This is important as the Federal Communications Commission has considered changes to its media ownership rules, but has let pressure from station groups get in the way of making the broadcasting industry (particularly over-the-air broadcast television) a more diverse marketplace. In particular, two major station groups, Sinclair Broadcast Group and Nexstar Broadcasting Group, have been allowed to acquire many television stations at the expense of both companies' bottom lines as well as the quality of the station's news programming (and in some cases, at the expense of some news departments). These companies create proxy companies with separate management (though with question as to whether the parent group holds enough stock for the proxies to be considered de facto subsidiaries) to allow the managerial control of two stations in markets where a duopoly isn't allowed, or three or four stations in many markets whereas the FCC does not legally allow triopolies (except in markets where with 18 or more full-power TV stations) or quadropolies. Specifically, Chesapeake TV, Deerfield Media and Cunningham Broadcasting for Sinclair, and Mission Broadcasting for Nexstar. These companies should be investigated to violation of antitrust laws.

Furthermore, Sinclair and Nexstar have been buying stations left and right to the point that it is creating a negative environment for the television news industry as many people have lost their jobs due to consolidation, and there is a risk that any newer purchases will come at such a cost. The Fox broadcast network pays a lot of the cost with these acquisitions as the network has desired its affiliates to carry local news programming, but companies like Sinclair and Nexstar that simply acquire stations aren't willing to invest in news departments, and often will shut a Fox station's existing news operations down and merge them with an affiliate of ABC, NBC or CBS. Station groups that are focused more on acquiring stations than investing in them are also putting their financial future at risk as some acquire enough debt due to their reckless buying that they risk putting themselves into bankruptcy.

The impetus for this petition is twofold: the FCC should change its media ownership rules to prevent groups from controlling stations that it cannot legally own and should not be able to operate; and to require Sinclair and Nexstar to divest themselves of most of their stations (particularly where three or four stations are operated by one of the companies). The FCC's media ownership rules should be reviewed to take account of situations like this, including ending the UHF discount that does not count TV stations on the UHF band to the 39% market reach cap as the discount is obsolete following the digital television transition due to the fact that many stations operate their digital signals on the UHF band; as well as switching the media ownership caps for television stations to disallow control of more than one or two stations in a single market and switching from the current ownership cap for TV station groups from a market reach percentage to a numerical cap (for example, limiting station group portfolios to 35 to 50 stations). The future of the broadcasting industry is in doubt and to let broadcasters whose business dealings may not be in the best interest of their stations or their viewing audience should be taken into strong consideration.