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Roy Blunt: Deregulating The Media Is How We Save Local News
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has made major progress in revolutionizing the American media landscape in the first six months of the second Trump administration. Under Chairman Brendan Carr’s leadership, the FCC has quickly advanced a deregulatory agenda that aims to embrace innovation, modernize America’s communication industry, and keep media bias in check.
As the Commission moves to replace or get rid of outdated media regulations, though, it must be careful to recognize the changing nature of the media landscape and avoid simply replacing old regulations with new, equally burdensome ones.
One area of regulation the FCC is looking into are limits on the number of stations TV broadcasters may own.
Currently, TV broadcasters may own as many stations as they like, so long as they do not collectively reach over 39% of households nationwide. That rule was established in 2004 and has never been updated to reflect the realities of our evolving media environment. To put this into perspective, when these limits were set, Amazon Prime didn’t exist, Netflix was still mailing DVDs to your doorstep, and ‘The Apprentice’ was returning to NBC for its second season.
This cap may have made sense at the time, but it now prevents broadcast stations — and their local news affiliates — from competing with digital streaming platforms that are allowed to reach 100% of households. The dominance of streaming giants demonstrates the disconnect. In May 2025, streaming accounted for 44.8% of all television viewership, outpacing both broadcast (20.1%) and cable (24.1%) combined. Yet broadcasters remain hindered by a system built for a reality that no longer exists.
The FCC formally opened the door to revisiting this archaic rule, seeking public comments on whether the decades-old limit still makes sense today. This is a welcome move reflecting the growing consensus shared by both Chairman Carrand newly confirmed Commissioner Olivia Trusty that reform is overdue. Yet while relaxation remains paramount in allowing the free market to thrive, the agency must not swap one outdated regulation for another. Empowering local broadcasters means reducing government interference, not adding new regulatory handcuffs under the guise of “fairness.”
Take a recent proposal brought forward by former Commissioner Nathan Simington and his chief of staff, Gavin Wax, to cap “reverse compensation” fees that affiliate stations pay to networks.
Major broadcast networks used to pay local stations to air their content. Now, local stations pay the networks for the right to be affiliates and carry their content, including major sporting events, popular network shows, and national news. Local affiliates pay the fees because it helps them draw in viewers and advertiser dollars.
The idea to limit these fees to 30% was marketed as a way to curb the influence of legacy media and support local broadcasters. However, in practice, all it would accomplish is setting government price controls for network programming and affiliation agreements. It’s hard to imagine a previous Republican-majority FCC that would back this type of government overreach in the name of increasing competition.
This price setting could end up having the opposite of its intended effect by impacting the support local broadcasters receive, risking access to live events hosted by major networks like the Olympics or the NFL. And if viewers can no longer find marquee programming on free, over-the-air television, they’ll solely migrate toward subscription-based platforms, a loss not just for broadcasters, but for the Americans relying on local news and programming.
Another misguided idea that’s been floated to help “”level the playing field” is reclassifying streaming platforms as ‘MVPDs,’ or multichannel video programming distributors, a move that would subject modern streaming services to the outdated regulations holding broadcast and cable news back. It’s a clear example of forcing 21st Century services into old, 20th Century regulatory models. Fortunately, both Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz and his House counterpart, Congressman Brett Guthrie, have vocally opposed such wrongheaded proposals.
Some have even suggested that deregulation should apply to only a certain class of local broadcasters, leaving those stations that share ownership with a broadcast network high and dry. That kind of selectivity defies both logic and fairness. Last time I checked, local stations owned by networks like FOX seem to be serving their communities as well as anyone.
The answer is not to continue burdening more of the modern media environment, but to modernize the regulatory structure itself, relaxing TV ownership limitations so that every player, both digital and traditional, large and small, can compete on fair terms.
Chairman Carr’s “Delete, Delete, Delete“ initiative — aimed at removing burdensome regulations — is a necessary course correction. Deregulation isn’t just a conservative talking point – it’s the policy framework that has made our nation a global leader in innovation. And it’s what local broadcasters need to survive in a media environment that’s becoming more competitive, not less.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is poised for action ahead of its July Open Commission Meeting. The recent confirmation of Trusty restores quorum to the agency and gives Carr a 2-1 Republican majority. This is the perfect time for the FCC to embrace a technology-neutral approach to regulation, one that reflects the world we live in, not the one we left behind decades ago. We must allow all players in the market to flourish, instead of advancing regulations that masquerade as efforts to increase competition.
Roy Blunt served as a U.S. Senator for Missouri from 2011 to 2023 and as a U.S. Representative from 1997 to 2010. Known for his pragmatic leadership and deep bipartisan relationships, he played a key role in shaping legislation on health care, infrastructure, and national security. Before his time in Congress, he was President of Southwest Baptist University and began his career as a high school history teacher. In both the House and Senate, Blunt held senior leadership positions, including Majority Whip and Chairman of the Senate Rules Committee. Bring Roy to your next event, exclusively through WWSG. Contact us today.
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