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FCC scraps TV ownership cap in 2-1 vote, claiming power over a congressional limit

8/6/2026

A 2-to-1 vote at the Federal Communications Commission has ended the National Television Ownership Rule, a 20-year-old prohibition that kept any single broadcaster from reaching more than 39 percent of American TV households.

Chairman Brendan Carr framed the change as a fix for a market that no longer reflects the competitive reality facing broadcasters.

The risk is structural: the FCC is asserting the authority to repeal a limit that Congress put in place.

What the rule was, and what replaces it The National Television Ownership Rule had stood for more than two decades, a congressionally set ceiling that prevented any single broadcast station owner from accumulating enough reach to cover more than 39 percent of American TV households.

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