FCC scraps 22-year-old rule limiting broadcast television ownership

The Federal Communication Commission voted Thursday to eliminate a 22-year-old rule that prohibited companies from owning stations that reached more than a combined 39% of the U.S. television audience. 

Under the new rules the FCC adopted, limits on ownership will be determined by a case-by-case review. 

The 39% limit was implemented in 2004, when Congress boosted a previous 35% limit that was passed in the 1990s. The rule remained unchanged for more than two decades, NBC News reported. 

In an op-ed published in Briebart last month, FCC Chairman Brenden Carr called the limits an "outdated policy" that prevented local broadcasters from competing on a level playing field with national programmers.