MONOPOLY The Big Three networks’ evening news shows, anchored by John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois, David Muir, and Tom Llamas, reach more than 16 million Americans every night. If these left-leaning networks were allowed to buy more af iliate stations, they would have little incentive to produce programming that reflects local audiences.
DICKERSON
glomerates gain too much reach, executives in New York and Los Angeles could dictate cultural and political nar- ratives across the nation, especially in heartland and rural areas.
DUBOIS
BIG TECH THREAT One common justifi ca- tion among large broad- casters for raising the ownership cap is the need to compete with Big Tech platforms like Google and Meta, which dominate the digital advertising ecosystem. Newsmax flatly
MUIR
rejected that rationale. “Regulators should take steps to increase compe- tition among Big Tech platforms,” the fi ling stated, “not seek to cre- ate more monopolies, more consolidation, and less competition in another sector — broad- cast TV.” The document
LLAMAS
argued that broadcast- ers seeking more power are not aiming to invest in local journalism, but rather to increase valu- ation, streamline costs through centralized operations, and nego- tiate higher fees from
pay-TV distributors.
COMPETITIVE ABUSE In a pointed section of the fi ling, Newsmax accused rival media corpo- rations — including Fox and Nexstar — of leveraging their broadcast domi- nance to undermine competition in
the cable news space. Newsmax claims that Fox Corpo-
ration has used strong-arm tactics with pay-TV distributors to stop them from off ering Newsmax to consumers in an apparent eff ort to protect Fox News Channel’s market share. Similarly, Nexstar allegedly used
its station ownership to infl ate fees for its struggling NewsNation chan- nel, even though Newsmax outper- forms NewsNation in viewership. “Allowing Fox Corporation to
acquire more broadcast TV stations would increase its leverage, thereby bolstering its ability to restrict News- max from reaching as many U.S. TV households as possible,” the company warned.
RADIO’S COLLAPSE The fi ling draws parallels between the potential collapse of local television news and what happened in the radio industry after the 1996 Telecommuni- cations Act allowed massive consoli- dation.
Newsmax pointed out that the larg-
est radio companies — iHeartMedia, Audacy, and Cumulus — are now bur- dened with unsustainable debt and have gutted local programming in favor of syndicated national content. Similar trends, the company
argued, are already playing out in TV broadcasting. Newsmax cited evidence that major
station groups like Nexstar, Sinclair, and Tegna are suff ering under debt loads of $3 to $6 billion each, driven by acquisition sprees made possible by previous FCC rule relaxations. “The Commission should rec-
ognize that station groups bear full responsibility for their fi nancial reck- lessness,” the document states, “and should not be encouraged by allowing them to increase even more their sta- tion reach.”
Newsmax noted that there is noth-
ing inherently bad or fi nancially harmful caused by the cap, as all major station groups would be enormously profi table were it not for their massive debt loads.
FCC LACKS POWER Beyond policy concerns, Newsmax made a strong legal case that the FCC lacks the authority to modify the 39% ownership cap. Citing the Supreme Court’s Major Questions Doctrine established in Biden v. Nebraska, the company argued that any attempt to change a cap explicitly set by Congress would violate separation of powers.
LOCAL NEWS AT RISK Perhaps the most resonant argument made by Newsmax is not about com- petition between political viewpoints, but the risk to local journalism itself. “At a time when local journalism is threatened, the Commission should not risk harming one of the last bas- tions of local news and information,” the company wrote. “Local broadcasting provides mil-
lions of Americans with a critical source of local news and information. The Horizontal Ownership Cap helps to maintain that reality. Raising or eliminating it would be catastrophic.” The fi ling cited recent research
from the Shorenstein Center show- ing that most local TV stations still produce original content rather than relying on centralized, syndicated feeds — a trend that could reverse if ownership is concentrated. While broadcasters lobby for more consoli- dation under the banner of modern- ization and effi ciency, critics argue that such moves would erode the foundations of democracy: a free and diverse press. Newsmax warns that increasing
the cap opens the door for major liber- al-leaning networks or even wealthy individuals to own nationwide sta- tion groups, giving them immense power over elections.
SEPTEMBER 2025 | NEWSMAX 47
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100
