Deborah Lathen: Does the FCC’s Commitment to the Public Interest Withstand Scrutiny?

Most of the fireworks and headlines emerging from Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr’s appearance on Wednesday before the Senate Commerce Committee focused on a single episode: the “mafioso” threats (Ted Cruz’s words, not mine)

Carr issued in September against broadcasters who aired a late-night monologue he found objectionable. But that incident, troubling as it was, is just one part of a larger and more urgent conversation about the future of local broadcast television – and whether the FCC is prepared to fulfil its statutory obligation to protect the public interest.

Though little discussed in Carr’s recent Senate appearance, right now the FCC is reviewing one of the largest broadcast mergers in American history: Nexstar Media, Inc.’s proposed takeover of TEGNA, Inc.  The combined company would own a staggering 265 local TV stations, reaching roughly 80% of America’s living rooms.

It represents a direct threat both to the independence and editorial diversity of local news and to consumers’ monthly bills.

If Nexstar’s name rings a bell, it may be because the company was deeply entangled in the same Jimmy Kimmel controversy that prompted Carr’s summons to Capitol Hill. When the Chairman issued his threats, Nexstar was one of two massive station groups (along with Sinclair, which is also pursuing its own mega-merger) that swiftly complied and pulled Kimmel’s show from their airwaves.

Having rolled over at Carr’s command, Nexstar is now seeking its reward: Approval of a $6.2 billion deal that would violate federal media ownership limits and drive up consumer costs – ironically, at a moment when the Chairman’s own party is struggling to articulate a credible affordability agenda. 

In its merger filings, Nexstar casts itself as a champion of local journalism pursuing efficiencies to “better serve viewers” and compete with Big Tech. Yet on its most recent earnings call, the company told Wall Street a very different story: Boasting of $300 million in projected “synergies,” which in practice means shuttering newsrooms and passing higher prices on to viewers.

In 35 media markets, the combined company expects to “really operate two stations off  one infrastructure,” its CFO explained – a thinly veiled reference to newsroom consolidation and job losses.  Nexstar further projected that “45 percent” of the deal’s $300 million windfall would come in the form of higher “retransmission fees” – the payments that station groups demand from cable and satellite companies for delivering their channels to viewers. 

In practice, these fees are usually passed through directly to consumers’ bills.  In other words, Nexstar is assuring investors it can extract at least $135 million more from American TV viewers each year for the privilege of watching the same channels they already receive.

Just as troubling is what this merger means for the integrity of local journalism. Viewed alongside Sinclair’s bid for E.W. Scripps, the deals would place unprecedented control over local newsrooms in the hands of two corporations that only months ago demonstrated their willingness to comply with a de facto federal censorship order. Rewarding that behavior with even greater editorial power raises profound concerns about the independence of local media.

This is precisely why federal communications law prohibits any single company from owning stations that reach more than 39 percent of American homes.  Even leading conservative legal luminaries have emphasized that the FCC has no legal authority to waive or eliminate the ownership cap Congress wrote into statute.

Congress established these caps in part to guard against the chilling of speech that follows when broadcast station owners become so large they cannot afford to anger Washington. When regulators hint at consequences and broadcasters fall in line, it is viewers – and the principles of a free press – that ultimately lose.

Wednesday’s hearing featured scathing criticisms of the Chairman’s ill-considered threat against ABC and its affiliates – but little examination of how the massive station mergers now under consideration further threaten the independence of local newsrooms. 

Make no mistake: A Nexstar-TEGNA merger would shrink newsroom staffs and leave local newscasts more vulnerable to both corporate and political influence – all while raising costs for families.

The FCC’s mandate is not to grant favors, waive statutory limits, or prioritize corporate ambitions. Its mandate is to safeguard the public interest and uphold the law to ensure consumers are treated fairly, journalists can work freely, and local communities retain access to robust, independent reporting.

Those principles are now being tested. The American public deserves an FCC willing to uphold them.

Deborah Lathen, President of Lathen Consulting, LLC is the former head of the FCC Cable Services Bureau (now Media Bureau) and a seasoned communications and business attorney with vast experience and knowledge about broadband policy. In 1998 Deorah wrote the first FCC report Understanding Broadband and most recently partnered with Paul Garnett in authoring A Handbook for the Effective Administration of State and Local Digital Equity Programs.

Broadband Breakfast accepts commentary from informed observers of the broadband scene. Please send pieces to commentary@breakfast.media. The views reflected in Expert Opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the views of Broadband Breakfast and Breakfast Media LLC.