December 17, 2025
New National Poll Shows Likely Voters Fiercely Oppose Corporate Broadcast TV Station Mergers
Polling finds strong nonpartisan opposition to corporate broadcast TV station mergers and local TV station consolidation amid rising concerns over affordability and billionaire control over politics and media.
Today, the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) and Defend the Press Campaign hosted an exclusive press briefing to release new national polling from Lake Research Partners examining American voters’ views on corporate broadcast TV station mergers and local TV station consolidation.
The survey – conducted via live phones and text-to-online among 1,000 likely 2026 midterm voters nationwide – is among the first to measure public attitudes toward local TV station consolidation in the context of affordability, cost-of-living pressures, and growing attempts by billionaires to seize control of their local news.
The results show that Republican, Democratic, and Independent likely voters are overwhelmingly and intensely opposed to mergers that may raise costs for consumers or give billionaires greater control over broadcasting and news.
“The bottom line is that Americans across the political spectrum don’t want local TV station consolidation,” said Brenda Victoria Castillo, President & CEO, NHMC. “They expect it to drive up their prices and give billionaires more power over what they see and hear, not to mention degrading the quality of coverage in their communities.”
The briefing comes as the FCC considers changes to long-standing broadcast ownership rules, and directly after FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr’s high-profile hearing in front of the Senate Commerce Committee.
To read the findings from the poll in full, click here.
