Tribal Media Will Change if the FCC Eliminates the Broadcast Cap

Loris Taylor, President & CEO, Native Public Media

During the Indigenous Journalists Association Conference in Isleta, New Mexico, one journalist asked about policy issues Indian Country should know or be concerned about. There are many, but this one stands out.

At a time when 36 Tribal radio stations have just lost their primary source of federal funding, a new storm is brewing that could decide the future of local broadcasting in Tribal and rural America. The largest television broadcasters in the nation are lobbying to eliminate the congressionally mandated “national broadcast ownership cap,” which limits any single broadcaster’s reach to 39 percent of the national audience. If they succeed, the consequences for small, local, and independent broadcasters, especially in rural and Tribal communities, could be devastating.

The national cap exists to protect broad public participation in the ownership of the public airwaves and ensure that local communities control their own stories. Without it, corporate consolidation will accelerate. Fewer voices will control more of the public airwaves. Local newsrooms will shrink or disappear. For Tribal communities already reeling from station closures due to defunding, this fight is about more than media policy, it’s about cultural survival, information sovereignty, and the right to speak to our people in our Tribal voices.

According to Free Press’s analysis of FCC data, from 2009 to 2024, the number of local TV stations producing original news fell by 10 percent, even as inflation-adjusted broadcast revenues rose nearly 50 percent. Broadcasters pushing for the cap’s removal claim they must consolidate to compete with Big Tech. But history tells a different story. When corporate control expands, community-centered reporting vanishes, replaced by one-size-fits-all content designed to please advertisers and political power.

For Tribal broadcasters, the threat is compounded by our unique role as both cultural stewards and essential sources of emergency information. We know our listeners. We speak their languages. We cover issues ignored by national outlets, such as water rights, sacred site protection, subsistence hunting, and Tribal council meetings. When local control erodes, these stories are the first to go.

Rural and Tribal regions already face significant barriers to access, including geographic isolation, limited broadband, and underinvestment in infrastructure. If Tribal stations go dark, Indian Country will lose spectrum, broadcast licenses, and sole service broadcast towers that will likely end up in the hands of the highest bidders. Losing more local stations to corporate mergers will deepen the spread of news deserts across the country. In some places, a single Tribal or rural broadcaster is the only reliable source for timely, accurate information, especially during natural disasters, missing persons cases, or public health emergencies.

What’s at stake is not just ownership, democracy is on the line. When power over the airwaves concentrates in the hands of a few politically aligned corporations, coverage shaping tends to serve narrow agendas. The ownership cap is one of the last structural protections ensuring that communities, not distant corporations, control the information that shapes our lives. Eliminating it will further silence voices already struggling to be heard. We have an opportunity to speak now, while the FCC is still in the early stages of considering this change.