Washington -- August 9, 2026: The Federal Communications Commission voted 2-1 Thursday to eliminate a rule that generally prevented one company from owning enough local television stations to reach more than 39% of U.S. television households.
The change could lead to significantly greater consolidation of local television stations across the country.
Until now, the 39% limit placed a ceiling on how much of the country one television station company could reach.
The FCC voted August 6 to remove that limit. Instead of automatically stopping a company when its stations reach more than 39% of U.S. television households, the FCC says it will consider larger ownership deals individually.
That means some of the nation's largest television companies can pursue additional local stations that would have put them over the previous limit.
Companies including Nexstar Media Group, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Gray Media and Hearst Television already own local television stations across the country.
Why Who Owns a Local Television Station Matters
ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX do not necessarily own the local television stations carrying their programs.
In many communities, another company owns the local station and has an agreement with one of the national networks to carry its programming.
The national network may provide entertainment programs, sports and national news. The company that owns the local station operates the station itself.
That can include decisions involving newsroom staffing, budgets, locally produced programs and the use of news or other material produced outside the local newsroom.
Large television companies can also provide benefits to their local stations, including technology, weather equipment, national reporting resources and financial support.
A station can continue using the same familiar name, anchors, reporters and network logo while being owned by a company controlling dozens or even hundreds of other stations around the country.
That is why the FCC decision is about more than corporate ownership. Who owns a local television station can affect how the station operates, what resources its newsroom receives and what viewers ultimately see.
The FCC Vote and Why Commissioners Disagreed
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and Commissioner Olivia Trusty voted to eliminate the 39% limit.
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez cast the lone vote against it.
Carr argues that local television companies need greater freedom to grow because they now compete with streaming services, social media, online video and other digital companies for viewers and advertising dollars.
Supporters say allowing television companies to become larger could make them more competitive and provide local stations with additional money, technology and other resources.
Gomez sees significant risks in allowing greater consolidation.
She argues that removing the limit could place more local television stations under the control of fewer national companies.
Gomez aruges the FCC does not have legal authority to eliminate the limit at all.
Congress established the 39% television ownership limit in 2004. Congress has not passed a new law removing that limit.
Gomez has called the FCC's action "unlawful on its face," arguing that the commission cannot eliminate a limit established by Congress without Congress acting.
The FCC majority disagrees and says the commission has the legal authority to make the change.
That disagreement is expected to be tested in federal court.
Research Shows Ownership Can Affect Local News
There is evidence that a change in station ownership can affect what viewers see.
A peer-reviewed study published in the American Political Science Review examined 743 local television stations and more than 7.4 million portions of television news transcripts.
Researchers studied stations acquired by Sinclair Broadcast Group and compared what happened at those stations with competing stations serving the same television markets.
After Sinclair acquired stations, researchers found an increase in national political coverage and a decrease in local political coverage.
They also found a measurable shift to the political right in the language used in political coverage following the acquisitions.
The researchers found that national political coverage increased by about 25% compared with the average amount of national political coverage in the study.
The way the study was conducted is important.
Researchers did not simply compare television stations in conservative areas with stations in liberal areas. They examined what changed after Sinclair acquired a station and compared those changes with other stations serving the same market.
The research does not mean every Sinclair-owned television station provides the same news coverage.
It also does not establish that the FCC eliminated the ownership limit for political reasons.
It does provide evidence that the company owning a local television station can affect the news being produced.
What This Could Mean Nationwide
The FCC decision applies to the television industry nationwide, not just one company.
Nexstar, Sinclair, Gray, Hearst and other television companies already own stations serving communities across the United States.
Without the previous 39% limit, those companies could potentially build much larger groups of local television stations.
Nexstar's acquisition of Tegna provides a real-world example of how large a television company can become. The acquisition, completed in March, gives Nexstar a combined group of 265 full-power television stations reaching about 80% of U.S. television households — roughly twice the reach allowed under the previous 39% limit. The transaction is also facing separate legal challenges.
That transaction has faced separate legal and regulatory challenges, but it illustrates how much larger television station groups could become without the previous 39% ceiling.
Other large television companies could also pursue additional stations.
Whether a major wave of consolidation actually occurs will depend on which acquisitions companies pursue and which deals receive government approval.
What This Means for Western North Carolina
Western North Carolina is part of this national television ownership system.
Several large national television companies, including Sinclair Broadcast Group, Nexstar Media Group and Hearst Television, own stations serving the broader television market that includes Western North Carolina.
The August 6 FCC vote does not suddenly change the ownership, anchors, local news or programming of those stations.
The potential impact comes from what happens next.
If the nation's largest television companies begin purchasing additional stations, more communities could receive their local television news from stations ultimately owned by a smaller number of national companies.
Viewers might notice little immediate difference.
The station name could remain the same. The anchors could remain the same. The local weather forecast and local newscasts could remain.
What could change over time is how many companies ultimately control the local stations Americans depend on for information.
What Happens Next
A court challenge could come quickly.
Opponents are expected to challenge whether the FCC had the legal authority to eliminate the 39% limit without Congress changing the law.
As of August 9, no federal court has ruled on that question.
Filing a court challenge would not automatically stop television companies from pursuing larger acquisitions.
Opponents could ask a federal appeals court to temporarily stop the FCC from moving forward while judges consider the case.
That temporary court order is called a stay.
If a court grants a stay, deals that depend on removal of the 39% limit could face delays while the case proceeds.
If a court does not stop the FCC's action, television companies could continue pursuing larger acquisitions while the legal dispute moves through the courts.
At the same time, broadcasters could already have potential acquisitions under consideration.
Large purchases can require months of negotiations and financial planning. Companies do not necessarily have to wait for a government rule to change before identifying stations they might want to buy or preparing possible deals.
That means the next signs of how significant the FCC decision will become could arrive relatively quickly through new acquisition announcements, court filings or both.
Why This Is Important
The FCC vote may sound like a change to an obscure government regulation, but the issue is much simpler.
It affects who can own the local television stations Americans rely on for news, weather, elections, emergencies and information about their communities.
Supporters say allowing larger television companies will help local broadcasting compete with streaming services and online media and provide local stations with resources they need to survive.
Opponents say greater consolidation could leave fewer national corporations controlling more of America's local television stations.
Research has also shown that changes in corporate ownership can affect the amount and type of news some local stations produce.
And there remains a serious unresolved legal question: Congress established the 39% limit, Congress has not passed a new law removing it, and the FCC has now voted to eliminate it.
The FCC majority says the commission has the legal authority to make that change.
Commissioner Anna Gomez, who cast the lone vote against it, says the FCC does not. She has called the action "unlawful on its face," arguing that the FCC cannot eliminate a limit established by Congress without Congress acting.
That disagreement is expected to be tested in federal court.
For viewers nationwide and in Western North Carolina, the effects may not appear overnight.
But the August 6 vote opens the door to a major change in who can own America's local television stations and how much of the country's local broadcasting system can ultimately be controlled by the same companies.