FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced a review of the relationships between broadcast networks and their affiliates, calling into question contractural restrictions that penalize stations for pre-empting shows and those that prevent them from airing rival programming.

The FCC will take comments on a host of issues, rooted in Carr’s belief that networks have gained too much leverage at the expense of local stations.

He wrote on X, “The FCC has an obligation to ensure that local broadcast TV stations meet their public interest obligations. Yet National Programmers operating out of New York & Hollywood are reportedly preventing those broadcasters from serving their local communities—including by punishing them for exercising their right to preempt national programming.”

In September, Ca

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