Today, the FCC announced it wants to eliminate the 39% national television ownership cap, the same law we’ve been fighting to enforce in filings at the FCC and in our case against the Nexstar/TEGNA merger.
We filed a 143-page petition to block that deal, took the FCC to court, and although the court just concluded the FCC decision could not be reviewed at this time, a separate federal judge agreed that the merger must be stopped while its legality is considered. Now, the FCC wants to wipe that law off the books.
Commissioner Gomez is right that this is unlawful. Congress wrote the 39% number into federal law in 2004. The FCC can’t erase it because the broadcast industry wants it gone. Nexstar and the National Association of Broadcasters put out celebratory statements within hours. They’ve been lobbying for this for decades.
Chairman Carr published an op-ed in Breitbart saying the FCC will vote on August 6 to replace the cap with “case-by-case review.” Rather than following the clear numerical cap set by Congress, the Chair wants to decide case by case which companies can merge and which cannot.
We’ve seen how that works. This is the same Commission that approved the Nexstar/TEGNA merger behind closed doors, via a staff-level decision, evading court review. Nexstar would control 265 stations in 44 states, reaching 80% of American TV homes. That wasn’t enough to stop Carr from approving it. Why would anyone believe he’ll say no next time, once the cap is gone?
At the same time, Carr is going after Disney, which by all accounts is following the law, but has the temerity to employ a late night comedian that the President doesn’t like.
“Case-by-case review” sounds reasonable until you remember who’s doing the reviewing. This is the same FCC that has gone after broadcast licenses when the White House doesn’t like a network’s programming.
Getting rid of the cap doesn’t mean less regulation; it means every merger lives or dies at the discretion of this Commission, with no statutory limit to hold them to.
The United Church of Christ has been fighting media consolidation since our founders went to Mississippi in the 1960s to hold local TV stations accountable. We believe local media matters because it is how our neighbors know what’s happening in their own communities.
We fought this fight over Nexstar, and we will fight it here.