an anti-monopoly safeguard consis- tent with conservative principles: a limited government, pro-pluralism check that prevents any one media bloc — or a billionaire owner like George Soros — from dominating the nation’s local airwaves. Newsmax further argued the FCC
lacks statutory authority to alter a limit that Congress itself set at 39% in 2004, and that only Congress can change it. In a letter to Congress in September, Newsmax’s Ruddy pressed lawmakers to oppose both cap changes and Nex- star’s tie-up with Tegna, asserting the combined reach could give Nexstar “immense political power.” CPAC’s Center for Regulatory Free-
dom also joined Newsmax in formal comments, contending that eliminat- ing or weakening the cap is both legal- ly suspect and substantively harmful.
OAN’S WARNING: FEWER VOICES, HIGHER BILLS The conservative cable network OAN has become another prominent con- servative critic of the FCC plan. OAN President Charles Herring
used X to brand the fight as “FREE MARKETS v. QUASI-MONOPOLY,” arguing that consolidation would increase retransmission fees (and thus viewer bills), trigger more car- riage blackouts, and diminish inde- pendent voices. OAN’s stance explicitly links the
cap debate to the Nexstar–Tegna deal, saying regulators should not hand any single broadcaster a path to nation- wide dominance. Former congressman and OAN
anchor Matt Gaetz amplified the mes- sage, casting the merger as a threat to competition and to conservative view- points in particular. OAN also points to Nexstar’s ownership of NewsNation — whose prime-time personalities include for- mer CNN and MSNBC figures — as evidence that a supersized station group could shape both broadcast and cable narratives in ways disfa-
vored by the right. Announced in August, Nexstar’s
plan to buy Tegna would further extend the nation’s largest station owner. That scale would likely increase
Nexstar’s leverage in retransmission- consent negotiations, a flashpoint where bigger groups can extract high- er fees from cable and satellite dis- tributors — which means higher cable bills for consumers. Another top concern in the con-
servative case is that local broadcast news remains the primary — and most trusted — source of community information. If consolidation leads to more cen-
tralized, syndicated content and fewer independent local newsrooms, oppo- nents warn that communities lose accountability, reporting, and diverse editorial voices.
DON’T FIX BIG TECH WITH TV POWER Large broadcasters frequently argue that ownership limits are outdated in an era dominated by Google, Meta, and streaming giants. Conservative commentators are unmoved. Their view: Don’t try to fix Big Tech consolidated power by cre- ating another massive power group of liberal-leaning TV station groups. Some supporters of lifting the cap
claim to be laissez-faire capitalists and do not believe the FCC should regulate the TV business, and instead say, let the free market do its thing. But the TV broadcast airwaves are
not an open marketplace. Instead, the broadcast market is governed by the FCC, which oversees a few public broadcast licenses in each market. Newsmax and CPAC insist the
FCC can only ensure diversity and competition in the TV broadcast business by making sure a few com- panies do not end up owning most TV licenses across the nation. The dangers of consolidation and
lifting the ownership cap have seri- ous risks, including:
Less local, more centralized. Con- servative groups fear that post-merg- er economics would push station clusters to consolidate news produc- tion, rely more on hubbed newscasts, and shrink newsroom headcounts — undercutting the civic watchdog function local TV still performs. Higher consumer costs and black-
outs. Larger groups typically secure higher retransmission fees; distribu- tors pass increases on to subscribers or drop signals altogether, produc- ing blackouts. OAN and others warn that a supersized Nexstar would have even stronger incentives and bargaining power to escalate such standoffs.
Fewer independent voices. CPAC
and Newsmax argue that consolida- tion narrows the aperture of accept- able debate, particularly on cultur- ally or politically contentious issues. When editorial calls are centralized in New York or Los Angeles, they say, regional perspectives — and con- servative programming — are more easily crowded out. Legal limbo. Even if the FCC green-lights cap changes or the merg- er, opponents predict immediate liti- gation testing agency authority and statutory limits — potentially freez- ing transactions for months. Bottom line: “Here’s all you need to know about the FCC plan on lift- ing the caps. If Carr had done this 10 years ago, Donald Trump would never have won the presidency, and Congress would not be controlled today by the Republicans,” News- max’s Ruddy said.
What Can
You Do? Call your congressman or senators and tell them you oppose the FCC lifting the ownership caps — and that you oppose the Nexstar merger.
Call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121.
DECEMBER 2025 | NEWSMAX 11
URBANCOW©ISTOCK
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