The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has sided with four Democrats running for Congress in a decision that would limit the organizations and groups who are entitled to discounted political advertising under Federal Communication Commission rules.
The ruling is important for broadcasters because an FCC Public Notice scheduled to go into effect on Sept. 4 would have expanding the types of advertisers and groups who could be eligible for discounted ads. This could significantly reduce the revenue broadcasters get from political advertising in the hotly contested upcoming midterms.
In opposing the Public Notice, Commissioner Anna Gomez emphasized the potential harm to stations by arguing that “broadcasters are being directed to slash prices and sell their most valuable inventory during their busiest and most lucrative season, even as this same FCC has spent months arguing broadcasters need economic and regulatory relief to compete with Big Tech and streaming. You cannot claim broadcasters are struggling to survive and then force them into a fire sale on the one thing that could actually help them compete and increase revenue.”
At the end of March, the Media Bureau issued a Public Notice with guidance on who is entitled to the discounted advertising rates under the “FCC’s lowest unit charge (LUC) requirements” that appeared to expand the eligibility for discounted ads. That Notice argued that that “the LUC requirements are applicable to (1) authorized committees, including authorized committees that engage in joint fundraising with legally qualified candidates for federal office, and (2) advertisements that qualify as coordinated expenditures of political parties and legally qualified candidates for federal office.”
This was challenged by the Television Bureau of Advertising but on August 13, the Media Bureau rejected the TVB’s petition asking the agency to reconsider its ruling, arguing that the agency hadn’t actually changed any of its rules.
Separately, four candidates for Congress filed an emergency motion in June with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to block the FCC’s interpretation of the rules for discounted political ads.
The suit (Case No. 26-1785) was brought by Ohio Senate candidate Sherrod Brown, Georgia Senate candidate Jon Ossoff, North Carolina Senate candidate Roy Cooper and Michigan congressional candidate Kristen McDonald Rivet, all Democrats.
In an August 25th ruling, the court granted the emergency motion.
“The Petition for Review before us challenges the [FCC’s] Public Notice, which takes effect on September 4, 2026, for the impending November general election,” the court noted. “The four petitioners [contend]…that the Public Notice contravenes the plain language of the LUC requirement and pertinent campaign finance statutes. In the Federal Candidates’ words, the Public Notice “unlawfully dilutes [their] and other candidates’ statutory right to buy advertising time at lowest unit charge by insisting that broadcasters make that same right available to political parties and joint fundraising committees in circumstances where their spending cannot, under campaign finance law, be considered spending by or on behalf of a candidate.’”
“On the other side of this dispute are the FCC, as a respondent, and the National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee (together, the “Party Committees”), as intervenors. The FCC and the Party Committees separately — but similarly — argue both that we lack jurisdiction to review the Public Notice and that the Public Notice is correct on the merits,” the ruling explained.
After reviewing the arguments, the court concluded that “we are confident of our jurisdiction to review the Public Notice. Further, we conclude that the LUC requirement and campaign finance statutes are clear that neither political parties nor joint fundraising committees with non-candidate members can be entitled to the LUC. We therefore grant the Petition for Review, such that we set aside and hold for naught the Public Notice.”
The full ruling is available here.
