Hudson Leads Colleagues in Urging the FCC to Reform Outdated Ownership Rules Crippling Broadcasters

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Representative Richard Hudson (R-NC), who serves as the Chairman of the Communications and Technology Subcommittee on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, led over 50 of his colleagues in a bipartisan letter to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr on the need for major reforms to outdated ownership rules that hurt broadcasters across the country. 

The lawmakers wrote,"While the FCC has made incremental adjustments over the decades, the fundamental ownership restrictions have remained largely unchanged since the 1990s, imposing undue constraints on broadcasters’ ability to innovate and invest in local content."

"Today, any one of the largest Big Tech platforms dwarfs the entire broadcast industry – yet they are held to no similar limitations on their reach,"  the lawmakers continued. "This imbalance places broadcasters at a severe disadvantage in competing for advertising dollars and audience engagement."

"Reforming outdated ownership rules is essential to ensuring that broadcasters remain viable, competitive, and capable of fulfilling their essential role in American democracy. By modernizing these regulations, the FCC can empower broadcasters to better serve their communities, promote local journalism, and compete in the modern media marketplace,"  the lawmakers concluded.

Read the full letter here and an exclusive story in Politico here.

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