FCC Adopts Seven-Station Rule Limiting Broadcast Ownership to Prevent Media Monopoly and Ensure Viewpoint Diversity

The Federal Communications Commission formally adopts the “seven-station rule” (Report and Order in Docket No. 8967, 18 F.C.C. 288) establishing that no single entity may own more than seven AM radio stations, seven FM radio stations, and seven television stations nationwide, with the television limit further restricted to no more than five VHF (Very High Frequency) stations. The rule codifies the FCC’s “consistent adherence to the principle of ‘diversification’ in order to implement the Congressional policy against monopoly and in order to preserve competition,” creating enforceable limits on broadcast media concentration to ensure diverse ownership and viewpoints.

The seven-station rule emerges during a period of rapid television expansion following the FCC’s Sixth Report and Order (1952) which ended the freeze on new TV station construction and opened UHF (Ultra High Frequency) spectrum for broadcasting. The 5-VHF/7-total television limit aims to encourage UHF station development while preventing the dominant VHF broadcasters from monopolizing the expanding television industry. The rule’s timing - as television ownership grows from 108 stations (1952) to 441 stations (1956) - demonstrates the FCC’s proactive effort to prevent media monopoly concentration before it becomes entrenched.

The ownership limit treats seven stations as both a ceiling and effectively a target, with major broadcasters expanding to acquire the maximum allowed stations while the rule prevents further concentration. The policy reflects the FCC’s determination that ownership diversity is essential to viewpoint diversity: preventing any single corporation from dominating broadcast media ensures multiple independent editorial voices can reach American audiences using publicly-owned airwaves.

However, the seven-station rule is systematically dismantled through Reagan-era deregulation and subsequent corporate lobbying: the FCC raises the limit to twelve stations with 25% national audience cap (1984); the Telecommunications Act increases the television audience cap to 35% (1996); and the radio station limit is entirely eliminated (1996), enabling Clear Channel to grow from 40 stations to 1,240 stations and two companies to control 42% of radio listeners. The 43-year trajectory from the seven-station rule (1953) to unlimited ownership (1996) demonstrates how foundational media diversity protections can be systematically eliminated through sustained industry lobbying and regulatory capture, enabling six corporations to control 90% of American media by 2017.