In 1941, the Federal Communications Commission established the Chain Broadcasting Regulations to try to break up a radio landscape that had become dominated by just four major national players. The regulations were challenged by NBC, with the company taking the case to the Supreme Court, which upheld the rules.

A direct effect of that decision? NBC divested one of its networks, which ultimately became ABC.

In a new proceeding announced Wednesday, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr cited the Chain Broadcasting Report in a bid to have the agency scrutinize the increasingly tense relationship between national TV networks (of which there are four, just as with the big radio players in 1941) and their affiliates across the country, with the intent of empowering local broadcasters. One of the rec

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