Beyond Censoring One Program: The Danger of Media Consolidation

October 1, 2025

Ben Kessler  -  Ben Kessler, AFM Director of Government Affairs

Amid the uproar following ABC’s decision to take Jimmy Kimmel off the air, one party largely managed to escape the public’s ire. Before the network announced its decision, Nexstar, the largest owner of television stations in the country, stated that it would preempt the program on its ABC affiliates indefinitely because of “offensive and insensitive” comments. By the time Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr threatened “the easy way or the hard way,” Nexstar had already backed ABC and Disney, ABC’s parent company, into a corner. At the time of writing, Jimmy Kimmel is back on the air. But Sinclair, the second largest television-operator in the United States, has thrown its lot in with Nexstar, preempting the program on its stations as well.

Why are a few companies able to take power away from the viewing public and dismantle the free market? The answer largely lies within the Telecommunications Act of 1996. It was the first major update to telecommunications law in over 60 years. With only a handful of dissenting voices in the US House and Senate, the measure was ushered in with promises of increased competition in local marketplaces to drive prices down for consumers.

Communities across the country have paid the price ever since. At its peak, Clear Channel, now iHeartMedia, owned more than 1,200 radio stations. In eliminating ownership caps, Congress created a trend. Large corporations would buy up as many television or radio stations as possible, overcapitalize, accrue debt, and then be forced to cut costs. The first to go were local on-air talent and program directors. Bankruptcy may have saved iHeart, but the jobs and diversity of viewpoint were long gone.

The problem has only gotten worse. President Trump made his views on media ownership clear during his first term in office. In 2017, the FCC repealed the “main studio rule,” which required radio and television stations to maintain a physical studio in or near the community in which it was licensed. And companies like Nexstar are only getting bigger. When it acquired Tribune Media in 2019 for $4.1 billion, Nexstar became “the largest local television broadcast and digital media company in the nation.” According to its website, Nexstar has a portfolio of 200 owned or partner broadcast stations in 116 markets.

Nexstar needs the White House’s help. In August, Nexstar announced its intention to buy media rival Tegna for $6.2 billion. The one thing standing between Nexstar and an additional 64 stations is approval from the Trump administration. Nexstar and Tegna overlap in 35 regional markets. Perhaps silencing a critic of the president’s is enough to avoid regulatory scrutiny.

There is opportunity. And there is a need to play both offense and defense. Every four years, the FCC is required to review ownership rules governing television and radio. And the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has made its position known. They want even fewer regulations governing local ownership. You may know the NAB as the lobbying behemoth spending millions of dollars to defeat the American Music Fairness Act. They argue that compensating performers for plays on terrestrial radio would put local stations out of business.

Just as corporate interests are making their perspective known during the FCC’s quadrennial review of ownership regulations, so will the AFM. If your ability to make a living—to be heard, has been harmed by media consolidation, we want to hear from you. If you have seen the harm to your community because of a local station, please be in touch. We want to help tell your story.

When a small handful of companies own most of the radio and television stations, it hurts all people. When a single company can own up to eight stations in a single market, we lose the perspective of those who call that city or town home. There is no local content or character—no exploration of the artistic disciplines and genres that help define the community. A viewer or listener might as well be tuning into a national broadcast. And when those in power allow fewer perspectives to be heard, we are left with state-sponsored censorship.

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