Broadcasting&Cable

The US Supreme Court let the Federal Communications Commission ease limits on the ownership of local television and radio stations, siding with the broadcast industry and Trump-era regulators in a long-running fight. The Justices unanimously overturned an appeals court ruling that had required the FCC to first study the potential impact on female and minority ownership in the media industry. Republicans and the broadcast industry have been seeking to relax the ownership limits for decades, saying the restrictions are badly outdated.

Broadcasters want to get a cut of those billions of dollars in the Federal Communications Commission's Emergency Broadband Benefit Program. The National Association of Broadcasters is telling the FCC that TV and radio advertising is particularly effective both because they are ubiquitous and because over-the-air broadcasting over-indexes for the eligible population--households with incomes below $50,000.

President Joe Biden is under pressure from advocacy groups to name a permanent Federal Communications Commission chairman and a third commissioner who will give that chair the Democratic majority needed to do big things. The FCC is currently locked in a 2-2 political tie. Past chairs have pointed out that the vast majority of the agency’s decisions are unanimous, but that doesn't change the fact that many of the highest-profile rulings are not.

In advance of the Supreme Court's Jan.