Sponsors (3)
The bill aims to expand and diversify broadcast ownership through better data, policy recommendations, and a donation tax credit that shifts stations to nonprofits and disadvantaged owners — trading off increased ownership opportunities and transparency against added federal costs, administrative burdens, data-quality risks, and possible legal or competitive tensions.
Racial-ethnic minorities, women, and small broadcast entrepreneurs gain increased pathways to own stations through FCC studies, recommendations, reporting, and a donation tax-credit mechanism that together encourage transfers and policy support.
Broadcasters, policymakers, and the public get better transparency and evidence because the FCC must count and report station ownership using Form 323 every two years, improving oversight and enabling targeted interventions.
Donors receive a dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit equal to the fair market value of a contributed broadcast station, directly reducing donors' federal tax liability and incentivizing transfers to qualified recipients.
Federal revenue will likely fall because of the station donation tax credit, which could increase the deficit or require offsets, reducing funds available for other priorities.
Implementing the expanded data collection, studies, and reporting will raise FCC administrative costs and staff time, potentially diverting resources from other agency priorities or prompting fee increases.
Because the bill relies on self-reported Form 323 data, ownership could be undercounted or misclassified, weakening the accuracy of findings and the effectiveness of any resulting policies.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Creates an FCC certificate program plus tax nonrecognition for qualifying broadcast-station sales and a new tax credit for station donations to training nonprofits to boost ownership by socially disadvantaged individuals.
Creates an FCC tax-certificate program and an IRS tax incentive package to encourage more broadcast stations to be owned and operated by "socially disadvantaged individuals" (including women and certain racial/ethnic groups). It requires the FCC to study and report on ownership and viewpoint diversity, issue certificates for qualifying sales, adopt implementing rules, and report annually to Congress. Adds a tax nonrecognition rule for qualifying broadcast-station sales and a separate tax credit for contributions of broadcast stations to qualifying nonprofits that train socially disadvantaged people to run stations. The sale provision takes effect for sales more than one year after enactment and sunsets after 16 years; the contribution credit applies for taxable years beginning after enactment. The FCC must submit biennial reports and conduct studies linking ownership diversity to viewpoint diversity within specified timelines.
Official title: To direct the Federal Communications Commission to take certain actions to increase diversity of ownership in the broadcasting industry, and for other purposes.
Introduced June 10, 2025 by Steven Horsford · Last progress June 10, 2025