Brendan Carr plans to let broadcast giants dominate the airwaves

布伦丹·卡尔计划让广播巨头主导无线电波

The Federal Communications Commission will vote next month on whether a single company can own broadcast stations that reach more than 39 percent of US TV households. 美国联邦通信委员会（FCC）将于下个月投票决定，是否允许单一公司拥有覆盖超过 39% 美国电视家庭的广播电台。

In a Breitbart op-ed on Wednesday, Republican Chair Brendan Carr announced an August 6th vote to end the national ownership cap rule, which was intended to prevent one company from dominating the media landscape and incentivize serving local communities. 在周三发表于《布赖特巴特新闻》（Breitbart）的一篇评论文章中，共和党籍主席布伦丹·卡尔（Brendan Carr）宣布将于 8 月 6 日进行投票，旨在废除全国所有权上限规则。该规则原本旨在防止单一公司主导媒体格局，并鼓励服务当地社区。

Carr argued the rise of social media and streaming platforms renders the rule obsolete, because national programmers can reach “100 percent of the country” without the need to access public airwaves. Under this reasoning, capping local broadcast TV owners at 39 percent “is preventing them from gaining the same scale that their competitors are free to enjoy.” 卡尔认为，社交媒体和流媒体平台的兴起使得该规则已过时，因为全国性节目制作商无需使用公共无线电波即可覆盖“全国 100% 的地区”。基于这一逻辑，将地方广播电视所有者的覆盖率限制在 39%，“阻碍了他们获得竞争对手可以自由享有的同等规模。”

The FCC has already said it’s waiving the ownership cap on a one-time basis to allow a $6.2 billion merger between Nexstar and Tegna. A federal judge put the deal on hold while a challenge by state attorneys general plays out. FCC 此前已表示，将一次性豁免所有权上限，以允许 Nexstar 和 Tegna 之间价值 62 亿美元的合并。目前，一位联邦法官已暂停该交易，等待各州总检察长提出的法律挑战结果。

Carr’s opponents warn that repealing the rule could harm local journalism through reduced competition, and say that only Congress, which set the cap, has authority to raise or eliminate it. “The Commission cannot waive away that limit simply because these corporate behemoths want to get out from under it,” Democratic FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez said in a statement. 卡尔的反对者警告称，废除该规则可能会因竞争减少而损害地方新闻业，并表示只有制定该上限的国会才有权提高或取消它。民主党籍 FCC 委员安娜·戈麦斯（Anna Gomez）在一份声明中表示：“委员会不能仅仅因为这些企业巨头想要摆脱限制，就将其豁免。”

Broadcasters are already free to make their own websites or cable news stations, just like everyone else, said Matt Wood, vice president of policy and general counsel at nonpartisan nonprofit Free Press. “The national cap is not a special disadvantage for broadcasters,” he said in a statement. “In fact, broadcasters have a special advantage with their exclusive licenses to use precious national airwaves the way they do.” 无党派非营利组织“自由新闻”（Free Press）的政策副总裁兼总法律顾问马特·伍德（Matt Wood）表示，广播公司和其他人一样，完全可以自由建立自己的网站或有线新闻台。他在声明中说：“全国性上限对广播公司而言并非特殊的劣势。事实上，广播公司凭借其独家许可，能够以目前的方式使用宝贵的国家无线电波，这本身就是一种特殊的优势。”

Carr only needs the support of Republican Commissioner Olivia Trusty to approve an agenda item. But even if the vote clears, it could still face a challenge over whether the FCC has the authority to get rid of the cap. 卡尔只需获得共和党籍委员奥利维亚·特拉斯蒂（Olivia Trusty）的支持即可通过议程项目。但即使投票通过，该决定仍可能面临关于 FCC 是否有权废除该上限的法律挑战。