In a forceful filing submitted Wednesday to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Newsmax Media, Inc. strongly opposed any effort to raise or eliminate the national television ownership limit — commonly known as the “Horizontal Ownership Cap.”
The independent media company warned that loosening current rules would stifle media diversity, diminish local news coverage, and consolidate political power over information distribution in the hands of a few major corporate players.
Newsmax’s filing comes in the wake of the FCC decision last month to review the Horizontal Ownership Cap.
In June the Commission released a Public Notice seeking new public comment on whether to retain, modify, or eliminate the 39% national audience reach cap and the associated “UHF discount.”
FCC Chair Brendan Carr has publicly stated that this summer will be “very, very busy” and that he’s “open-minded as to the outcome” of the ownership cap review.
The current ownership cap, which restricts any single broadcaster from reaching more than 39% of U.S. television households, has long served as a regulatory firewall against nationwide media monopolies.
But recent lobbying efforts by major broadcast conglomerates, almost all of them with liberal-leaning news divisions, have renewed calls to raise or eliminate the limit.
Newsmax has called the effort “dangerous” and in direct conflict with Congress’ intentions to keep media conglomerates from dominating every local market in the nation.
Newsmax’s Public Challenge to the FCC
Newsmax’s filing is not only a regulatory argument — it is a political warning.
“Americans of every political persuasion, demographic, and location would be harmed by any weakening of the current national television multiple ownership limit,” the company wrote in its formal comments to the FCC.
“Anything less would undermine Congress’ mandate to maintain competition, localism, and a diversity of voices and viewpoints.”
Christopher Ruddy, CEO of Newsmax, personally signed the 33-page document, which outlined a detailed case for preserving the current ownership structure and eliminating the so-called “UHF discount” — an outdated loophole that allows broadcasters to underreport their national reach by discounting UHF station coverage. [Due to digital broadcasting advancements, UHF signals now match or surpass VHF in quality, rendering the discount technologically obsolete.]
Keep Reagan’s Rule
First adopted in the 1980s under President Ronald Reagan’s FCC, the Horizontal Ownership Cap was designed to prevent excessive media consolidation.
The cap has shifted over time — from 25%, to 35% in 1996, and finally to 39% in 2004. At that point, Congress removed the FCC’s discretion to adjust the cap, codifying the limit into federal law.
The rule’s core purpose, according to Newsmax, was and remains to preserve the diversity of viewpoints and protect local journalism from being swallowed by national media giants.
“Even in times of increasing deregulation, the Supreme Court continues to uphold the Commission’s ability to promote viewpoint diversity through ownership limits,” the filing stated.
A Conservative Voice Against Consolidation
Ironically, Newsmax — a conservative media outlet often critical of federal regulatory overreach — says the Reagan era Ownership Cap was created to block liberal-leaning networks from owning local stations and completely controlling the news flow.
Too much concentration in the hands of a few media titans would ultimately silence smaller, independent, and especially conservative voices.
“If Left-leaning broadcast networks like CBS, ABC, and NBC acquired a high enough concentration of stations,” the company argued, “networks would have even less incentive to produce programming that reflects the views of local audiences.”
Newsmax believes that if these conglomerates gain too much reach, executives in New York and Los Angeles could dictate cultural and political narratives across the nation, especially in heartland and rural areas.
Big Tech Is No Excuse
One common justification among large broadcasters for raising the ownership cap is the need to compete with Big Tech platforms like Google and Meta, which dominate the digital advertising ecosystem.
Newsmax flatly rejected that rationale.
“Regulators should take steps to increase competition among Big Tech platforms,” the filing stated, “not seek to create more monopolies, more consolidation, and less competition in another sector — broadcast TV.”
The document argued that broadcasters seeking more power are not aiming to invest in local journalism, but rather to increase valuation, streamline costs through centralized operations, and negotiate higher fees from pay-TV distributors.
Evidence of Competitive Abuse
In a pointed section of the filing, Newsmax accused rival media corporations — including Fox Corporation and Nexstar — of leveraging their broadcast dominance to undermine competition in the cable news space.
Newsmax claims that Fox Corporation has used strong-arm tactics with pay-TV distributors to stop them from offering Newsmax to consumers — in an apparent effort to protect Fox News Channel’s market share.
Similarly, Nexstar allegedly used its station ownership to inflate fees for its struggling NewsNation channel, even though Newsmax outperforms NewsNation in viewership.
“Allowing Fox Corporation to acquire more broadcast TV stations would increase its leverage…thereby bolstering its ability to restrict Newsmax from reaching as many U.S. TV households as possible,” the company warned.
Radio’s Collapse: A Cautionary Tale
The filing draws parallels between the potential collapse of local television news and what happened in the radio industry after the 1996 Telecommunications Act allowed massive consolidation.
Newsmax pointed out that the largest radio companies — iHeartMedia, Audacy, and Cumulus — are now burdened with unsustainable debt and have gutted local programming in favor of syndicated national content.
Similar trends, the company argued, are already playing out in TV broadcasting.
Newsmax cited evidence that major station groups like Nexstar, Sinclair, and Tegna are suffering under debt loads of $3 to $6 billion each, driven by acquisition sprees made possible by previous FCC rule relaxations.
“The Commission should recognize that station groups bear full responsibility for their financial recklessness,” the document states, “and should not be encouraged by allowing them to increase even more their station reach.”
Newsmax noted that there is nothing inherently bad or financial harmful caused by the cap — as all major station groups would be enormously profitable were it not for their massive debt loads.
The FCC Can’t Change the Law
Beyond policy concerns, Newsmax made a strong legal case that the FCC lacks the authority to modify the 39% ownership cap.
Citing the Supreme Court’s “Major Questions Doctrine” established in Biden v. Nebraska, the company argued that any attempt to change a cap explicitly set by Congress would violate separation of powers.
“In 2004, Congress unequivocally set the national audience reach limit at 39 percent and removed any authority for the Commission to adjust it,” the filing stated.
“There could be no greater ‘basic and fundamental change’ in a limit established by Congress than abolishing it altogether.”
The company also called on the FCC to eliminate the UHF discount, noting that it no longer reflects modern broadcast realities.
“The Commission must fill in the technical details correctly to implement Congress’ will,” the filing said.
Shared Concern: Local News at Risk
Perhaps the most resonant argument made by Newsmax is not about competition between political viewpoints, but the risk to local journalism itself.
“At a time when local journalism is threatened, the Commission should not risk harming one of the last bastions of local news and information,” the company wrote.
“Local broadcasting provides millions of Americans with a critical source of local news and information. The Horizontal Ownership Cap helps to maintain that reality. Raising or eliminating it would be catastrophic.”
The filing cited recent research from the Shorenstein Center showing that most local TV stations still produce original content rather than relying on centralized, syndicated feeds — a trend that could reverse if ownership is concentrated.
Defining Moment for FCC
Today’s filing places the FCC in the crosshairs of a high-stakes debate over the future of American media.
While broadcasters lobby for more consolidation under the banner of modernization and efficiency, critics argue that such moves would erode the foundations of democracy: a free and diverse press.
Newsmax warns that increasing the cap opens the door for major liberal-leaning networks or even wealthy individuals to own nationwide station groups, giving them immense power of elections.
Newsmax’s FCC submission taps into broad concerns about monopoly power, local representation, and the increasing nationalization of American media.
Newsmax says it is urging the FCC to reject any plan to increase the cap — not only to respect Congress’ clear instructions — but to protect against an unprecedented media consolidation that could dramatically upset the nation’s political balance.
See Newsmax Comments to FCC
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