Story thread · 2 reports / 2 sources

The FCC finally cuts local TV loose

theblaze.com · 12h · first reportShare

Washington has forced local television stations to compete in a 21st-century media market under rules written for the 20th century. Americans pay the price whenever outdated regulations make it harder for local broadcasters to invest in better news coverage, stronger emergency alerts, and new technology. The future of local television should not be determined by regulations written before streaming, smartphones, and digital competition transformed the media landscape. The Federal Communications Commission has now taken an important step toward fixing that mismatch by replacing a rigid, one-size-fits-all approach with a more flexible, fact-based review process. The principle is simple: Regulation should respond to today’s marketplace, not yesterday’s assumptions. Local television still matters. Americans rely on hometown stations for storm warnings, election coverage, school closings, and stories that national outlets rarely cover. Yet, like local newspapers before them, many stations f