The 39% national TV household ceiling that Congress set in 2004 was eliminated Thursday by the FCC in a 2-1 party-line vote. Chairman Brendan Carr, who has long argued the rule was outdated and limited broadcasters from competing with tech firms and streaming platforms, voted to lift it. Commissioner Anna Gomez, the lone Democrat on the commission, dissented.
What the vote changes
No hard numerical cap now governs how many U.S. TV households a single broadcaster can reach. Deals will instead be reviewed case-by-case against a public interest standard. The FCC said the new framework "will empower the FCC to approve deals that promote the public interest while allowing the agency to reject any deals that do not meet that standard."
For broadcast ownership groups, the practical effect is that consolidation is no longer blocked at the 39% threshold. That figure had stood since Congress approved the current limit more than two decades ago. Carr's argument was that the cap prevented broadcasters from building the scale needed to compete with streaming services and large technology companies.
Nexstar, Tegna, and the $6.2 billion deal
Nexstar is the most direct near-term beneficiary. Its $6.2 billion acquisition of rival Tegna is currently on pause while a federal judge considers an antitrust lawsuit brought by DirecTV and several state attorneys general. The FCC's Media Bureau had already approved Nexstar's application to transfer Tegna's broadcast licenses in March, without a full public commission vote.
Thursday's cap vote does not resolve that suit. DirecTV contends the combined company would gain power over pay-TV distributor pricing and that those costs would be passed to consumers. The antitrust questions are separate from the ownership cap authority the FCC exercised Thursday.
A Nexstar spokesperson said the old rules "handcuffed" broadcasters from reaching the scale needed to compete, and said modernizing them would support local journalism investment.
Jurisdictional dissent and legal challenges ahead
Gomez's dissent rested partly on a jurisdictional argument: she contended that Congress stripped the FCC of authority to modify the cap when it approved the 39% limit in 2004. That position aligns with the Biden-era FCC's stance. That commission voted in 2023 to block a $5.4 billion deal that would have merged Tegna with Standard General.
Free Press, a media advocacy nonprofit, said it plans to appeal Thursday's vote. Consumer advocacy groups are expected to file additional legal challenges in court.