On Wednesday, July 15, 2026, the American Television Alliance (ATVA) issued a formal statement opposing a newly announced proposal by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr to repeal the national broadcast ownership cap.
The Commission is scheduled to vote on the draft Order during its upcoming open meeting on August 6, 2026. Under the proposed framework, the FCC would replace the existing bright-line rule with a case-by-case public interest evaluation model.
Key Metrics of the Proposed Ownership Reform
The draft Order represents a major change to the structural regulation of terrestrial television distribution:
- Cap Replaced: Repeals the statutory 39 percent national television multiple ownership cap.
- New Review Standard: Replaces the blanket restriction with a case-by-case review mechanism.
- Target Vote Date: Scheduled for an official vote on August 6, 2026.
- Jurisdictional Authority: The FCC asserts it retains statutory authority under the Communications Act to regulate local and national limits, despite a 2004 congressional directive establishing the 39 percent boundary.
Retransmission Consent Fees and Market Consolidation
The dispute follows years of friction between broadcast operators, pay-TV providers, and consumer advocacy groups. According to ATVA statistics, since 2010, major broadcasters have carried out more than 2,500 local TV signal blackouts to extract higher retransmission consent fees, resulting in a 2,000 percent price increase passed down to subscribers.
This financial escalation has occurred even as aggregate viewership across the Big Four networks dropped by approximately 50 percent, while station ownership concentration among the largest media conglomerates surged by nearly 500 percent. The ATVA previously addressed these consolidation tactics on May 11, 2026, when it formally urged the Commission to close regulatory loopholes that allow broadcasters to bypass existing ownership limits.
Industry Pushback on Consolidation
Consumer advocates argue that removing the cap will accelerate media consolidation at the expense of local programming diversity.
“Congress set the 39 percent cap and told the FCC it could not change it,” stated ATVA spokesman Hunter Wilson. “The Commission’s attempt to repeal the broadcast ownership cap ignores Congress’s clear instructions and opens the door to further big media consolidation, driving up costs and undermining localism by reducing local news programming for tens of millions of Americans.”
Regulatory Timeline and Review Process
The draft Order will be made publicly available on the FCC’s web portal on July 16, 2026. If approved on August 6, any future broadcast transactions exceeding the historical 39 percent threshold will bypass automatic rejection and enter the agency’s regular public interest review process.
