FCC To Consider Ending Merger Ban Among US Broadcast Networks (reuters.com)
- Reference: 0179605868
- News link: https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/25/09/30/2016222/fcc-to-consider-ending-merger-ban-among-us-broadcast-networks
- Source link: https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/fcc-consider-ending-merger-ban-among-broadcast-networks-2025-09-30/
> The U.S. Federal Communications Commission [1]voted on Tuesday to [2]consider whether to lift the long-standing prohibition on a merger between any of the largest four broadcast networks and to consider relaxing other media ownership rules. The FCC said it would consider public comments before deciding whether to reverse the rule that bars a merger among the "Big Four" networks: NBC, owned by Comcast, Walt Disney Co's ABC, Paramount Skydance's CBS or Fox. The FCC also said it was seeking public comment on whether to eliminate or revise a rule that limits a single entity from owning more than two of the four largest television stations in the same local market and a rule that limits the total number of local radio stations that may be owned in a single market.
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> Previously, the FCC noted that a version of the rule barring dual ownership of networks has existed since the 1940s. A 2018 media ownership review concluded the bar should be upheld "because it advances the agency's core policy objectives of competition and localism. "We intend to take a fresh approach to competition by examining the broader media marketplace, rather than treating broadcast radio and television as isolated markets," FCC Chair Brendan Carr said. "If we determine that any rule no longer serves the public interest, we will fulfill our statutory duty to modify or eliminate those rules."
[1] https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-advances-2022-quadrennial-review-broadcast-ownership-rules
[2] https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/fcc-consider-ending-merger-ban-among-broadcast-networks-2025-09-30/
Why do we need more monopolies? (Score:4, Insightful)
How is more consolidation, less competition, and more powerful corporations wielding copyright and causing a higher barrier of entry in the public interest?
Re: (Score:2)
Given the decline in network viewership do they still have a monopoly? None of the networks have a monopoly where I live because none of broadcast a signal that can reach me.
Picking an example from Spokane, if channels 2 and 4 merged and one of them went away, would it matter? One of the networks would likely get dropped and its frequency would be available. In fact you could make that a condition of the merger. Sure you can have your merger, what frequency are you giving up?
The TV stations won't care, they
Re: (Score:2)
Given the decline in network viewership do they still have a monopoly? None of the networks have a monopoly
They have essentially a monopoly over the market for broadcast TV news.
Network viewership is only declining because TV viewership is declining in general.
It is not no longer a monopoly; just because the medium as a whole is losing share.
The Social media and Streaming services viewers have migrated towards are large monopolies as well.
Re: (Score:2)
If the broadcast media companies were smart they would just switch distro to cable/sat and streaming and shut off their quarter to half megawatt transmitters and sell the spectrum. Can you imagine they are paying to blow a quarter to half megawatts into space in the middle of the night and theres what maybe a handful of people actually watching at that time probably? All the boomers are asleep already.
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I have to think the one of the only reasons they keep those power hogs of a transmitter cranking out power 24/7 is it makes the spectrum itself that much more valuable since it's "occupied" it will be worth that much more to the TV stations when the FCC comes a knocking looking to auction off more spectrum. Then the TV stations will just be like sure we will take that 10 million for our spectrum allotment we were planning to switch to a full streaming only platform anyways so no need to do a spectrum swap.
let em merge (Score:2)
and get rid of broadcast TV, make em compete on the internet. auction off all the spectrum.
They want to consolidate power (Score:2)
We all know what they're doing but about half the people here wanted to happen because for some damn four reason they think Trump is one of their own and that it'll all be okay.
I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas...
Why bother? (Score:3)
The FCC said it would consider public comments before deciding whether to reverse the rule
The decision has already been made. They'll probably use fake comments like they did in his first term. Went looking for the quote, but a guy wondered how his dead mother was able to submit a public comment.
This will be no different than RFK, Jr saying in April he'll find a cause for autism by September. And look what happened.
Re: (Score:2)
> And look what happened.
Are you meaning to imply that Tylenol ISN'T the cause of Autism?
"public" interest (Score:5, Insightful)
"public" interest... you mean "billionaire owner" interests, am i right?
consolidation at this scale has never helped individuals or communities other than those at the top. this is just more of the same BS.
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It is about controlling what you see and hear. They want only MAGA everything and to stifle everything else.
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There's no difference between the extreme left and the extreme right. Now go to your equity training at your job now.
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It's not meant to mean anything. "Both sides" is just a thought terminating cliché.
Re:"public" interest (Score:4, Interesting)
> It is about controlling what you see and hear. They want only MAGA everything and to stifle everything else.
I remember reading that continued Nexstar w/Tenga and Sinclair w/whoever mergers would give them each presence in something like 80% of U.S. broadcast markets. Do we really want 2 companies controlling that much?
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If anyone actually tuning in? Last time I tried to talk to someone about broadcast TV they told me they don't like pirating. Also, ATSC 3.0 looks like complete advertising garbage.
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> If anyone actually tuning in? Last time I tried to talk to someone about broadcast TV they told me they don't like pirating. Also, ATSC 3.0 looks like complete advertising garbage.
I'm pretty sure the local OTA broadcasters are also on the local cable too. I'm sure companies like Nexstar and Sinclair own other media outlets, like radio and perhaps print...
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To be fair. Broadcast TV, FM, AM is just a complete dumpster fire right now. No one outside of boomers are getting their news and media consumption though them anymore. The best thing the FCC could do it just leave AM / FM as it is, it's a great emergency backup medium to get out info to the masses. Plus it's just such a small chunk of spectrum that there realistically isn't probably much more valuable that can be done with it. Broadcast TV should just be shut down and the spectrum sold off to cellular and
Re: (Score:2)
"public" interest... you mean "billionaire owner" interests, am i righ?
In the new FCC view mergers and free markets help provide higher value to public shareholders; who are members of the public, and therefore, more mergers are in the public interest. So government interference with mergers is against the public interest.