Brendan Carr officially unleashes broadcast consolidation

AI Summary

The Federal Communications Commission, led by Brendan Carr, has voted to eliminate the national broadcast ownership cap in the US, allowing broadcast owners to exceed previous limits on audience reach. This decision ends a policy limiting ownership to a combined reach of 39 percent of TV households, formalizing deregulation in broadcast ownership.

The era of set broadcast ownership limits is officially over, after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted Thursday to end the national ownership cap rule. The agency's two Republicans, Chair Brendan Carr and Commissioner Olivia Trusty, voted to end the ownership cap, which restricts broadcast owners from holding stations that reach a combined more than 39 percent of US TV households, while Democratic Commissioner Anna Gomez dissented. It formalizes a policy Carr has long criticized, and which he announced last month that he would seek to end at Thursday's open FCC meeting. In place of a set limit, the FCC says, there will now be … Read the full story at The Verge.