According to Variety, the Federal Communications Commission said it will vote to roll back the current cap on TV station ownership. Under current rules, companies can own no more than 39% of stations in a market.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr wrote an op ed for Breitbart discussing his position on the issue. “Today, national programmers can distribute their programming to 100 percent of the country — either through their own streaming services or through deals they cut with nationwide ‘virtual cable companies,’ like YouTube TV. The cap no longer constrains their control over distribution in this respect,” the column stated per Variety.

“Nor does the cap limit other players in today’s media market. Cable channels like MS NOW can reach 100 percent of the country. Social media sites from Bluesky to X can reach 100 percent of the country. Netflix can reach 100 percent too. Same with podcasts and all other forms of digital content,” Carr continued according to Variety.

Nexstar, one of the largest conglomerates of television stations, may see a positive windfall from the ruling. Currently, their acquisition of Tenga has been blocked in federal court on the basis that the purchase would cause Nexstar to exceed this cap. In addition to local stations, Nexstar owns national television stations, including the CW Broadcast Network and the NewsNation cable news outlet.

Nexstar has voiced support for the vote in a statement, “The FCC’s decision to review the national television ownership cap is a welcome and long-overdue step toward bringing broadcast regulation into the modern media marketplace. These rules were last updated before Netflix streamed a single movie, before the first iPhone, and before Instagram existed, and they continue to single out local broadcasters based on a competitive landscape that disappeared with the VCR. No one would suggest limiting the reach of YouTube, Amazon, or CNN, yet local broadcasters are still forced to compete under rules written for a different century,” per Variety.

Prior to Disney’s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel, Nextstar was one of the companies that said they would not air Jimmy Kimmel Live! after he made comments about the alleged shooter of Charlie Kirk. Sinclair also joined the action. According to mxdwn, Carr also made comments about reviewing broadcast licenses after Kimmel’s comments. Disney lifted the suspension after fans threatened to boycott the streamer due to concerns over free speech. Nexstar and Sinclair would follow suit.

The move to remove the cap has been divisive. According to Variety, the National Association of Broadcasters, a trade group that represents TV stations’ interests, said it, “applauds Chairman Carr and the FCC for moving forward with consideration of an order to eliminate the national television ownership cap. This reflects the understanding that decades-old ownership restrictions that apply only to broadcasters — and none of our competitors — are out of step with today’s media marketplace. The move, the organization said, “will empower local stations, ensuring they can better compete, invest and serve their communities with the most trusted and freely available news and information, premier sports and entertainment,” per Variety.

Democratic FCC member Anna M. Gomez has voiced her opposition to removing the cap. “This unlawful effort to hand control of the public airwaves to billionaire buddies of this administration will destroy local newsrooms, silence community reporting, and drive up costs for the American families who depend on local stations for news and emergency alerts. Congress set the 39 percent national ownership cap in federal law, and only Congress has the authority to raise or eliminate it. The Commission cannot waive away that limit simply because these corporate behemoths want to get out from under it,” she said via Variety.

DirecTV’s chief legal officer, Michael Hartman, believes that the move would likely harm consumers and would affect both prices and the quality of journalism. “There is no doubt that the media landscape is changing rapidly.  But the evidence shows that broadcaster consolidation leads to higher prices for consumers. On the other hand, there is simply no evidence that greater national consolidation improves the quality of local programming or journalism. Broadcasting has always been grounded in serving local communities, and consumers deserve more investment in local news and diverse voices, not less,” he said, according to Variety.

The FCC stated that removing the cap does not release mergers from scrutiny. “There may be transactions that would have exceeded the limits of the 39% national cap that do not promote the public interest and those will be denied,” the regulator said Wednesday. “On the other hand, there may be transactions that would have exceeded the cap that do promote the public interest and could gain Commission approval,” per Variety.