Is that what's going on, though, or is it just that with fewer viewers the industry needs consolidation?

Here's a clip from John Oliver[0] from 2017 explaining a bit on the situation. While viewership is declining, I dont think it's the main reason with the overall system changing its rules to allow fewer people to control it.

0 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GvtNyOzGogc