Media cross-ownership in the United States

The "Big Five" media companies are all known for having major investments in video media (film and television), including broadcast networks, cable channels, syndicators, production companies, and/or cable, satellite and Internet distribution companies, each of which controls substantial market share in its respective field. Most previously held radio assets but have since divested those properties.

Company	Media Outlets	Revenues (2019)
AT&T	Holdings include: WarnerMedia (CNN, The CW (a joint venture with CBS), HBO, Cinemax, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, HLN, NBA TV, TBS, TNT, TruTV, Turner Classic Movies, AT&T SportsNet, Audience, Otter Media (Owns Crunchyroll, VRV, Fullscreen, and Rooster Teeth), Warner Bros. Pictures, Castle Rock, DC Comics, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Warner Music Group (which, owns multiple record deals and owns Discotek Media, an anime company) and New Line Cinema), DirecTV, U-verse, other channels, AT&T Mobility and Cricket Wireless. See: List of assets owned by WarnerMedia.	US$181.19 billion [4]
Comcast	Holdings include: NBCUniversal, NBC and Telemundo, Universal Pictures, Illumination, Focus Features, DreamWorks Animation, 26 television stations in the United States and cable networks USA Network, Bravo, CNBC, MSNBC, Syfy, NBCSN, Golf Channel, E!, and NBC Sports Regional Networks. Comcast also owns the Philadelphia Flyers through a separate subsidiary. See: List of assets owned by NBCUniversal.	US$108.94 billion [5]
The Walt Disney Company	Holdings include: the ABC television network, cable networks ESPN, the Disney Channel, Disney XD, Freeform, FX, FXX, FX Movie Channel, National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild, History, A&E and Lifetime, approximately 30 radio stations, music, video game, and book publishing companies, production companies Blue Sky Studios, 20th Century Studios, Searchlight Pictures, Marvel Entertainment, Lucasfilm, Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar Animation Studios, ABC Audio (including three AM radio stations), mobile app developer Disney Mobile, Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media, and theme parks in several countries. See: List of assets owned by Disney.	US$69.57 billion [6]
ViacomCBS	Holdings include: the CBS television network and the CW (a joint venture with WarnerMedia), cable networks CBS Sports Network, Showtime, Pop; 30 television stations; CBS Studios; book publisher Simon & Schuster; MTV, Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite, TV Land, VH1, BET, CMT, Comedy Central, Logo TV, Paramount Network, Paramount Pictures, and Paramount Home Entertainment. ViacomCBS also shares shareholders with Entercom, an owner of hundreds of radio stations, through that company's reverse Morris trust purchase of the CBS Radio stations. see: List of assets owned by ViacomCBS.	US$27.81 billion [7]
Fox Corporation	Holdings include: Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox News Group (Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, Fox News Radio, Fox News Talk, Fox Nation), Fox Sports (FS1, FS2, Fox Deportes, Big Ten Network (51%), Fox Sports Radio), Fox Television Stations, Bento Box Entertainment, and Tubi TV. (The remaining companies are from other divisions of 21st Century Fox that had been in a stock split acquisition made by Disney in March of 2019).	US$11.39 billion [8]

Also known as "Big Tech," a collection of six major digital media companies are also noted for their strong influence over their respective industries:

Alphabet

Owns the search engine Google, video sharing site YouTube, proprietary rights to the open-source Android operating system, blog hosting site Blogger, Gmail e-mail service, and numerous other online media and software outlets.

Apple Inc.

Owns proprietary rights to the iPhone and iPod digital devices, the iOS and Mac OS operating systems, and digital platforms iTunes and Apple TV.

Jeff Bezos

Owns The Washington Post, holds a minority stake in Alphabet, and presides over multimedia and e-commerce megalith Amazon as well as its cloud computing and Web infrastructure system Amazon Web Services.

Microsoft

Owns MSN, the search engine Bing, a minority stake in Facebook Inc., Xbox gaming consoles, Office productivity suite, Outlook.com e-mail service, and Windows operating system. See: List of mergers and acquisitions by Microsoft.

Netflix

Owns the biggest subscription over-the-top video service in the United States; it also owns many of the films and television series released on the service. Netflix also owns dvd.com, a mail-order video rental service. Netflix also has close ties to Roku, Inc., which it spun off in 2008 to avoid self-dealing accusations but maintains a substantial investment and owns the Roku operating system used on a large proportion of smart televisions and set-top boxes.

Facebook, Inc. (controlling stake held by Mark Zuckerberg)

Owns Facebook (the largest U.S. social network), Instagram, messaging services Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, and virtual reality platform Oculus VR.

In reference to the companies as a group, the abbreviations "FAANG" (when excluding Microsoft, usually in the context of digital content, where Microsoft is not a major contender) or "FAAMG" (excluding Netflix) are used, after the most prominent brand used by each company: Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Netflix and Google.

Due to cross-ownership restrictions in place for much of the 20th century limiting broadcasting and print assets, as well as difficulties in establishing synergy between the two media, print companies largely stay within the print medium.

News Corp

Owns the Dow Jones & Company, Wall Street Journal, the magazines Barron's and SmartMoney, the New York Post, and book publisher HarperCollins. See: List of assets owned by News Corp. Both News Corp and Fox Corporation have extensive ties to the family of Rupert Murdoch.

Gannett

Owns the national newspaper USA Today. Its largest non-national newspaper is The Arizona Republic in Phoenix, Arizona. Other significant newspapers include The Indianapolis Star, The Cincinnati Enquirer, The Tennessean in Nashville, Tennessee, The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Kentucky, the Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester, New York, The Des Moines Register, the Detroit Free Press and The News-Press in Fort Myers. The company also previously held a number of television stations, which are now the autonomous company Tegna Inc., and syndication company Multimedia Entertainment (the assets of which are now owned by Comcast). In November 2019, GateHouse Media merged with Gannett, creating the largest newspaper publisher in the United States, which adopted the Gannett name.[9][10] See: List of assets owned by Gannett.

Alden Global Capital

Owns 50.1% of Digital First Media, which in turns owns more than 50 daily newspapers throughout the United States, and a 32% stake in shares of Tribune Publishing Company, owner of the Chicago Tribune.

Advance Publications (family of S.I. Newhouse)

Owns American City Business Journals, magazine and digital publisher Condé Nast (which publishes 20 national magazines), and a chain of local newspapers and regional news websites. The company also holds stakes in cable television provider Charter (which operates the Spectrum News and Spectrum Sports regional cable channels), and Discovery, Inc. (see below).

Meredith Corporation

The largest magazine company in the world following acquisition of Time Inc. Owns 15 local television stations and various digital media properties.

Access Industries (Leonard Blavatnik)

Majority owner of RatPac-Dune Entertainment, a minority owner of Bad Wolf, owns live and on-demand sports streaming service DAZN, Warner Music Group, Access Entertainment, and other broadcast media and entertainment ventures. As a Ukrainian national, Blavatnik cannot own radio or television licenses, but his company is based in the United States.

Apollo Global Management

Owns a majority stake in Cox Media Group (which owns television stations and radio stations, including the assets of the former Northwest Broadcasting).

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons)

Own two television stations (for-profit KSL-TV and non-commercial KBYU-TV), national network BYU TV, and 24 radio stations. KBYU and two of the stations are held by Brigham Young University and the remainder are held under Bonneville International.

Cox Enterprises

Owns Cox Communications, the third-largest U.S. cable company, and a minority stake in Cox Media Group (which owns newspapers, television stations, radio stations).

Cumulus Media

Owns the former assets of Westwood One (which includes Transtar Radio Networks and Mutual Broadcasting System), Jones Radio Networks, Waitt Radio Networks, Satellite Music Network (all of the major satellite music radio services intended for relay through terrestrial stations), most of ABC's radio network offerings and stations, most of Watermark Inc. (except the American Top 40 franchise), a significant number of radio stations ranging from small to large markets, and distribution rights to CBS Radio News and National Football League radio broadcasts.

Discovery, Inc.

Owns a number of major U.S. cable networks dedicated primarily to factual, non-fiction programming, including Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, HGTV, Food Network, DIY Network, Cooking Channel, Travel Channel, and ID. The company also owns a variety of spin-off networks, including Science and Velocity, and has a major presence in Europe with localized versions of its U.S. brands, as well as the pan-European sports service Eurosport.

James L. Dolan

Controls AMC Networks, Madison Square Garden Sports, Madison Square Garden Entertainment, and MSG Networks. Dolan's family members also own the Cleveland Indians and the newspaper Newsday.

Entercom

The second largest radio company in the United States, owning 235 radio stations across 48 media markets. Entercom shares a substantial number of shareholders with ViacomCBS through its reverse Morris trust merger with CBS Radio.

Entertainment Studios (Byron Allen)

Owner of the channel space of The Weather Channel (programmed separately by IBM), a slate of cable networks (among them Justice Central, Comedy.tv and TheGrio.tv), and stakes in regional sports networks Bally's Sports, as well as Allen Media Broadcasting, a group of 11 television stations.

Fremantle

A television company known for its ownership of game show and reality television franchises, including the catalogs of Goodson-Todman, Thom Beers, Al Howard, Alan Landsburg/Reeves Communications, and the Idol worldwide franchise. Media channels include Buzzr and The Pet Collective. (Due to its owners, RTL Group, being based in Germany, it is restricted from owning radio or television licenses.)

Hearst Communications

Owns a wide variety of newspapers, magazines, television channels, and television stations, including the San Francisco Chronicle, the Houston Chronicle, Cosmopolitan, Esquire, King Features Syndicate (print syndicator), 50% of broadcasting firm A&E Networks,[11] and 20% of the sports broadcaster ESPN—the last two both co-owned with The Walt Disney Company. See: List of assets owned by Hearst Communications.

Hubbard Broadcasting

Owns a dozen television stations, multiple radio stations in a dozen markets, and cable channels Ovation and Reelz.

iHeartMedia

Formerly Clear Channel, it owns a large number of radio stations across the country, the radio streaming platform iHeartRadio, Premiere Networks (which in turn owns The Rush Limbaugh Show, The Sean Hannity Show, The Glenn Beck Program, Coast to Coast AM, American Top 40, Delilah, and Fox Sports Radio, all being among the top national radio programs in their category), and previously held a stake in Live Nation and Sirius XM Radio as well as several television stations (later under the management of Newport Television, and now owned by separate companies). Also owns record chart company Mediabase.

Ion Media

Owns and operates over 60 television stations in most major American markets (through its television stations group, Ion Media Television), as well as a digital sub-channel through that group and a major commercial television network. Ion is in the process of being sold to The E. W. Scripps Company.

Lionsgate

Owns Lionsgate Films, Lionsgate Television, Lionsgate Interactive, and a variety of subsidiaries such as Summit Entertainment, Debmar-Mercury, and Starz Inc..

MGM Holdings

Owns Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Orion Pictures, MGM Television, cable channel MGM HD, premium cable channel and direct-to-consumer streaming service Epix, and extensive film and television content libraries. Privately owned by a group of creditors following MGM's emergence from bankruptcy in 2010.

Nexstar Media Group

The largest television station owner in the United States owning 197 television stations across the U.S., most of whom are affiliated with the four "major" U.S. television networks located in small to medium-sized markets. It also owns WGN America and Antenna TV. See: List of stations owned or operated by Nexstar Media Group.

Oaktree Capital Management

Co-owners (along with Dolan) of Townsquare Media (which owns the assets of Regent Communications, Gap Broadcasting, and Double O Radio) and joint owner of Tribune Publishing (with Angelo, Gordon & Co. and JPMorgan Chase), which owns a number of large-market newspapers. Previously owned a number of radio networks, which are now held by Cumulus Media

Salem Media Group

Owns over 100 radio stations, publishers Regnery Publishing and Xulon Press, and the Salem Web Network (including Townhall.com, Hot Air, Twitchy, RedState, Christianity.com, Crosswalk.com, Godtube).

The E. W. Scripps Company

Owns 62 television stations and networks Laff, Court TV, Court TV Mystery, Grit, Bounce TV, Newsy TV, and Ion Television. Digital assets include United Media, Cracked.com, and Stitcher. Scripps previously held assets in radio, newspapers and cable television channels but has since divested those assets.

Sinclair Broadcast Group

It owns or operates a large number of television stations across the country that are affiliated with all six major television networks, including stations formerly owned by Allbritton Communications, Barrington Broadcasting, Fisher Communications, Newport Television (and predecessor Clear Channel) and Fox Sports Net. Other assets include wrestling promotion Ring of Honor, Tennis Channel, sports network Stadium, digital networks Comet, Charge! and TBD, and over-the-top video service Stirr. See: List of stations owned or operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group.

Sirius XM Radio

Owns a monopoly on American satellite radio, as well as Pandora Radio, a prominent advertising-supported Internet radio platform.

Sony Corporation of America (SCA)

Owns Sony Pictures Entertainment (one of the major film studios), Sony Interactive Entertainment, which publishes video games and manufactures video game consoles (including the PlayStation suite and Epic Games), Sony Music Entertainment (one of the major record labels), and anime companies like Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan which includes Aniplex, both of which own Aniplex of America (Titles are distributed by Right Stuf, Inc., which has an anime licensing division of its own), A-1 Pictures, CloverWorks, Funimation, Madman Entertainment, Manga Entertainment, Madhouse, Animax, and streaming services Wakanim, AnimeLab, and FunimationNow. Sony, based in Japan, is one of the few media companies on this list not based in the United States; its influence on television is thus limited by U.S. federal restrictions on foreign ownership of broadcast outlets. See: List of assets owned by Sony

Tegna Inc.

Owns or operates 66 television stations in 54 markets, and holds properties in digital media. Comprises the broadcast television and digital media divisions of the old Gannett Company.

Univision Communications

Owns the nation’s first Spanish language television network, broadcast cable, digital and audio networks, including 65 television stations, and digital properties including online and mobile apps.

Verizon Communications

In addition to its landline and wireless phone service, owns internet holding company Verizon Media, which controls legacy Internet brands AOL, Yahoo!, Netscape, and Compuserve.

The Communications Act of 1934 was the stepping stone for all of the communications rules that are in place today. When first enacted, it created the FCC (Federal Communications Commission).[12] It was created to regulate the telephone monopolies, but also regulate the licensing for the spectrum used for broadcasting. The FCC was given authority by Congress to give out licenses to companies to use the broadcasting spectrum. However, they had to determine whether the license would serve "the public interest, convenience, and necessity".[13] The primary goal for the FCC, from the start, has been to serve the "public interest". A debated concept, the term "public interest" was provided with a general definition by the Federal Radio Commission. The Commission determined, in its 1928 annual report, that "the emphasis must be first and foremost on the interest, the convenience, and the necessity of the listening public, and not on the interest, convenience, or necessity of the individual broadcaster or the advertiser."[14] Following this reasoning, early FCC regulations reflected the presumption that "it would not be in the public's interest for a single entity to hold more than one broadcast license in the same community. The view was that the public would benefit from a diverse array of owners because it would lead to a diverse array of program and service viewpoints."[15]

The Communications Act of 1934 refined and expanded on the authority of the FCC to regulate public airwaves in the United States, combining and reorganizing provisions from the Federal Radio Act of 1927 and the Mann-Elkins Act of 1910. It empowered the FCC, among other things, to administer broadcasting licenses, impose penalties and regulate standards and equipment used on the airwaves. The Act also mandated that the FCC would act in the interest of the "public convenience, interest, or necessity."[16] The Act established a system whereby the FCC grants licenses to the spectrum to broadcasters for commercial use, so long as the broadcasters act in the public interest by providing news programming.

Lobbyists from the largest radio broadcasters, ABC and NBC, wanted to establish high fees for broadcasting licenses, but Congress saw this as a limitation upon free speech. Consequently, "the franchise to operate a broadcasting station, often worth millions, is awarded free of charge to enterprises selected under the standard of 'public interest, convenience, or necessity.'"[17]

Nevertheless, radio and television was dominated by the Big Three television networks until the mid-1990s, when the Fox network and UPN and The WB started to challenge that hegemony.

In 1975, the FCC passed the newspaper and broadcast cross-ownership rule.[18] This ban prohibited the ownership of a daily newspaper and any "full-power broadcast station that serviced the same community".[15] This rule emphasized the need to ensure that a broad number of voices were given the opportunity to communicate via different outlets in each market. Newspapers, explicitly prohibited from federal regulation because of the guarantee of freedom of the press in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, were out of the FCC's jurisdiction, but the FCC could use the ownership of a newspaper as a preclusion against owning radio or television licenses, which the FCC could and did regulate.

The FCC designed rules to make sure that there is a diversity of voices and opinions on the airwaves. "Beginning in 1975, FCC rules banned cross-ownership by a single entity of a daily newspaper and television or radio broadcast station operating in the same local market."[19] The ruling was put in place to limit media concentration in TV and radio markets, because they use public airwaves, which is a valuable, and now limited, resource.

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was an influential act for media cross-ownership. One of the requirements of the act was that the FCC must conduct a biennial review of its media ownership rules "and shall determine whether any of such rules are necessary in the public interest as the result of competition." The Commission was ordered to "repeal or modify any regulation it determines to be no longer in the public interest."[20]

The legislation, touted as a step that would foster competition, actually resulted in the subsequent mergers of several large companies, a trend which still continues.[21] Over 4,000 radio stations were bought out, and minority ownership of TV stations dropped to its lowest point since the federal government began tracking such data in 1990.[22]

Since the Telecommunications Act of 1996, restrictions on media merging have decreased. Although merging media companies seems to provide many positive outcomes for the companies involved in the merge, it might lead to some negative outcomes for other companies, viewers and future businesses. The FCC even found that they were indeed negative effects of recent merges in a study that they issued.[3]

In September 2002, the FCC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking stating that the Commission would re-evaluate its media ownership rules pursuant to the obligation specified in the Telecommunications Act of 1996.[15][23] In June 2003, after its deliberations which included a single public hearing and the review of nearly two-million pieces of correspondence from the public opposing further relaxation of the ownership rules[24] the FCC voted 3-2 to repeal the newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership ban and to make changes to or repeal a number of its other ownership rules as well.[15][25] In the order, the FCC noted that the newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership rule was no longer necessary in the public interest to maintain competition, diversity or localism. However, in 2007 the FCC revised its rules and ruled that they would take it "case-by-case and determine if the cross-ownership would affect the public interest.[15] The rule changes permitted a company to own a newspaper and broadcast station in any of the nation's top 20 media markets as long as there are at least eight media outlets in the market. If the combination included a television station, that station couldn't be in the market's top four. As it has since 2003, Prometheus Radio Project argued that the relaxed rule would pave the way for more media consolidation. Broadcasters, pointing to the increasing competition from new platforms, argued that the FCC's rules—including other ownership regulations that govern TV duopolies and radio ownership—should be relaxed even further. The FCC, meanwhile, defended its right to change the rules either way."[19] That public interest is what the FCC bases its judgments on, whether a media cross-ownership would be a positive and contributive force, locally and nationally.

The FCC held one official forum, February 27, 2003, in Richmond, Virginia in response to public pressures to allow for more input on the issue of elimination of media ownership limits. Some complain that more than one forum was needed.[26]

In 2003 the FCC set out to re-evaluate its media ownership rules specified in the Telecommunications Act of 1996. On June 2, 2003, FCC, in a 3-2 vote under Chairman Michael Powell, approved new media ownership laws that removed many of the restrictions previously imposed to limit ownership of media within a local area. The changes were not, as is customarily done, made available to the public for a comment period.

• Single-company ownership of media in a given market is now permitted up to 45% (formerly 35%, up from 25% in 1985) of that market.
• Restrictions on newspaper and TV station ownership in the same market were removed.
• All TV channels, magazines, newspapers, cable, and Internet services are now counted, weighted based on people's average tendency to find news on that medium. At the same time, whether a channel actually contains news is no longer considered in counting the percentage of a medium owned by one owner.
• Previous requirements for periodic review of license have been changed. Licenses are no longer reviewed for "public-interest" considerations.

The decision by the FCC was overturned by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Prometheus Radio Project v. FCC in June, 2004. The Majority ruled 2-1 against the FCC and ordered the Commission to reconfigure how it justified raising ownership limits. The Supreme Court later turned down an appeal, so the ruling stands.[27]

In June 2006, the FCC adopted a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPR)[28] to address the issues raised by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and also to perform the recurring evaluation of the media ownership rules required by the Telecommunications Act.[29] The deliberations would draw upon three formal sources of input:(1) the submission of comments, (2) ten Commissioned studies, and (3) six public hearings.[15]

The FCC in 2007 voted to modestly relax its existing ban on newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership.[30] The FCC voted December 18, 2007 to eliminate some media ownership rules, including a statute that forbids a single company to own both a newspaper and a television or radio station in the same city. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin circulated the plan in October 2007.[27] Martin's justification for the rule change is to ensure the viability of America's newspapers and to address issues raised in the 2003 FCC decision that was later struck down by the courts.[31] The FCC held six hearings around the country to receive public input from individuals, broadcasters and corporations. Because of the lack of discussion during the 2003 proceedings, increased attention has been paid to ensuring that the FCC engages in proper dialogue with the public regarding its current rules change. FCC Commissioners Deborah Taylor-Tate and Robert McDowell joined Chairman Martin in voting in favor of the rule change. Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein, both Democrats, opposed the change.[32]

Beginning in 1985, the FCC implemented a rule stating that television stations broadcasting on UHF channels would be "discounted" by half when calculating a broadcaster's total reach, under the market share cap of 39% of U.S. TV households. This rule was implemented because the UHF band was generally considered inferior to VHF for broadcasting analog television. The notion became obsolete since the completion of the transition from analog to digital television in 2009; the majority of television stations now broadcast on the UHF band because, by contrast, it is generally considered superior for digital transmission.[33][34]

The FCC voted to deprecate the rule in September 2016; the Commission argued that the UHF discount had become technologically obsolete, and that it was now being used as a loophole by broadcasters to contravene its market share rules and increase their market share through consolidation. The existing portfolios of broadcasters who now exceeded the cap due to the change were grandfathered, including the holdings of Ion Media Networks, Tribune Media, and Univision.[35]

However, on April 21, 2017, under new Trump administration FCC commissioner Ajit Pai, the discount was reinstated in a 2-1 vote, led by Pai and commissioner Michael O'Rielly. The move, along with a plan to evaluate increasing the national ownership cap, is expected to trigger a wider wave of consolidation in broadcast television.[36][37] A challenge to the rule's restoration was filed on May 15 by The Institute for Public Representation (a coalition of public interest groups comprising Free Press, the United Church of Christ, Media Mobilizing Project, the Prometheus Radio Project, the National Hispanic Media Coalition and Common Cause), which requested an emergency motion to stay the UHF discount order – delaying its June 5 re-implementation – pending a court challenge to the rule. The groups re-affirmed that the rule was technologically obsolete, and was restored for the purpose of allowing media consolidation. The FCC rejected the claims, stating that the discount would only allow forward a regulatory review of any station group acquisitions, and that the Institute for Public Representation's criteria for the stay fell short of meeting adequate determination in favor of it by the court; it also claimed that the discount was "inextricably linked" to the agency's media ownership rules, a review of which it initiated in May of that year.[38][39][40]

The challenge and subsequent stay motion was partly filed as a reaction to Sinclair Broadcast Group's proposed acquisition of Tribune Media (announced on May 8), which – with the more than 230 stations that the combined company would have, depending on any divestitures in certain markets where both groups own stations – would expand the group's national reach to 78% of all U.S. households with at least one television set with the discount. On June 1, 2017, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals issued a seven-day administrative stay to the UHF discount rulemaking to review the emergency stay motion.[41][42] The D.C. Court of Appeals denied the emergency stay motion in a one-page memorandum on June 15, 2017, however, the merits of restoring the discount is still subject to a court appeal proceeding scheduled to occur at a later date.[43]

Following this, in November 2017, the FCC voted 3-2 along partisan lines to eliminate the cross-ownership ban against owning multiple media outlets in the same local market, as well as increasing the number of television stations that one entity may own in a local market. Pai argued the removal of the ban was necessary for local media to compete with online information sources like Google and Facebook.[44] The decision was appealed by advocacy groups, and in September 2019, the Third Circuit struck down the rule change in a 2-1 decision, with the majority opinion stating the FCC "did not adequately consider the effect its sweeping rule changes will have on ownership of broadcast media by women and racial minorities." Pai stated plans to appeal this ruling.[45] The FCC petitioned to the Supreme Court, which has certified the case as Federal Communications Commission v. Prometheus Radio Project which is expected to be heard in January 2021.

Robert McChesney, Ph. D.

Robert McChesney is an advocate for media reform, and the co-founder of Free Press, which was established in 2003.[48] His work is based on theoretical, normative, and empirical evidence suggesting that media regulation efforts should be more strongly oriented towards maintaining a healthy balance of diverse viewpoints in the media environment. However, his viewpoints on current regulation are; "there is every bit as much regulation by government as before, only now it is more explicitly directed to serve large corporate interests."[49]

McChesney believes that the Free Press' objective is a more diverse and competitive commercial system with a significant nonprofit and noncommercial sector. It would be a system built for the citizens, but most importantly - it would be accessible to anyone who wants to broadcast. Not only specifically the big corporations that can afford to broadcast nationally, but more importantly locally. McChesney suggests that to better our current system we need to "establish a bona fide noncommercial public radio and television system, with local and national stations and networks. The expense should come out of the general budget"[50]

Benjamin Compaine believes that the current media system is "one of the most competitive major industries in U.S. commerce."[51] He believes that much of the media in the United States is operating in the same market. He also believes that all the content is being interchanged between different media.[52]

Compaine believes that due to convergence, two or more things coming together, the media has been saved. Because of the ease of access to send the same message across multiple and different mediums, the message is more likely to be heard. He also believes that due to the higher amount of capital and funding, the media outlets are able to stay competitive because they are trying to reach more listeners or readers by using newer media.[53]

Benjamin Compaine's main argument is that the consolidation of media outlets, across multiple ownerships, has allowed for a better quality of content. He also stated that the news is interchangeable, and as such, making the media market less concentrated than previously thought, the idea being that since the same story is being pushed across multiple different platforms, then it can only be counted as one news story from multiple sources. Compaine also believed the news is more readily available, making it far easier for individuals to access than traditional methods.[54]

A 2012 Gallup poll found that Americans' distrust in the mass media had hit a new high, with 60% saying they had little or no trust in the mass media to report the news fully, accurately, and fairly. Distrust had increased since the previous few years, when Americans were already more negative about the media than they had been in the years before 2004.[55]

Critics of media consolidation in broadcast radio say it has made the music played more homogeneous, and makes it more difficult for acts to gain local popularity. [56] They also believe it has reduced the demographic diversity of popular music, pointing to a study which found representation of women in country music charts at 11.3% from 2000 to 2018.[56]

Critics cite centralized control as having increased artist self-censorship, and several incidents of artists being banned from a large number of broadcast stations all at once. After the controversy caused by criticism of President George W. Bush and the Iraq War by a member of the Dixie Chicks, the band was banned by Cumulus Media and Clear Channel Communications, which also organized pro-war demonstrations.[57] After the Super Bowl XXXVIII wardrobe malfunction, CBS CEO Les Moonves reportedly banned Janet Jackson from all CBS and Viacom properties, including MTV, VH1, the 46th Annual Grammy Awards, and Infinity Broadcasting Corporation radio stations, impacting sales of her album Damita Jo.[58]

Critics point out that media consolidation has allowed Sinclair Broadcast Group to require hundreds of local stations to run editorials by Boris Epshteyn (an advisor to Donald Trump), terrorism alerts, and anti-John Kerry documentary Stolen Honor, and even to force local news anchors to read an editorial mirroring Trump's denunciation of the news media for bias and fake news.[59]