In a social media post on Nov. 23, President Donald Trump posted an Newsmax article that said lifting station ownership caps would be “disaster for conservatives.” Trump also complained that if proposals to lift the 39% caps “would allow the Radical Left Networks to `enlarge,’ I would not be happy…If anything make them SMALLER!”
The attachment of the Newsmax story indicated that the post clearly backed positions taken by Newsmax CEO in articles and in Federal Communication Commission filings that oppose lifting the ownership caps. OAN, another staunchly pro-Trump cable network has also come out against deregulating ownership rules.
It is not clear, however, what, if any impact, the post might have on the ongoing FCC reexamination ownership caps.
The current Chair Brendan Carr has repeatedly signaled his willingness to lift at least some of the ownership caps as a way of strengthening local broadcasters. Carr has also phrased the issue as a way of limiting the power of the national networks, which he believes are biased, and the local stations.
As part of that effort, the FCC recently launched a wide spread probe into broadcast network affiliate relations.
But Carr has gone out of his way to support and praise President Trump in ways not seen for many decades at the supposedly independent regulatory agency. He has also been criticized by former FCC Chairs and Commissioners for investigating network affiliates who have provided critical coverage of President Trump or programming, such as `Jimmy Kimmel Live!', that Trump wants to see taken off the air.
The impact of the post is also difficult to interpret because Trump has repeatedly issued statements that either confuse the authority of the FCC or simplify regulatory issues in ways that are misleading.
Trump, for example, has repeatedly called on the FCC to yank the licenses for broadcast networks even though the FCC does not license broadcast networks like ABC, CBS, NBC or Fox.
The FCC does have licensing authority over all broadcast networks, including network affiliates that carry network news and programming. Attempts to regulate the content of those newscasts are, however, highly controversial.
In addition the station groups owned by major companies like Disney, NBCUniversal and Fox are not close to the ownership limits and would not be immediately impacted by raising or dropping the 39% cap.
Currently the Fox station group is the largest in terms of the way the FCC measures coverage at 26%, followed by CBS (owned by Paramount) at 24%. Both ABC (Disney) and NBC (Comcast) have about 20%, according to BIA Advisory Services data posted by TVNewsCheck.
Failure to lift the caps could however have an important impact on pending deals by several station groups, most notably Nexstar’s acquisition of Tegna, which would give it about 54% coverage.
In response to Trump's post, Nexstar issued a statement saying, "We continue to believe that the landscape is ripe for regulatory reform and that we are on the path to completing our transaction. We agree with President Trump that the status quo is no longer acceptable, nor should the government do anything to strengthen the stranglehold of legacy media and Big Tech on the marketplace of ideas. Those platforms already reach into every pocket, purse, and backpack in America, and the best way to disrupt their monopolistic power is to allow local broadcasters an opportunity to compete on a level playing field. Americans want more access to local news and a variety of voices without the filter of the coastal elites. By modernizing the FCC’s rules, regulators will ensure that local communities benefit from an array of fact-based local journalism—the anti-fake news—for years to come. This is an historic opportunity to change the status quo and deliver a win for Americans across the country who are weary of legacy media’s leverage over local broadcasters."
