TV Tech’s Top Regulatory Stories of 2025

By published

Our most popular regulatory stories of the first half of 2025 highlight growing interest in contentious government policies

FCC Commissioners Anna Gomez (left) and Olivia Trusty (right) with FCC Chair Brendan Carr (center) during the May Open Meeting.
FCC Chair Brendan Carr (center) with FCC Commissioners Anna Gomez (left) and Olivia Trusty (right) are considering regulatory issues that could reshape the broadcast industry. (Image credit: FCC)

The Federal Communications Commission has emerged as one of the central players in the broadcast TV landscape in 2025, with its deregulatory policies sparking hope that ownership caps might be eliminated or relaxed and concern that its new focus on DEI and the content of broadcast newscasts might spark onerous regulatory requirements.

Hot topics in our most popular regulatory stories in the first half of this year included NextGenTV, deregulation, relaxing ownership caps, DEI, First Amendment issues, 5G broadcast and FCC attempts to regulate the content of broadcast newscasts.

Here is the full list of 20 stories, ranked by page views:

  1. U.S. Appeals Court Strikes Down FCC’s Net Neutrality Rules
  2. CTA Tells FCC: Don't Mandate ATSC 3.0 Tuners
  3. Group Files FCC Complaint Against ABC, NBC and CBS for ‘News Distortion’
  4. NAB Petitions FCC for ATSC 1.0 Sunset in 2028 and 2030
  5. FCC’s Carr Calls Station Ownership Caps ‘Arcane’ and ‘Artificial‘
  6. FCC Issues Report and Order Requiring Blackout Reporting
  7. FCC Chair Carr Opens Investigation of DEI Efforts at Comcast, NBCU
  8. FCC Chairman Carr Launches Massive Deregulation Initiative
  9. FCC’s Simington Blasts Broadcast Networks as a ‘Corrupt Media Cartel’
  10. FCC Seeks Public Comments on Changing Broadcast Ownership Rules
  11. FCC OKs Verizon-Frontier Merger After Telco Backs Down on DEI
  12. NAB Urges FCC to “Completely Repeal” Broadcast TV Ownership Restrictions
  13. Chair Carr Blasts Comcast Over MSNBC Coverage
  14. FCC’s Gomez: Trump Administration Is Waging an "Aggressive Campaign" to “Bring Broadcasters...to Heel”
  15. FCC Departures Could Delay Deregulation Efforts
  16. Broadcasters Urge FCC to Hit the Delete Button on Antiquated Regs
  17. Sinclair Urges FCC to Abolish Station Ownership Rules, Sunset ATSC 1.0
  18. Simington Backs Idea That FCC Should Regulate YouTube TV, vMVPDs like Cable
  19. FAA Grants Sinclair Permission To Fly Newsgathering Drones Over People, Vehicles
  20. FCC Seeks Comments on LPTV Adoption of 5G Broadcasting
George Winslow
George Winslow

George Winslow is the senior content producer for TV Tech. He has written about the television, media and technology industries for nearly 30 years for such publications as Broadcasting & Cable, Multichannel News and TV Tech. Over the years, he has edited a number of magazines, including Multichannel News International and World Screen, and moderated panels at such major industry events as NAB and MIP TV. He has published two books and dozens of encyclopedia articles on such subjects as the media, New York City history and economics.