In a 2-1 vote on Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rescinded the long-standing rule limiting local broadcast station owners from reaching more than 39 percent of US TV households. The decision replaces the cap with a new case-by-case approach for evaluating mergers that exceed the threshold. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr argued the change is necessary to help local broadcasters compete and survive, pointing to the decline of local newspapers as a cautionary tale. "We should stop hamstringing this one segment of the broader market with outdated restrictions," Carr said, adding that he does not want local broadcast TV to follow the same path as print media.