FCC Advances Plan to Ease Mergers of TV Networks, Station Groups

The Federal Communications Commission advanced plans to reform broadcast ownership rules, including a proposal that would allow the Big Four TV networks to merge.

The commission voted Tuesday to seek public comment on whether to revoke a rule that bars a single company from owning more than two stations in a local market and another that prevents the major broadcast networks from combining.

Station owners including Nexstar Media Group Inc. and Sinclair Inc. have asked the federal government for years to suspend or relax rules that they say prevent them from competing with modern streaming platforms. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has said he’s open to doing so.

“We intend to take a fresh approach to competition by examining the broader media marketplace, rather than treating broadcast radio and television as isolated markets,” Carr said. “Our primary goal is to promote investment in local broadcasters who provide trusted news and information vital to the communities they serve.”

The meeting came against the backdrop of Carr’s involvement in the controversy surrounding comments by ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel about the killing of Republican activist Charlie Kirk.

Kimmel accused Republicans of trying to score political points from the killing and, according to some, appeared to assign blame for the shooting. On a podcast afterward, Carr criticized the remarks as “truly sick” and suggested that ABC and its parent Walt Disney Co. could face consequences.

Nexstar and Sinclair, which have sought to reform the local ownership rule, responded by suspending the show for several days. Disney followed and then returned the show to the air.

At Tuesday’s meeting, audience members, including representatives from the Communications Workers of America, wore T-shirts with FCC logos that said “Federal Censorship Commission.”

One spectator held a sign saying “Brendan, we can do this the easy way (you quit) or the hard way (you’re fired),” echoing comments Carr made about local stations that carry Kimmel. In between votes, several audience members stood up and chanted “Fire Carr, the censorship czar.”

FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, the lone Democrat in the agency’s top leadership, directly tied Sinclair and Nexstar’s decisions to suspend Kimmel to a desire to please Carr and push through reforms like those the FCC considered Tuesday.

“These billion-dollar media companies have business before the FCC,” she said. “They will need regulatory approval of their transactions and are pushing to reduce regulatory guardrails so they can grow even bigger.”

Broadcasters like Nexstar are also seeking reform of another rule that wasn’t on Tuesday’s agenda.

Nexstar recently agreed to buy Tegna Inc., another broadcaster, in a $6.2 billion deal. To get the deal through, the company needs the FCC to revoke a rule that bars companies from owning stations that cover more than 39% of the country.

The agency has separately teed up an inquiry on that rule and could revoke it unilaterally through a bureau-level action, although the FCC’s authority to do so without Congressional approval is unclear.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Kelcee Griffis in Washington at kgriffis4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Christopher Palmeri at cpalmeri1@bloomberg.net

Rob Golum, Molly Schuetz

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