Photos: YouTube Screenshots
WASHINGTON, D.C. — August 7, 2026 — Following the Federal Communications Commission’s vote to eliminate the national television ownership cap, Ebonie C. Riley, Senior Vice President at National Action Network, issued the following statement:
“Today’s vote unlawfully eliminates a clear national safeguard against excessive media consolidation and replaces it with a process that will force communities to challenge potential harm one transaction at a time.
“That places the burden in exactly the wrong place. Communities should not have to wait until reporters are laid off, newsrooms are combined, or locally produced coverage disappears to demonstrate that consolidation has caused harm.
“Local television remains essential civic infrastructure. Local stations provide emergency information, investigate public institutions, cover elections and local government, and tell the stories that national outlets often overlook.
“But a television station is not truly local simply because its signal reaches a community. It is local when reporters know that community, decision-makers are accountable to it, and coverage reflects the people, institutions, and issues that shape daily life.
“Greater corporate scale does not automatically strengthen local journalism. A station can retain its call letters while decisions about staffing, programming, and news coverage move farther away from the people it serves. When fewer companies control more stations, local voices and independent decision-making are too often the first things lost.
“The consequences are especially serious in a broadcast marketplace where ownership still does not reflect the full diversity of the American public. Eliminating the cap without enforceable protections for independent, diverse, and community-based ownership could make it even harder for smaller broadcasters to enter, compete, and survive.
“This is not about one company, one network, or one political viewpoint. It is about whether Americans will continue to have access to competitive, independent, and locally accountable sources of news.
“Congress has already settled this question: no station group may own stations with an aggregate national audience reach exceeding 39 percent of U.S. television households. The FCC has no authority to disregard Congress’s clear direction. The courts must closely scrutinize this decision and enforce the public-interest protections Congress established.
“Every future broadcast transaction must be evaluated against enforceable commitments to preserve local newsroom jobs, locally produced reporting, emergency and public safety coverage, and meaningful opportunities for diverse and independent ownership.
“Corporate reach should never come at the expense of community voice. The public deserves more local reporting, more independent ownership, and more accountability not fewer decision-makers controlling what more communities see and hear.
“For more than two decades, the national television ownership rule generally prohibited a single company from owning broadcast stations with an aggregate national audience reach exceeding 39 percent of U.S. television households, as calculated under FCC rules. By eliminating that clear national limit and relying instead on transaction-by-transaction review, the FCC has removed a structural safeguard intended to prevent excessive concentration in the broadcast marketplace.
“National Action Network believes the public interest must be measured by more than corporate size or market reach. It must be measured by the strength of local newsrooms, the independence of local journalists, the diversity of station ownership and leadership, and the ability of communities to hold broadcasters accountable.”
For more information, visit www.nationalactionnetwork.net
