September 10, 2026

FCC Watch

Disney and ABC sue FCC on First Amendment grounds– www.washingtonexaminer.com

pgnewser August 21, 2026 0

Disney and ABC sue FCC on First Amendment grounds– www.washingtonexaminer.com
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EXCERPT:

Disney and ABC filed a First Amendment lawsuit against the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday over the federal agency’s order requiring the network to file an early license renewal request for all eight of its broadcast television stations.

The commission, led by Chairman Brendan Carr, issued the order years ahead of the normal schedule for license renewals. The commission has been investigating Disney’s alleged use of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, while simultaneously probing ABC’s morning talk show The View over a separate matter.

The plaintiffs claim the Trump administration is waging a “retaliatory campaign” against the Disney-owned company because “it disapproves of what ABC broadcasts” to the public.

“The Commission issued an unprecedented order requiring the Stations to file early applications to renew their licenses—years before any of their licenses would have come up for renewal in the ordinary course and allowing only thirty days to file applications which ordinarily take months to prepare,” the plaintiffs’ attorneys wrote in the civil complaint.

“Until the day before that order issued, the Commission had not called for a renewal application ahead of schedule in more than half a century,” they continued. “Nor had it ever demanded simultaneous early renewal applications from a group of stations commonly owned with a single broadcast network—much less stations with the record of public service and award-winning journalism like these Stations.”

FCC Lifts Limits on Local TV Station Ownership

pgnewser August 17, 2026 0

The Federal Trade Commission voted 2-1 to lift FCC restrictions on local tv station ownership. The ruling will allow companies to own local stations that cover more than 39% of the U.S. They can now also own more than one tv station in a local market.

FCC votes in favor of lifting limits on TV station ownership – newsminer.com
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EXCERPT:

The Federal Communications Commission voted 2-1 in favor of allowing TV station ownership groups to own more outlets, easing the way for more consolidation.

The Thursday vote that favored the change means companies can own local stations that cover more than 39% of the U.S. They could also own more than two stations in a single market.

The measure supported by FCC Chairman Brendan Carr will allow the agency to approve deals that put station ownership groups over the cap if the agency determines that they are promoting the public interest. Carr has said the agency would consider such issues as commitment to local journalism and “viewpoint diversity.”

The View Faces Budget Cuts and Denied Raises Amid FCC Scrutiny and Pressure– www.newsbusters.org

pgnewser July 23, 2026 0

The View Faces Budget Cuts and Denied Raises Amid FCC Scrutiny and Pressure– www.newsbusters.org
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EXCERPT:

Amid the Federal Communications Commission’s probe into possibly stripping The View of their “bona fide news program” status and the FCC receiving pushback on the prospect of renewing the broadcast licenses of ABC affiliates, The New York Post was reporting that the day time TV giant was under great financial pressure and appeared to be buckling. So much so, that requests for raises from co-hosts were being denied and their wardrobe budget was being slashed.

According to The Post, a network insider says The View was experiencing “major cost cuts” and that all six co-hosts have received pay cuts:

“The View” has been hit with major cost cuts, which have affected not only the hosts’ wardrobe budgets, but their pay raises.

A source told Page Six Hollywood that several of the hosts — Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, Ana Navarro and Alyssa Farah Griffin — have taken pay cuts since Season 29 premiered in September 2025.

The cast were apparently upset that their ABC budget for “expensive designer clothes” was reportedly being slashed as well:

Not only that, but the women’s wardrobe budget was affected, with a source explaining, “They’re all mad because they were all wearing really expensive designer clothes, and now it’s the same budget of a Wendy Williams-type show versus a marquee daytime show.

“They keep downsizing and downsizing and downsizing.”

FCC Poised to End Local TV Station Monopoly Rule

pgnewser July 17, 2026 0

The FCC is signaling it is about to get rid of a rule that prevented one company from having more than a 39% presence in the local tv market. The rule is being nixed, in part, to make way for a deal between Tegna and Nexstar that will give Nextar 80% presence in the local tv market.

The FCC Chair, Brendan Carr, said the rule will not be completely removed, but exceptions, such as the Nextar deal, will be allowed, when it is in the “public interest” to do so. The decision is sure to be challenged in court, where opponents assert only congress can make such changes, including adding exemptions.

US agency to vote to end 39% local TV station ownership cap – Reuters
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EXCERPT:

The chair of the Federal Communications Commission said Wednesday the agency will vote to ​rescind the 85-year-old rule that bars broadcasters from reaching more than ‌39% of the total number of U.S. TV households.
FCC Chair Brendan Carr confirmed Wednesday the agency will vote to lift the cap in favor of a new case-by-case approach. “Our ​new proposal would allow the FCC to approve deals that exceed ​the 39 percent cap, but only if doing so would ⁠promote the public interest,” Carr said in a essay published Wednesday.
Under current ​rules, stations with weaker over-the-air signals can be partially counted against a company’s ​ownership cap.
Critics say only Congress can lift the cap and argue it will lead to excessive concentration among station owners.
In March, the FCC approved the $3.54 billion sale of local television station ​owner Tegna to Nexstar (NXST.O), opens new tab despite objections from Democratic-led states.
The acquisition, if ​not reversed by courts, will expand Nexstar’s presence to cover 80% of U.S. TV households. ‌The ⁠FCC said it was waiving the 39% rule in approving the deal.

FCC Considers Third Rail Move that could Revolutionize “Network Television”

pgnewser November 5, 2025 2

The FCC is considering abolishing what has been called the third rail in broadcasting politics, the national ownership cap. This cap is set at 39%, which means station owners cannot own more than 39% of the affiliates of a national broadcaster’s network.

The move is being considered to allow, theoretically, conservative affiliate owners a chance to push back against anti-American broadcasting, with the Jimmy Kimmel kerfuffle being the foil for the theoretical action.

Blurb:

President Donald J. Trump continues to shake Washington to its core, highlighting and reforming issues that have been on the back burner for decades. Trump’s Federal Communications Commission (FCC) — led by Brendan Carr, Anna Gomez, and Olivia Trusty — is no exception, publicly raising the specter of abolishing the FCC’s national ownership cap.

For the media establishment, this is like touching the third rail. For generations, from Dan Rather to Jimmy Kimmel, Americans have been force-fed a steady diet of liberalism from the big three television channels.

Ending the ownership cap would allow conservative local broadcasters to compete with the likes of networks ABC and force broadcasts to actually reflect the country’s values.

Internet censorship: a 2022 review - Surfshark

FCC Head Counters DOJ “Hate Speech” Message

pgnewser September 17, 2025 0

Internet censorship: a 2022 review - Surfshark

FCC chief pushes back on social media crackdown talk in wake of Kirk assassination – The Hill
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Excerpt:

FCC Chair Brendan Carr on Tuesday declined to endorse the idea of stricter regulations on social media companies as several of the world’s largest platforms face increased scrutiny over content moderation on political issues.

“Clearly we need a change in direction on some of these issues,” Carr said when asked at the Politico AI and Tech Summit about last week’s assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. “When it comes to social media … we saw a lot of censorship around the time of COVID

Carr praised the efforts of tech billionaires like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, who he said have “re-embraced the idea of free speech.”

“My view today is we need to empower individual users to make their own content moderation decisions,” he said. “And give them the tools to curate their online persona.”