Newsfront FCC


Moves to Give Big Media More Power


Conservatives oppose lifting TV cap, Nexstar merger.


C BY JONATHAN HAYMEIER


onservative media and advocacy groups are mount- ing a coordinated push to block moves by the Federal


Communications Commission that they say would turbocharge liberal media power and consolidation. Surprisingly, President Donald


Trump’s FCC, under Chair Brendan Carr, has been acting aggressively to end caps first started by President Ronald Reagan to block massive lib- eral media power over local TV news. The FCC move, if approved, would


put most TV licenses across the nation in the hands of a few corpo- rate media giants. And conservatives say that is sim-


ply dangerous. FCC approval of changes to the so-


called ownership cap is necessary for the proposed Nexstar Media Group merger with Tegna, a $6.2 billion deal. This merger would create the larg-


est TV group in the nation, reaching more than 80% of U.S. households — more than double what federal law currently allows. Reagan’s FCC limited big networks


from owning TV stations to just 25% of U.S. households — fearing that if such


10 NEWSMAX | DECEMBER 2025 CARR


media companies had more reach, they would tip the political balance with their control over local TV news. Over time, the cap was raised to


39% by Congress, but now major net- works and station groups want to blow well past those limits, if not eliminate them altogether. First in line is broadcaster Nexstar,


which owns the left-wing cable news channel NewsNation. NewsNation, founded in 2021,


hosts liberals such as Chris Cuomo, formerly of CNN, and Ashleigh Ban- field, formerly of MSNBC, among others. The network has been busy the past five years bashing Trump and his supporters. “It’s bizarre to me that the FCC’s


main priority under Brendan Carr is to give TV station groups that opposed President Trump more power and more reach,” Newsmax CEO Christo- pher Ruddy said. He noted that Nexstar’s NewsNa-


tion has had a clear, left-wing bent. Newsmax is opposing lifting the ownership cap above the current 39%


— and has been joined by conservative groups like OAN and CPAC. A growing conservative coalition


believes ending the caps will erode local journalism and allow major sta- tion groups to coordinate news sta- tions to target conservatives in key political races for years to come. The FCC’s plan will allow massive


consolidation, which will also raise consumer costs, including cable bills, while narrowing the spectrum of polit- ical viewpoints in American homes. The FCC in June reopened its


record on whether to keep, change, or abolish the 39% national audience- reach cap.


NEWSMAX’S FILING: STOP BIG MEDIA POWER In a forceful filing this summer, News- max urged the FCC to retain the own- ership cap and scrap the UHF dis- count, warning that any rollback of TV limits Reagan started would con- centrate control of local news into a few corporate hands. The company framed the cap as


CARR/CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES / CELLPHONE/JAQUE SILVA/NURPHOTO VIA GETTY IMAGES


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