Media Conglomerates like Sinclair and Nexstar are technically breaking the law.

[Wiz Imp]

In the United States, a single media company is currently restricted to controlling broadcast TV stations that collectively reach no more than 39% of all U.S. television households. This regulation is a legal limit.

Sinclair owned stations reached about 70% of households as of 2018.

The company maintained its position in conservative politics during the 2016 presidential election as David Smith told Trump, “We are here to deliver your message,” The Guardian reported in 2018. At the time, Sinclair programming reached around 70 percent of American households.

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/sinclair-broadcasting-jimmy-kimmel-b2828982.html
Nexstar owned stations currently reach more than 70% of households. That number will increase to over 80% if the Tegna merger is allowed.

Currently, Nexstar says it reaches 70% of U.S. households, if the UHF discount is removed, through the roughly 200 stations it owns in 116 markets. The company says that number will jump to 80% if it is allowed to acquire Tegna's 64 stations. Together, the new company would operate 265 stations in 44 states. Nexstar also operates the CW Network and NewsNation.

https://www.morningstar.com/news/marketwatch/20250819392/nexstar-tegna-deal-puts-trump-move-to-eliminate-broadcast-ownership-rules-to-the-test
They are allowed to get away with this because of a ridiculous rule called the UHF discount.

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

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_cross-ownership_in_the_United_States
So the reason for the rule is no longer valid, yet it still remains in effect, allowing companies like Sinclair & NExstar to skirt longstanding broadcast rules to have their single companies to reach almost the entire US, something that long ago was determined to be detrimental to keeping local residents informed about local news.

[lostincalifornia]

1. Only if ABC and Disney actually bring them to court on the first amendment.

Unfortunately their cowardice will not do that.

Money and mergers are more important to them than Democracy.

[Frasier Balzov]

2. Most of these companies are publicly traded.

Nextstar: NXST

Sinclair: SBGI

Salem: SALM

Disney: DIS

[Fiendish Thingy]

3. The next president needs to rehire Lina Kahn

And give her the go ahead to break up these monopolies.

I want children in elementary schools to know the meaning of the term “anti-trust”

[crud]

4. I think the owners of NextStar were waiting for the go-ahead

from the criminal president to pull Kimmel off the air from their local stations. This was a setup waiting for the right time to pull the trigger. All in cahoots with the corrupt Whitehouse.

[Skittles]

5. yeah well so is Trump

but who the FUCK is going to do anything about it

[William Seger]

6. And then they call attention to it by showing EXACTLY why it ought not be allowed (nt)