be how the FCC defines the marketplace.

BIA Managing Director Rick Ducey argues the FCC first needs to rethink how it defines radio’s competitive marketplace to keep pace with how consumers actually use audio. He says the agency has continued to evaluate radio largely against other broadcasters, even as stations increasingly compete for audiences and advertising with streaming audio, podcasts and other digital media.

“The reality is that in today’s marketplace people listen to audio differently,” Ducey says. “It’s not just ‘I’m just going to pick from among the radio stations what I listen to.’ You can listen to anything you want.”

For now, the FCC’s focus is on television.

Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley, whose company owns 177 television stations, thinks the proposal will “empower” local broadcasters and help preserve local programming. “Given the undeniable change and disruption to the media ecosystem, updating these rules to reflect the current landscape is common sense,” Ripley says.

Critics of the proposal argue the FCC doesn’t have the authority under federal law to repeal the 39% cap, saying only Congress can raise or eliminate it. Commissioner Anna Gomez points out a 2003 proposal to raise the cap to 45% resulted in pushback from lawmakers.

“An FCC vote to raise the cap now would be unlawful, as it would mean doing the exact thing Congress has already said the Commission cannot do,” Gomez says. Beyond questions of legal authority, Gomez is also critical of allowing fewer companies to control more of the nation’s airwaves. “A free and diverse media landscape depends on real limits on how much of the public airwaves any one company can control,” she says.