You may be right but there it seems that every TV market has one or two re-run channels that never seem to show news and they have broadcast licenses. Also, is it the network that has a FCC license or the individual stations? No sure, but yours is a good point.
Remember, there are local broadcast licenses and national broadcast licenses, each with different regulations and obligations.. It's a little complicated, but wattage actually plays into it too. Some of the very low-power broadcasters are exempt from some regulation(s).