Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley “Couldn’t Be Happier” About Expected FCC Repeal Of Federal Ownership Cap
Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley said he "couldn't be happier" as the FCC prepares to vote on scrapping the federal cap limiting a single company from owning TV stations reaching more than 39% of US households. The Republican-led commission, chaired by Trump appointee Brendan Carr, has long argued the rule is outdated in an era of streaming, and its removal would clear the way for major consolidation among local broadcasters, who say the limit no longer reflects how audiences watch television.
Ripley made the comments during Sinclair's second-quarter earnings call, in which the broadcaster reported revenue of $840 million, up 7% year-on-year, though losses widened to $1.06 per share. Sinclair, the second-largest US station owner behind Nexstar, said scrapping the cap would "de-risk" future acquisitions after it made a hostile, rebuffed bid for E.W. Scripps; Nexstar, whose $6.2 billion Tegna deal was blocked by a federal judge and is now under appeal, is also expected to benefit. Legal challenges are anticipated, with the FCC's lone Democrat, Anna Gomez, arguing only Congress can alter a cap it enacted in the 1990s.
- FCC set to vote on repealing TV station ownership cap
- Sinclair CEO welcomes change, eyes future acquisitions
- Nexstar's blocked Tegna deal also tied to the ruling
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Sinclair is a major American television station operator, and its boss has welcomed a likely decision by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the US broadcasting regulator, to lift a decades-old rule. That rule currently stops any single company from owning local TV stations that together reach more than 39% of American households. Removing it would let big broadcasters buy up many more local stations than they can now.
The push to scrap the cap comes from the FCC's Republican-led leadership, who argue it is outdated now that so much viewing has moved to streaming services. Sinclair, the country's second-largest station owner, and its larger rival Nexstar both stand to benefit, since each has been trying to grow through acquisitions that the current cap makes difficult or risky.
This matters because television ownership rules shape how much local news and programming in America is controlled by a small number of national companies, rather than by more numerous, often smaller, local owners. Critics of scrapping the cap, including a dissenting FCC commissioner, say only the US Congress has the power to change it, meaning any repeal could face legal challenges.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Supporters of lifting the cap argue that a rule drafted in the 1990s no longer reflects how Americans consume news and entertainment, given that streaming platforms and tech giants face no equivalent ownership limits while competing for the same advertising revenue and audience attention. They contend that allowing broadcasters to grow beyond the 39% threshold would let struggling local stations achieve the scale needed to invest in newsrooms, technology and programming that keep local journalism viable rather than fading away. From this perspective, easing restrictions is less a gift to any one company than a necessary modernisation that lets an increasingly outmatched industry compete on fairer terms.
The case against
Opponents argue that the cap exists precisely to prevent any single company from controlling the news and information reaching a dominant share of American households, and that streaming's growth does not eliminate the outsized influence local broadcast news still holds, particularly for older and rural viewers. They point to a history in which consolidation has often meant centralised editorial control, standardised must-run segments and newsroom job cuts rather than the promised investment in local journalism. There is also a procedural objection, voiced by the FCC's Democratic commissioner, that a cap written into law by Congress should not be unwound by regulatory vote alone, leaving the change vulnerable to legal challenge regardless of its policy merits.
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