August 22, 2025
BROADCAST MEDIA OWNERSHIP
Most people hearing those three little words yawn. They don’t know that big broadcast companies like Sinclair and Nexstar own TV stations. They just know what shows they enjoy, where they find their favorite sports, and who they trust for local news and weather. But most people don’t fully understand that legally, We the People own the airwaves and broadcasters must obtain licenses to broadcast locally over our air. As condition of being awarded one of those rare licenses is the requirement that those broadcasting into local communities must serve the “public interest, convenience and necessity.” This is not just theory; this is embedded in Communications Law dating back to the dawn of broadcast technology and most recently updated in 1996.
...the FCC appears poised to ignore the Law and take matters into its own hands to allow all or most of our local TV stations to be operated by one or two players regularly sanctioned by the FCC itself, Nexstar or Sinclair Broadcasting. (Nexstar and Tegna have already announced their merger deal; Sinclair has signaled it intends to make a yet higher offer to Tegna shareholders. ) According to the Poynter Institute,
“If it does go through, the Nexstar-Tegna merger would create a broadcasting giant. The combined company would own 265 stations in 44 states and the District of Columbia, with a footprint in 132 of the country’s 210 designated market areas, the standard unit Nielsen uses to measure TV audiences. That includes nine of the top 10 markets, 41 of the top 50, 62 of the top 75 and 82 of the top 100.But the number that matters most is that Nexstar’s reach would grow to 80% of U.S. television households — more than double the FCC’s current 39% cap.”
FULL DOCUMENT FILED at the FCC HERE:
https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/search-filings/filing/108222107909908
