The NAB has released the results of a “new nationwide survey” that it hopes will fuel the association’s lobbying efforts inside the Beltway to not only thaw the nation’s broadcast ownership cap, but altogether melt it away.
The broadcast media industry’s biggest voice on Capitol Hill and at the FCC shared the details of the survey on Monday (2/2), conducted by the Tony Fabrizio and Bob Ward-led Fabrizio Ward.
The results, the NAB says, point to “broad public support” for eliminating the national broadcast ownership cap.
This conclusion is based on the answers of 1,000 registered voters who participated in the survey, which focused on their opinions and viewing habits related to video content and local TV.
The survey results were first shared in a January 28 memorandum, but not widely distributed until now, thanks to the NAB. What’s the “bottom line” of Fabrizio Ward?
“The options available for video content, from local TV to streaming services, are diverse and expanding. Competition among content providers for viewers and for advertisers is fierce. Similarly, sources for local news are increasingly diverse, with more voters likely to get their local news from social media than from local TV stations. It is no wonder, then, that most voters view ownership restrictions for local TV stations as being unfair and why most voters think local TV station owners should be able to compete for ad revenue and viewers without government-imposed restrictions.”
Politicians, therefore, also need to remember that local TV has its following: “older voters who play a disproportionate role in elections, especially midterm elections and lower turnout elections, because they show up. Among those relying on local TV news, they will be more inclined to vote for the Member of Congress who helps local stations compete and against those who do not.”
There’s much to unpack in those statements. First, Fabrizio Ward seeks to tie the migration of ad dollars to streaming and digital platforms to the conclusion that “more voters” are likely to get their local news “from social media.” But, Fabrizio Ward does not disclose if the news on social media is a reshare of a report from a local TV station news room or from that organization’s social media feed itself. Then, age and voter turnout is mentioned, practically illustrating the importance of older habitual TV viewers in the outcome of any election of significance.
View the memorandum from Fabrizio Ward by clicking here.
After sharing that “the share of viewers of local TV news that voted in four of the past four elections is 55%, compared to just 37% of those who do not get their local news from TV, a fact politicians need to remember when setting policy impacting local TV,” Fabrizio Ward then uses its pool of 1,000 registered voters to declare that by a 38-point margin (58%-20%), the “1941 law restricting local TV station ownership” is unfair “when similar restrictions are not placed on other forms of video and news content.”
And, Fabrizio Ward notes that this view of the laws’ “unfairness” is a non-partisan one.
“Similarly, most voters by a wide margin (57%-15%) think local TV station owners should be able to compete without government-set limits just as national cable networks and streaming companies are allowed to,” Fabrizio Ward adds.
AN AD REVENUE ARGUMENT
Consumers of local TV news, Fabrizio Ward continues, “understand that the impact to them will be negative rather than positive by a 10 to 1 margin (41% say negative impact, 4% say positive impact) if their local TV station had to cut back on the news, weather, sports and other local programming due to decreasing advertising revenue.”
This is a narrative that the NAB and the nation’s largest broadcast television companies have been sharing across the last year, proclaiming that newsroom consolidation will lead to more content and additional newscasts. What’s not been stated is that consolidation will eliminate redundancy, leading to job cuts and fewer diverse voices in a local market. On Friday, with the FCC’s rubber-stamped granting of transfer of control applications in Fort Myers-Naples, Fla., Sun Broadcasting received an OK of a waiver giving it ownership of six FM radio stations — bypassing the need for a comment period and public input. Furthermore, Sun enjoys a shared services agreement with the owner of WINK Television and a group of radio stations licensed to an entity controlled in full by the McBride Family. While SSAs are fully permissible under current FCC rules, Sun will theoretically control the sales and content for not only its own radio stations but also those of McBride’s Fort Myers Broadcasting. If that isn’t enough, the FCC also gave its OK to a duopoly that pairs WFTX “FOX 4” in Fort Myers-Naples with WXCW and low-power TV stations as Sun’s SSA with Fort Myers extends to WINK Television. In-market chatter of one less voice for local news has been rampant across social media in recent weeks.
That’s what makes the next Fabrizio Ward conclusion a bit eye-popping: By an 8-1 margin, “voters who get their local news from TV would be less likely rather than more likely to vote for a Member of Congress who opposed local TV station owners being allowed to compete nationally for advertising against cable networks and internet streamers: 40% less likely to vote, 14% more likely to vote.”
Additionally, among the same group of voters, the Member of Congress who supports local TV station owners being allowed to compete nationally for advertising against cable networks and internet streamers would enjoy a wide margin of support: 42% would be more likely to vote for the Member versus 13% who would be less likely, Fabrizio Ward concludes.
Sun Broadcasting President Jim Schwartzel happens to be a Republican candidate for U.S. Congress. And, among his properties is FOX News Radio-aligned WFSX “92.5 – Right All Along.”
AN END TO ‘ARBITRARY LIMITS’
With organizations such as the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters (NABOB) against any ownership rule change, there’s a lack of unanimity on the matter of lowered or eliminated ownership restrictions.
As the NAB sees it, it should be an issue put to the American electorate. After all, they say, voters are sending a clear message — “the government should not impose arbitrary limits on trusted local broadcasters while Big Tech platforms face no such restrictions.”
For NAB President/CEO Curtis LeGeyt, “Ending the arbitrary national ownership cap – which applies to no other form of media – is about fairness and competition, but it’s also about ensuring local stations have the scale they need to invest in strong local journalism, emergency information and service to their communities.”
Meanwhile, sources tell RBR+TVBR that the Senate Commerce Committee could hold as soon as next week a hearing that addresses the 39% national ownership reach cap. As of midday on February 2, there was no public confirmation of such a Capitol Hill gathering.
Methodology
Fabrizio Ward conducted a national survey of 1,000 registered voters from January 20 to 22, 2026. Interviews were conducted via 40% cell, 15% landline and 45% SMS to web. The margin of error is ±3.1 percentage points.
