Ownership Caps: Relief Pending For Radio

The FCC is poised to eliminate the decades-old 39% national television ownership cap, replacing it with a case-by-case review process — a move that has radio broadcasters asking whether similar relief for AM and FM stations could soon follow.

The Commission announced last week it will vote at its August meeting on an order to repeal the bright-line national audience reach limit for TV stations. Under the proposed new approach, the FCC would evaluate individual transactions on their merits, approving deals that serve the public interest and rejecting those that do not, rather than applying a uniform 39% ceiling to every merger regardless of circumstances. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s Republican majority is expected to approve the change, marking the first actual modification to the cap since it was set at 39% in 2004. 

The agency argues the current limit is outdated and unfair, as streaming and digital competitors face no such national restrictions while TV broadcasters are artificially capped. Officials say the shift will promote competition, strengthen localism, encourage investment in news, and create a more level playing field in the modern media landscape.

Radio broadcasters have been pressing the FCC for more than a year — through the ongoing 2022 Quadrennial Review of local radio ownership rules — to loosen or eliminate caps originally written in 1996. They argue those limits, designed before the rise of streaming, podcasts, and Big Tech advertising, now hinder local stations’ ability to compete and invest.

The NAB, along with groups such as Beasley Media, Connoisseur Media, and Cumulus Media CEO Mary Berner, have urged Chairman Carr to modernize the rules. They contend updated regulations would allow greater local investment, programming diversity, and effective competition in today’s audio market.

Not all stakeholders support following television’s path. The musicFIRST Coalition and Future of Music Coalition have urged the FCC to maintain or strengthen local radio ownership limits. In recent filings, the groups pointed to recent industry layoffs as evidence that further consolidation would fail to deliver promised benefits like more local programming or fewer commercials.

Whether the FCC’s decision to scrap the TV national cap will accelerate similar action on radio remains uncertain. For broadcasters who have long argued their rules deserve the same update now coming to television, the prospect feels tantalizingly near yet still out of reach.