Broadcasters Oppose Fcc Adding New Local Notice Regs

Leo Migdal

-Dec 6, 2025, 5:11 AM

broadcasters oppose fcc adding new local notice regs

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Click here to login Local broadcasters keep you connected and informed. Learn about how we serve Americans every day, the economic impact we have on local communities, read stories of broadcasters' public service and more. Local television and radio stations played an indispensable role in 2024 connecting communities to trusted journalism and verified information during an election year. Take a look back at all that we accomplished together in 2024. Questions?

NAB members can call our free Legal Hotline to learn more about legislation, filings and updates from Washington. Call: (866) 682-0276 Email: legal@nab.org Join our team of broadcast advocates. When legislative issues arise that could impact your station and career, we'll reach out and give you simple steps to contact your legislators. Sign Up Today Owners of local ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC television stations are pressing the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to scrap longstanding ownership restrictions, arguing that the rules hinder their ability to compete with tech giants...

These platforms, increasingly replacing traditional news sources, have put unprecedented pressure on local broadcasters, who say outdated regulations are tilting the playing field in favor of unregulated digital behemoths. The call for change comes as the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) ramps up its advocacy efforts. In a Wednesday speech at The Media Institute, NAB President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt laid bare the stakes, warning that local radio and television stations—vital lifelines for community news and emergency information—are at risk... “These national and local ownership rules were crafted to promote competition, but in practice they give Big Tech a free pass to dominate,” LeGeyt said, highlighting a stark disparity between the heavily regulated broadcast... Current FCC rules impose a 39 percent national ownership cap, limiting any single television station owner from reaching more than 39 percent of U.S. households.

Locally, the agency enforces a “one-to-a-market” restriction, preventing a single entity from owning more than one top-rated broadcast station in a given market. LeGeyt argues these limits, designed decades ago to prevent monopolies, now handcuff broadcasters in a media landscape transformed by streaming and social media. “Big Tech just wants clicks,” LeGeyt said, contrasting the profit-driven motives of digital platforms with the public service role of local stations. He pointed to their coverage during crises—hurricanes, wildfires, or mass shootings—as evidence of their irreplaceable value. Yet, as audiences flock to YouTube for video content or TikTok for quick updates, local broadcasters are losing ground, unable to consolidate resources or scale up to meet the challenge. The push to lift ownership caps isn’t new, but it’s gaining urgency.

Last year, broadcasters lobbied Congress to force Big Tech into negotiations over content usage, a bid to level the economic playing field. Now, with LeGeyt at the helm of NAB—having been appointed president and CEO in 2022—the focus has shifted to the FCC, where broadcasters see an opportunity under the Trump administration’s deregulatory stance. Broadcasters, cable, and wireless groups have extensive wish lists for the FCC’s ‘Delete, Delete, Delete’ initiative. WASHINGTON, March 14, 2025 – FCC Chairman Brendan Carr's sweeping deregulatory effort, known as ‘Delete, Delete, Delete’, has elicited varied responses from industry stakeholders since it was announced Wednesday. One of the first groups to publicly back the initiative was the National Association of Broadcasters, applauding Carr’s deep dive into expelling FCC’s rules and regulations that “no longer serve any meaningful public interest... Among NAB’s top priorities for deregulation: The national TV ownership cap, which currently prevents a single broadcaster from reaching more than 39% of U.S.

households; and, local radio and TV station ownership rules, which limit how many stations a single company can own in a given market. Those “must be reformed as soon as possible,” NAB spokesman Alex Siciliano told Broadband Breakfast. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr asked for ideas to cut outdated broadcast regulations – and the NAB has now given him plenty to work with. In an 80-page filing backed by a 60-page appendix, the NAB delivered a sweeping blueprint for deregulation under Carr’s “Delete, Delete, Delete” initiative, targeting everything from local ownership caps to Equal Employment Opportunity requirements. “This is a moment for bold ideas, and NAB is proud to lead the charge,” said NAB President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt. “The FCC’s rules should reflect today’s media landscape, not one from decades past.

Our filing lays out a clear, actionable path to modernize regulations and empower local radio and TV stations to better serve their communities. We appreciate the Commission, especially Chairman Carr, for launching this important effort. Reforming outdated ownership rules is the essential first step to strengthening local journalism and ensuring broadcasters can continue to survive.” At the top of NAB’s list is a demand to abolish local broadcast ownership rules that restrict how many radio and television stations a company can own in a single market. NAB argues that these caps were created in the analog era and have no place in today’s vastly expanded media environment. “No broadcast regulations are more devastating to the viability and future vitality of TV and radio broadcasters than the national TV ownership restriction and the local radio and TV ownership rules,” NAB wrote.

Deletion of the ownership caps is viewed as a non-negotiable for NAB, saying on page 14, “Despite the insightful ideas that follow… THE FCC SHOULD NOT PROCEED UNTIL IT ELIMINATES THE NATIONAL TV AUDIENCE... As for those other ideas, in tandem with ownership deregulation, NAB is urging the FCC to modernize or scrap the Online Public Inspection File rules, describing them as outdated and disproportionately burdensome for broadcasters,... Advocacy group says some of the FCC's broadcast rules should be preserved In recent weeks, the Federal Communication Commission’s inbox has been flooded with suggestions from broadcasters and others about how the agency can weed out what many are calling “antiquated” rules. Earlier this April, in an 80-page filing, the National Association of Broadcasters urged the FCC to seize the moment and fundamentally modernize its regulatory framework, beginning with reforms to the national television ownership cap... But in newly-filed reply comments, the NAB adds that some rules are better left in place lest the agency harm localism and service reliability.

As part of its “Delete, Delete, Delete” initiative, the FCC has encouraged comment asking the public to identify FCC rules that are better taken to the chopping block … and comment broadcasters did. WASHINGTON (TNND) — Seventy-three members of Congress endorsed a letter sent to Commissioner Brendan Carr of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that urges the official to change ownership rules for broadcasters. The lawmakers, which include 70 Republicans and three Democrats, asked Carr to eliminate what they called antiquated ownership restrictions and to “embrace a broadcast regulatory framework that reflects the realities of today’s dynamic media... The FCC sets limits on the number of television and radio broadcast stations an entity can own. They urge the FCC to act swiftly in eliminating antiquated ownership restrictions and to embrace a broadcast regulatory framework that reflects the realities of today's dynamic media ecosystem. Local broadcasters keep you connected and informed.

Learn about how we serve Americans every day, the economic impact we have on local communities, read stories of broadcasters' public service and more. Local television and radio stations played an indispensable role in 2024 connecting communities to trusted journalism and verified information during an election year. Take a look back at all that we accomplished together in 2024. Questions? NAB members can call our free Legal Hotline to learn more about legislation, filings and updates from Washington. Call: (866) 682-0276 Email: legal@nab.org

Join our team of broadcast advocates. When legislative issues arise that could impact your station and career, we'll reach out and give you simple steps to contact your legislators. Sign Up Today

Broadcasters Oppose Fcc Adding New Local Notice Regs

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