{"id":114516,"date":"2025-04-11T10:03:15","date_gmt":"2025-04-11T18:03:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/04\/11\/trump-fcc-prepares-to-destroy-whatevers-left-of-media-consolidation-limits\/"},"modified":"2025-04-11T10:03:15","modified_gmt":"2025-04-11T18:03:15","slug":"trump-fcc-prepares-to-destroy-whatevers-left-of-media-consolidation-limits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/04\/11\/trump-fcc-prepares-to-destroy-whatevers-left-of-media-consolidation-limits\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump FCC Prepares To Destroy Whatever\u2019s Left Of Media Consolidation Limits"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During Trump 1.0, his captured FCC\u00a0took at absolute hatchet<\/a>\u00a0to what was left of media ownership limits. Those limits, built on the back of decades of bipartisan collaboration, prohibited local broadcasters and media from growing too large, trampling smaller (and more diversely owned) competitors underfoot. The result has been a rise in\u00a0local news deserts<\/a>\u00a0and (if you hadn\u2019t noticed) a\u00a0painfully disinformed electorate<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Trump FCC stripped away a lot of the rules specifically so Sinclair Broadcasting, a GOP-propaganda effort posing as local news (recall the\u00a0old Deadspin video<\/a>?), could acquire Tribune Broadcasting for $3.9 billion. But ironically, Sinclair lied\u00a0so frequently and repeatedly<\/em>\u00a0to regulators when selling the deal that even\u00a0the dodgy, industry-friendly Trump FCC<\/a>\u00a0had to pull their support for appearances\u2019 sake.<\/p>\n

Even with media consolidation rules in tatters, the broadcast industry hasn\u2019t been satisfied. They\u2019ve been arguing for years that thanks to the success of streaming, there\u2019s simply no reason to have\u00a0any\u00a0<\/strong>media consolidation limits whatsoever. Giants like ABC, Fox, NBC, and CBS are all very keen to continue their\u00a0often mindless and clearly harmful<\/a>\u00a0consolidation spree and merge with each other.<\/p>\n

In 2023, the Biden FCC made a fleeting, bare-bone efforts to protect\u00a0whatever is left of media consolidation limits<\/a>. FCC lawyers are\u00a0currently in Minnesota court defending the restoration of those restrictions<\/a>, but it\u2019s expected they\u2019ll shortly find the rug pulled out from beneath their feet by the \u201cleadership<\/a>\u201d of Trumplican FCC boss Brendan Carr.<\/p>\n

Even if the FCC wins the case, it\u2019s expected that Carr will use his FCC majority to dismantle what\u2019s left of any sort of media consolidation limits at industry\u2019s behest:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cCarr has long supported relaxing media ownership rules and is expected to roll back the 2023 order regardless. It appears he\u2019ll soon have the majority he needs to do that, with Democratic Commissioner\u00a0Geoffrey Starks<\/strong>\u00a0planning to step down \u201cthis spring.\u201d That will leave two Republicans and one Democrat at the agency.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Broadcasters claim that because streaming is so commonplace and competitive now, there\u2019s no longer any need for any media consolidation limits whatsoever. They (falsely) claim that once these restrictions are lifted, they\u2019ll just magically start re-investing in local markets:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThe economics in TV don\u2019t support having more than three independent newsrooms in the vast majority of markets,\u201d\u00a0Andrew Kilberg<\/strong>, the attorney for the broadcasters, said. \u201cBut if they were able to access economies of scale,\u201d he said, \u201cthey would have more resources to invest in that.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

But of course \u201censhittification\u201d and the pursuit of impossibly endless quarterly growth means it doesn\u2019t work that way. And what passes as \u201cthree independent newsrooms\u201d in most markets now is already a homogenized mess of hollow infotainment pretending to be real journalism.<\/p>\n

As we see in\u00a0cable\u00a0and<\/strong>\u00a0streaming<\/a>, consolidation routinely just results in higher prices, layoffs, worst product quality, and widespread public annoyance. Most of the same shitty consolidated companies that ruined cable TV are hard at work doing the same thing to streaming as they eye \u201cgrowth for growth\u2019s sake\u201d and endless consolidation.<\/p>\n

The death of newspapers and the consolidation of local broadcasters (often under the control of right wing local broadcast propagandists like Fox and Sinclair) has resulted in vast news deserts and a broadly uninformed (and misinformed) American populace. A\u00a0recent study out of Northwestern University<\/a>\u00a0found that Trump won 91 percent of \u201cnews desert\u201d counties by an average of 54 percentage points.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Since their shitty, unpopular policies can\u2019t stand on their own two feet, Republicans want to\u00a0dismantle all useful journalism and replace it with propaganda<\/a>. Democrats haven\u2019t had any answer to the threat, routinely only paying lip service to the need for quality journalism, often rubber stamping harmful consolidation, and refusing to modernize party messaging for the modern era.<\/p>\n

Streaming and traditional media executives alike are\u00a0positively giddy<\/a>\u00a0for a ramp up in consolidation and enshittification under Trump. Trumpism, in turn, is excited for the continued supplanting of real journalism at the hands of contrarian engagement trolls and assorted bullshit artists. And because policy circles are largely fixated on \u201cbig tech,\u201d media policy routinely gets kicked by the wayside.<\/p>\n

Trump FCC Prepares To Destroy Whatever\u2019s Left Of Media Consolidation Limits<\/a><\/p>\n

More Law-Related Stories From Techdirt:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Data Shows Trump\u2019s \u2018Radical Leftist Judge\u2019 Claims Are Pure MAGA Delusion & Projection<\/a>
Lamar Jackson Takes His Fight Over \u2018Eight\u2019 Trademark To Dale Earnhardt Jr.<\/a>
Trump Loyalist Judge Smacks Down Trump Admin Over Blocking The AP<\/a><\/p>\n

The post Trump FCC Prepares To Destroy Whatever\u2019s Left Of Media Consolidation Limits<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During Trump 1.0, his captured FCC\u00a0took at absolute hatchet<\/a>\u00a0to what was left of media ownership limits. Those limits, built on the back of decades of bipartisan collaboration, prohibited local broadcasters and media from growing too large, trampling smaller (and more diversely owned) competitors underfoot. The result has been a rise in\u00a0local news deserts<\/a>\u00a0and (if you hadn\u2019t noticed) a\u00a0painfully disinformed electorate<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Trump FCC stripped away a lot of the rules specifically so Sinclair Broadcasting, a GOP-propaganda effort posing as local news (recall the\u00a0old Deadspin video<\/a>?), could acquire Tribune Broadcasting for $3.9 billion. But ironically, Sinclair lied\u00a0so frequently and repeatedly<\/em>\u00a0to regulators when selling the deal that even\u00a0the dodgy, industry-friendly Trump FCC<\/a>\u00a0had to pull their support for appearances\u2019 sake.<\/p>\n

Even with media consolidation rules in tatters, the broadcast industry hasn\u2019t been satisfied. They\u2019ve been arguing for years that thanks to the success of streaming, there\u2019s simply no reason to have\u00a0any\u00a0<\/strong>media consolidation limits whatsoever. Giants like ABC, Fox, NBC, and CBS are all very keen to continue their\u00a0often mindless and clearly harmful<\/a>\u00a0consolidation spree and merge with each other.<\/p>\n

In 2023, the Biden FCC made a fleeting, bare-bone efforts to protect\u00a0whatever is left of media consolidation limits<\/a>. FCC lawyers are\u00a0currently in Minnesota court defending the restoration of those restrictions<\/a>, but it\u2019s expected they\u2019ll shortly find the rug pulled out from beneath their feet by the \u201cleadership<\/a>\u201d of Trumplican FCC boss Brendan Carr.<\/p>\n

Even if the FCC wins the case, it\u2019s expected that Carr will use his FCC majority to dismantle what\u2019s left of any sort of media consolidation limits at industry\u2019s behest:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cCarr has long supported relaxing media ownership rules and is expected to roll back the 2023 order regardless. It appears he\u2019ll soon have the majority he needs to do that, with Democratic Commissioner\u00a0Geoffrey Starks<\/strong>\u00a0planning to step down \u201cthis spring.\u201d That will leave two Republicans and one Democrat at the agency.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Broadcasters claim that because streaming is so commonplace and competitive now, there\u2019s no longer any need for any media consolidation limits whatsoever. They (falsely) claim that once these restrictions are lifted, they\u2019ll just magically start re-investing in local markets:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThe economics in TV don\u2019t support having more than three independent newsrooms in the vast majority of markets,\u201d\u00a0Andrew Kilberg<\/strong>, the attorney for the broadcasters, said. \u201cBut if they were able to access economies of scale,\u201d he said, \u201cthey would have more resources to invest in that.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

But of course \u201censhittification\u201d and the pursuit of impossibly endless quarterly growth means it doesn\u2019t work that way. And what passes as \u201cthree independent newsrooms\u201d in most markets now is already a homogenized mess of hollow infotainment pretending to be real journalism.<\/p>\n

As we see in\u00a0cable\u00a0and<\/strong>\u00a0streaming<\/a>, consolidation routinely just results in higher prices, layoffs, worst product quality, and widespread public annoyance. Most of the same shitty consolidated companies that ruined cable TV are hard at work doing the same thing to streaming as they eye \u201cgrowth for growth\u2019s sake\u201d and endless consolidation.<\/p>\n

The death of newspapers and the consolidation of local broadcasters (often under the control of right wing local broadcast propagandists like Fox and Sinclair) has resulted in vast news deserts and a broadly uninformed (and misinformed) American populace. A\u00a0recent study out of Northwestern University<\/a>\u00a0found that Trump won 91 percent of \u201cnews desert\u201d counties by an average of 54 percentage points.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Since their shitty, unpopular policies can\u2019t stand on their own two feet, Republicans want to\u00a0dismantle all useful journalism and replace it with propaganda<\/a>. Democrats haven\u2019t had any answer to the threat, routinely only paying lip service to the need for quality journalism, often rubber stamping harmful consolidation, and refusing to modernize party messaging for the modern era.<\/p>\n

Streaming and traditional media executives alike are\u00a0positively giddy<\/a>\u00a0for a ramp up in consolidation and enshittification under Trump. Trumpism, in turn, is excited for the continued supplanting of real journalism at the hands of contrarian engagement trolls and assorted bullshit artists. And because policy circles are largely fixated on \u201cbig tech,\u201d media policy routinely gets kicked by the wayside.<\/p>\n

Trump FCC Prepares To Destroy Whatever\u2019s Left Of Media Consolidation Limits<\/a><\/p>\n

More Law-Related Stories From Techdirt:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Data Shows Trump\u2019s \u2018Radical Leftist Judge\u2019 Claims Are Pure MAGA Delusion & Projection<\/a>
Lamar Jackson Takes His Fight Over \u2018Eight\u2019 Trademark To Dale Earnhardt Jr.<\/a>
Trump Loyalist Judge Smacks Down Trump Admin Over Blocking The AP<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During Trump 1.0, his captured FCC\u00a0took at absolute hatchet\u00a0to what was left of media ownership limits. Those limits, built on the back of decades of bipartisan collaboration, prohibited local broadcasters and media from growing too large, trampling smaller (and more diversely owned) competitors underfoot. The result has been a rise in\u00a0local news deserts\u00a0and (if you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":114478,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/FCC-620x618-cgusst.png?fit=620%2C618&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114516\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}