MATSUI SLAMS FCC MEDIA BUREAU APPROVAL OF NEXSTAR–TEGNA MERGER THAT BLOWS PAST 39% OWNERSHIP CAP

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Congresswoman Doris Matsui (CA-07), Ranking Member of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, released the following statement after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Media Bureau approved the merger between Nexstar Media Group and Tegna Inc. The move would allow a single media conglomerate to exceed the long-standing 39 percent national television ownership cap.

"Congress established the 39 percent national television ownership cap and only Congress has the authority to change it. Yet here we are watching an agency charged with enforcing the law tear it up on behalf of Donald Trump and FCC Chair Brendan Carr. This approval is an outrageous abuse of authority. It throws out limits designed to protect local journalism and viewpoint diversity. It hands Nexstar Media Group, a single conglomerate, unprecedented control over what millions of Americans see and hear.

"Let's be clear about what this is and what it is not. This is not a serious effort to support local news or address the challenges posed by Big Tech. This is about handing power to a few massive corporations at the expense of local voices-the very voices that hold power accountable. We've already seen this administration intimidate broadcasters to take Jimmy Kimmel off the air. And now the same companies that folded under that pressure are being rewarded with a multi-billion-dollar merger. That's not coincidence. That's government pressure-and it's unacceptable. If an agency can ignore clear statutory limits because it 'wants to,' then no law is safe.

"Local journalism cannot be strong when it is concentrated in fewer hands, and it cannot be free when it is vulnerable to political coercion. If the FCC insists on rubber-stamping this merger, then Congress must act immediately. That's why I introduced the Broadcast Freedom and Independence Act-to stop political interference in our newsrooms and protect local broadcasters from retaliation. This is about whether we still believe in the promise of the First Amendment. And I will continue using every tool at my disposal to defend it."

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