USA: RSF and coalition move to block FCC rollback of broadcast ownership cap

The National Television Multiple Ownership Rule, sometimes referred to as the "nat cap" or 39% rule, ensured that no single broadcaster could reach more than 39% of US households. Congress, which adopted the rule, initially set the cap at 35% in the 1990s, then raised it to 39% in 2004. Under FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, the FCC voted on August 6 to scrap the rule and replace it with a "granular, case-by-case" review.

The motion filed by RSF and its partners, who are represented by the legal nonprofit Democracy Forward, argues that, while Congress directed the FCC to implement the cap, it never granted the agency the "authority to modify or eliminate" it. In 2025, RSF submitted comments to the FCC explaining that the US has seen rapid media consolidation in recent decades that has harmed local newsrooms and the communities they serve. This new rule further exacerbates the issue, as national broadcast networks have less capacity and appetite for covering local news, leaving more Americans without coverage of politics and other issues in their communities.

Read the motion here.

The coalition released the following statement regarding the petition:

Unions and Nonprofits Representing Journalists, Writers, and Communications Professionals Petition FCC to Stay Order That Would Allow Massive Media Consolidations

FCC Repeals Rule Protecting Local Reporting From Harms of Corporate Consolidation

Washington, D.C. - A coalition of unions and nonprofit organizations representing journalists, writers, and other communications professionals have moved the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to stay a recent FCC Order repealing its longstanding and Congressionally required National Television Multiple Ownership Rule while a legal challenge regarding the decision can move forward.

In 2004, Congress approved legislation directing the FCC to ensure that no owner of television stations reached more than 39% of the national audience, in an effort to ensure a diversity of perspectives in the press and to avoid monopolies or conglomerate dominance in the broadcast media. For more than two decades, the FCC's regulations respected this Congressional directive, but on October 1, 2026, the FCC released the final text of an order repealing the National Television Multiple Ownership Rule, disregarding the law and violating a clear Congressional mandate. In response to the rule's repeal, a coalition including the United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry, Public Knowledge, The NewsGuild-Communications Workers of America (TNG-CWA), National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians-Communications Workers of America, Local 51 (NABET-CWA Local 51), Future Film Coalition (FFC), Free Press, Reporters Without Borders (RSF USA), Writers Guild of America West (WGAW), and Writers Guild of America East (WGAE) filed a petition with the FCC, notifying the Commission of a forthcoming legal challenge to its decision to repeal the multi-ownership rule and asking the FCC to prevent the irreparable harm that would come from implementing the repeal before the legal challenge can be considered by a court. The coalition is represented in the matter by Democracy Forward, as well as long-time public interest lawyer Gigi Sohn.

"United Church of Christ Media Ministry Justice continues its work for media accountability because our members' witness for justice begins in their own communities. Without locally accountable news, they struggle to know what leaders are doing at home and across the country, and can't act on their care for their neighbors, all children, and the earth. The FCC's unlawful repeal of the bright-line national ownership cap not only hands more power to fewer conglomerates, but also to an agency that has shown a willingness to trade merger approvals for partisan political gain, in violation of the First Amendment," said Cheryl A. Leanza, policy advisor, United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry.

"Consolidation puts decisions about local news in the hands of distant corporate headquarters. Communities lose independent coverage they rely on, including during emergencies. The FCC should keep the ownership cap in place while the courts review its repeal, before another round of mergers does lasting damage to local news," said John Bergmayer, Legal Director at Public Knowledge.

"Consolidation is the main reason we have lost tens of thousands of journalism jobs in the past two decades," said NewsGuild-CWA President Jon Schleuss. "Media workers and the public lose out when news organizations merge into conglomerates. The FCC's disregard for the law will inevitably lead to more job losses, less informed local communities and increased costs for every American."

"More media consolidation means fewer buyers, less bargaining power for industry workers, and fewer opportunities for local stories to reach audiences. It also puts irreplaceable local news archives and our shared cultural history at risk," said Jax Deluca, Executive Director of Future Film Coalition. "Once independent decision-makers, business relationships, local programming, and historical records are lost or discarded, there's no guarantee we can get these back. The FCC should not open the door to irreversible harm while the legality of its decision is still being challenged."

"The FCC simply cannot ignore the laws Congress makes just because the current agency head wants to. Chairman Carr serves only Donald Trump, not the people of this country. Carr threatens broadcasters when their coverage angers the administration, but tosses them bones like this repeal when the biggest broadcast conglomerates toe the line. Unlawful media consolidation makes for bad news in any era. It's especially troubling when an FCC chair ignores the First Amendment and hands out regulatory favors on political whims," said Matt Wood, Vice President of Policy and General Counsel at Free Press.

"Consolidation is occurring at every level, in every configuration and market within media, and writers from film to series to broadcast news have experienced the harms. The FCC's action to enable still more mergers among broadcast station owners threatens to give even greater control to media's gatekeepers," said the Writers Guild of America West and Writers Guild of America East in a joint statement.

The motion raises a series of issues with the FCC order repealing the multi-ownership rule. In addition to being directly contrary to law and based on faulty logic and errors in reasoning, the repeal of the multi-ownership rule would directly harm members of the organizations challenging the unlawful order. Historically, broadcast media consolidation has resulted in newsroom closures, layoffs, and other structural changes to broadcasters' operations that would be difficult or impossible to reverse. The harm that this would cause would be felt by journalists, communications professionals, scripted and non-fiction filmmakers, reporters, writers, and groups dedicated to the promotion and preservation of independent film, and by the unions that represent them. These workers would face reduced access to job opportunities, diminished working conditions, and severely limited bargaining power with their employers. In addition, the communities that benefit from robust local news operations will also suffer based on decreased coverage of local conditions.

"Localism, viewpoint diversity, and competition in the media are all crucial to a functioning democracy, and by repealing the National Television Multiple Ownership Rule, the FCC is paving the way for corporations to erode an informed public and our democracy through massive media consolidation deals," said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward. "The need for civic and community engagement is essential, especially as First Amendment challenges and bullying have invaded the media landscape and threatened to prevent people from having choices in the media they consume. Democracy Forward is honored to represent this coalition to fight for the current limits regarding media consolidation."

Democracy Forward's legal team involved in this matter includes Simon C. Brewer, Bradley Girard, Kali Schellenberg, Jason Brovich, Paul R.Q. Wolfson, and Robin F. Thurston.