Levin: Trump's Condemnation of Deleting TV Cap 'Addressable'
A recent social media post from President Donald Trump condemning proposals to lift the national TV ownership cap doesn’t definitively spell disaster for broadcasters, said New Street analyst Blair Levin in a note to subscribers Tuesday. Trump’s post was focused on preventing ABC and NBC from growing (see 2511240055), but that isn’t a likely consequence of lifting the cap, Levin wrote. “One should not assume that the President understands what he is talking about when it comes to this post, or that it is a deeply held point of view, as it relates to law and process.”
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Trump’s post “creates problems for [FCC Chairman Brendan Carr], Nexstar, Sinclair and NAB but those problems are addressable,” Levin said. “What they must do is explain to the President that the FCC can increase the cap but that [Disney] and [Comcast] will not be able to take advantage of it.” Since the FCC has the power to block broadcast deals, Carr could reassure Trump that he wouldn’t allow deals that involve those companies to grow, Levin said. “If, however, Trump opposes the actual deal, we would change our view as we think Carr would likely act in a manner consistent with Trump’s wishes, rather than in a manner consistent with his long-held views.”
Trump’s post and pressure from Newsmax could also lead the FCC to write a decision in a way that targets Comcast and Disney to please Trump but makes it more legally vulnerable, Levin wrote. “The risk that the FCC will not act in a way to allow [Nexstar] and [Sinclair] to consolidate the television broadcast sector has risen but we still think the most likely result is still a rule change and FCC and DOJ approval of the deals.”