(Photo by Gage Skidmore)The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is conducting an informal investigation into recent announcements involving network affiliation changes in several markets across the country, the agency’s chairman said in a recent interview. Last week, The Desk was first to report a major affiliation change involving several Nexstar-owned stations in places like Albuquerque and Bismarck, where CBS programming will disappear next month. Deadline was the first to report on the matter; The Desk learned that the change is part of a pending deal to swap TV stations between the companies, which has not been formally announced. But the agency typically cannot regulate or scrutinize network affiliation deals between local TV broadcasters, since those are private arrangements. That said, the owners of the five major broadcast networks — ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and the CW Network — also own licensed TV stations in major markets.