US agency ends 39% household cap on local TV station owners | Hacker News Reader

US agency ends 39% household cap on local TV station owners

reuters.com

51 pointsvoxadam23 comments

Someone tell me how it would be "in the public interest" to allow one owner to control more than 50% of the market.

What’s good for Trump is good for the US.

Because the US now belongs to Trump

How does a commission override a congressional ruling though? Seems like the "checks" part of the "balances" is a bit out of balance.

Brendan Carr is a dummy (TM)

gregorian chanting intensifies

Why yes, I also believe this action was solely a result of one administrator's low intelligence, and not any kind of concerted campaign to take over my country through media channels. Such a campaign is literally unthinkable to me, despite illustrative worked examples of an all-right-wing media landscape in the UK and Russia, agents of the administration bragging about their ability to control media, demanding tithes from media, banning media from their events, threatening to throw media in prison, or executing hostile takeovers of non-local-TV media with their billions of dollars.

[dupe] Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49200390

Does it really matter anymore? How many people get their news and entertainment from local TV stations?

A majority of voters, apparently.

>Does it really matter anymore?

If it didnt matter, they wouldn't be changing the rules to consolidate power.

Is that what's going on, though, or is it just that with fewer viewers the industry needs consolidation?

Here's a clip from John Oliver[0] from 2017 explaining a bit on the situation. While viewership is declining, I dont think it's the main reason with the overall system changing its rules to allow fewer people to control it.

0 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GvtNyOzGogc

TV is dead so who cares if it consolidates. In fact, consolidation is probably the only way it staves off complete collapse for a few extra years.

The average age of a Fox News, CNN or MSNBC viewer is 60+.

The median 20 year old NEVER watches TV.

Citation needed

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/08/28/how-the-a...

https://www.nielsen.com/insights/2025/five-tv-trends-watch-2...

Are all those age groups on their death beds? Older people vote in larger numbers don't they?

You can watch tv programs via streaming services. Youtube ABC News channel has 16.7 million subscribers. Clips of those shows can be found all over social media.

There's a reason the current administration wants consolidation. It's to control the narrative. The same reason their rich supporters buy up news media companies.

There are independent YouTube channels routinely pulling 10x prime time ABC News numbers. Not just 1 or 2, more like thousands. The world has moved on.

I mean you can blatantly see who's watching this garbage by tuning in. The primetime ads are adult diapers, dementia pills and retirement financial products.

Check out these 2 maps: https://nitter.space/ettingermentum/status/20852027930783992...

Measurable, double digit swings based on which counties got TV ads in a $70m vs $10m spending campaign.

Seems totally legit!

Harris+Biden spent $770M on TV ads while Trump spent $350M.

How about 2016? Clinton spent $400M on TV ads while Trump spent $125M.

How'd that go for them? Really seeing those double digit improvements.

Different campaigns, you're comparing a presidential general election to a senate primary.

You're also ignoring superpacs in those presidential runs. You know how many NRA sponsored ads about "her emails" I saw in 2016?

TV is far less dead than often assumed.

Also ignoring how much other nation states spend on them.

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