Media Contact: 
Will Wiquist, (202) 418-0509
will.wiquist@fcc.gov
For Immediate Release
CHAIRMAN PAI STATEMENT ON PROPOSAL TO BEGIN A 
COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF THE NATIONAL OWNERSHIP CAP
  --
WASHINGTON, November 21, 2017—Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai
issued the following statement on the draft Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that he circulated to 
his fellow Commissioners today, seeking comment on the FCC’s national television multiple 
ownership rule, also known as the national cap, including the UHF discount:
“Earlier this year, the Commission reinstated the UHF discount, finding that the prior FCC’s 
decision last year to eliminate it absent a simultaneous review of the 39 percent national cap 
effectively tightened the cap without determining whether that was in the public interest.  
Because the national cap and the UHF discount are inextricably linked, any review of one 
component of the rule must include a review of the other. 
“Under the proposal that I shared with my colleagues today, we would go about determining the 
future of the national cap, including the UHF discount, the right way.  Specifically, we would 
seek public input on whether to modify, retain, or eliminate the 39 percent national cap as well as 
the UHF discount.  With respect to legal authority, in 2016 the Commission ‘conclude[d] that [it] 
has the authority to modify the national audience reach cap, including the authority to revise or 
eliminate the UHF discount’; we will take a fresh look at this issue as well.  
“A comprehensive review of the rule is warranted in light of considerable marketplace changes, 
such as technological developments and increased video programming options for consumers, 
since the cap was last modified in 2004.”
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Office of Chairman Ajit Pai: (202) 418-2000
Twitter: @AjitPaiFCC
www.fcc.gov/leadership/ajit-pai
This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action.  Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes 
official action.  See MCI v. FCC, 515 F.2d 385 (D.C. Cir. 1974).