The Lacuna Project

lacuna (n.) a gap in a record where something should be

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Agency

Federal Communications Commission

Findings that rest on exhibits naming this entity

  • INF-1.1: The Telecommunications Act of 1996 directed the FCC to eliminate any national limit on the number of AM or FM stations one entity may own, set the national television audience-reach limit at 35 percent and set broadcast license terms of up to 8 years. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2004, approved 23 January 2004, raised the television limit to 39 percent and exempted the 39 percent rule from the Commission's quadrennial review.
  • INF-1.2: On 19 March 2026 the FCC's Media Bureau granted Nexstar's acquisition of TEGNA and waived the National Television Ownership Rule; the order states that Nexstar would reach 54.5 percent of the national audience after the UHF discount, with six stations divested, and lists among its reasons that the combination will preserve Nexstar's ability to preempt network programming in favor of programming that better serves the local community. On 6 August 2026 the Commission adopted a Report and Order repealing the national television multiple ownership rule and replacing it with case-by-case review, over a dissent by Commissioner Gomez.
  • INF-1.13: The FCC's 2011 order approving Comcast's acquisition of NBCUniversal made a journalistic-independence policy, extended to the influence of each of Comcast-NBCU's owners, a condition of approval. The FCC's 2025 order approving the transfer of Paramount to Skydance recites Skydance's commitments to an ombudsman for CBS for at least two years and to viewpoint diversity, and records that CBS/Skydance released the complete interview transcript that a petitioner had requested.
  • INF-1.14: On 1 July 2025 Paramount announced that it would pay $16 million to settle President Trump's suit over a "60 Minutes" interview, with no apology and a commitment to release transcripts of future interviews with presidential candidates. The FCC approved the Skydance transfer on 24 July 2025, and its order does not mention the settlement.
  • INF-1.15: On 17 September 2025 Nexstar announced that its ABC-affiliated stations would preempt "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" for the foreseeable future, and gave its own objection to Mr. Kimmel's comments as its reason. The release does not mention the FCC or any government request; Nexstar's agreement to acquire TEGNA, dated 18 August 2025, was pending before the FCC on that date.

Exhibits naming this entity

  • Exhibit 946 8 February 1996. United States Congress: Telecommunications Act of 1996, Pub. L. 104-104, sections 202 and 203 (broadcast ownership; term of licenses)
  • Exhibit 947 23 January 2004. United States Congress: Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2004, Pub. L. 108-199, Div. B, sec. 629 (national television audience-reach limit)
  • Exhibit 948 19 March 2026. Federal Communications Commission, Media Bureau: Memorandum Opinion and Order, Applications for Consent to the Transfer of Control of TEGNA Inc. to Nexstar Media Inc., DA 26-267, MB Docket No. 25-331
  • Exhibit 950 6 August 2026 (adopted); 1 October 2026 (released). Federal Communications Commission: Report and Order, Amendment of Section 73.3555(e), National Television Multiple Ownership Rule, FCC 26-53, MB Docket No. 17-318 (with Gomez dissent)
  • Exhibit 951 18 January 2011 (adopted); 20 January 2011 (released). Federal Communications Commission: Memorandum Opinion and Order, Applications of Comcast Corporation, General Electric Company and NBC Universal, Inc., FCC 11-4, MB Docket No. 10-56 (Appendix A, conditions)
  • Exhibit 952 24 July 2025. Federal Communications Commission: Memorandum Opinion and Order, Applications for Consent to the Transfer of Control of Paramount Global, FCC 25-43, MB Docket No. 24-275 (with Gomez dissent)
  • Exhibit 955 18 September 2025. Nieman Journalism Lab (Harvard): “We can do this the easy way or the hard way”: Trump’s FCC again uses the threat of its regulatory powers to push a critic off the air
  • Exhibit 956 2 July 2025. CBS News: Paramount, President Trump reach $16 million settlement over “60 Minutes” lawsuit