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The Top Four Rule is nigh



It looks like big media companies will now be allowed to own two stations in the same market.   Could CBS finally buy KIRO and also own KSTW as well? 7-11?  Another duopoly?    Just one idea for Seattle.

Tegna, Fox and Sinclair might be boxed out, but who knows.    

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has vacated the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) long-standing "Top-Four Prohibition," a rule that prevented a single company from owning two of the top four highest-rated television stations in the same local market. The court deemed the FCC's justification for keeping the rule "arbitrary and capricious" and unsupported by evidence reflecting today's competitive media landscape. While proponents hail the decision as a necessary modernization, the practical outcome for local newsrooms is stark. The ruling effectively allows a single corporation to own, for example, both the NBC and CBS affiliates in a given city. Industry analysts anticipate that acquiring companies will move swiftly to combine the operations of newly paired stations to achieve significant cost savings.

From

Ftvlive.com

Comments

  1. Mike BarerJuly 25, 2025 at 9:13 AM

    I remember when the Cowles family owned KHQ-TV, KHQ AM and Fm, The Spokesman Review, and The Spokane Chronicle in Spokane. That was quite a hold on the media.

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    1. IDC9July 25, 2025 at 1:31 PM

      That was far too much of a hold on the media in Spokane for the Cowles family to have had. No single entity should ever be allowed to have that much control over the media in a single market, no matter how well they run their outlets.

      Delete
    2. T.K.July 28, 2025 at 9:31 PM

      The Baker family in Tacoma owned The News Tribune, AM 1400, 97.3 FM, Channel 11, the cable TV system, and a mobile paging service.

      Delete
  2. IDC9July 25, 2025 at 1:36 PM

    Is KSTW one of Seattle's top four rated stations? I'm pretty sure KIRO is being a major network affiliate, but KSTW is an independent with next to no local or significant national programming these days. If not, then it could have been scooped up to be part of a duopoly a long time ago.

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  3. AnonymousJuly 25, 2025 at 2:02 PM

    KSTW probably is not in the top four, but KIRO being a CBS affil and KSTW being CBS owned certainly would make for an interesting marriage where the network gets all the revenue from both stations and could also add programming to both.

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    1. IDC9July 25, 2025 at 6:03 PM

      The CBS owned stations group that KSTW is part of is no stranger to such arrangements. They have them in most of their markets. The main station is typically your standard CBS station with a mix of local news, network programming, and syndicated programming, while the secondary station usually offers up more local news and a much heavier load of syndicated programming.

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  4. AnonymousJuly 26, 2025 at 2:10 PM

    Twice the stations, half the employees. That’s the math of this move.

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  5. AnonymousAugust 3, 2025 at 10:08 PM

    Anyone here remember when KSTW’s news department ended? Remember Don Porter as the main anchor and Rod Simmons doing sports.

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