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Federal Communications Commission scraps limit on broadcast TV ownership

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Re: Federal Communications Commission scraps limit on broadcast TV ownership

#3

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From what I've read, its blatantly illegal. So probably will be undone by the courts in a few months. I wonder if anyone has a list of illegal things this white house has mandated that were overturned and rebuked by the courts soon after.

Re: Federal Communications Commission scraps limit on broadcast TV ownership

#4

[flagged]

From what I've read, its blatantly illegal. So probably will be undone by the courts in a few months. I wonder if anyone has a list of illegal things this white house has mandated that were overturned and rebuked by the courts soon after.

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Re: Federal Communications Commission scraps limit on broadcast TV ownership

#5

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In an ideal world we would roll back to the 1996 telecommunications laws. (or something approximating a sensible approach to less narrow share of the broadcast spectrum)

I think anybody with a gripe about "mainstream media" should really examine who owns most of the media (billionaires) and see the value in enforcing that more indepedent voices are heard, not less as the past three decades has been a relentless march towards.

The whole idea with the advent of the internet was that there would be so many more ways to be heard. That's been kinda true, but the public airwaves are dominated by corporate voices.

Re: Federal Communications Commission scraps limit on broadcast TV ownership

#6

[flagged]

From what I've read, its blatantly illegal. So probably will be undone by the courts in a few months. I wonder if anyone has a list of illegal things this white house has mandated that were overturned and rebuked by the courts soon after.

It has its own wikipedia page, unsurprisingly: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_affairs_of_the_second_Tr...

Re: Federal Communications Commission scraps limit on broadcast TV ownership

#7
Broadcast TV seems laughably irrelevant. It’s difficult to find official numbers, but under 1% of US households have no cable, satellite TV, home Internet, or a cell phone. The latter two are how people consume video and TV to a large degree today.

In exchange, we have a great deal of spectrum tied up for terrestrial TV, much of which goes to running infomercials or else is surreptitiously leased for terrestrial data broadcasts. And the government gets to decide to regulate it so it becomes inherently politicised - like favouring certain owners.

Realistically - this spectrum should simply be reassigned for IP based services, with perhaps some set aside for non profit / educational uses, some for commercial, etc.

(Radio is pretty much the same boat but I can see a case to be made for keeping some analog FM radio broadcasts. The 6MHz per channel for TV is insane.)

Re: Federal Communications Commission scraps limit on broadcast TV ownership

#8

Broadcast TV seems laughably irrelevant. It’s difficult to find official numbers, but under 1% of US households have no cable, satellite TV, home Internet, or a cell phone. The latter two are how people consume video and TV to a large degree today. In exchange, we have a great deal of spectrum tied up for terrestrial TV, much of which goes to running infomercials or else is surreptitiously leased for terrestrial data…

> but under 1% of US households have no cable, satellite TV, home Internet, or a cell phone.

Why are you bundling all those things together? The only thing we care about here is cable or satellite TV for your argument.

Re: Federal Communications Commission scraps limit on broadcast TV ownership

#9

Broadcast TV seems laughably irrelevant. It’s difficult to find official numbers, but under 1% of US households have no cable, satellite TV, home Internet, or a cell phone. The latter two are how people consume video and TV to a large degree today. In exchange, we have a great deal of spectrum tied up for terrestrial TV, much of which goes to running infomercials or else is surreptitiously leased for terrestrial data…

> but under 1% of US households have no cable, satellite TV, home Internet, or a cell phone. Why are you bundling all those things together? The only thing we care about here is cable or satellite TV for your argument.

Those are all the things that replace broadcast TV

Re: Federal Communications Commission scraps limit on broadcast TV ownership

#10
I haven't watched broadcast TV in over a decade, except for live sports. I also haven't listened to broadcast radio in even longer. My teenage children don't know how to use the TV or radio. It's like someone telling me a company has a monopoly on the telephone lines; nostalgic for me but utterly useless in 2026.
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