[JMS]

And yet they are owned by NBC which does have a broadcasting license

[Buckeye McFrog]

And yet they are owned by NBC which does have a broadcasting license

Actually it works like this. Comcast, a cable TV company, owns NBC. NBC has a cable division (CNBC, MSNBC, NBC Sports) that are cable-only and do not require broadcast licenses. The over-the-air NBC Network does not require one either.

However...the NBC over-the-air network does own some broadcast TV stations that DO require licenses. But most stations that carry their programming are actually owned by someone else.

So trying to punish Comcast by yanking broadcast licenses would only affect a small percentage of broadcast NBC stations. Nothing else.