The FCC plans to vote on August 6 on an order to eliminate its long-standing 39 percent national television ownership limit, replacing it with a case-by-case transaction review process.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and the NAB have aligned to argue that outdated broadcast ownership caps restrict local station operators from effectively competing against unregulated tech and digital media companies.
While the upcoming decision specifically targets television ownership, broadcast advocates see the regulatory shift as a crucial precedent for local radio cap reform. Broadcasters are pushing the agency to apply a similar individualized review approach to local radio markets during its quadrennial regulatory review.
Source: FCC, NAB