Carr Probes Comcast on Affiliate Relationships

In a post Saturday on Truth Social, Trump called the network “Concast” and said it's “an arm of the Democrat Party, and should be held accountable for that.”

Carr said in his letter that the investigation was based in part on reports that NBC and other networks were attempting to “extract onerous financial and operational concessions” from station groups. “These practices suggest that the relationships between programming networks and their affiliates are not operating in the manner envisioned by FCC regulations.” The Media Bureau would comb through NBC and Telemundo affiliate agreements to make sure they comply with “rules regarding station operations and control, ownership, affiliation, and network program practice,” he said. The FCC didn’t comment on whether the letter had any relationship to the president’s social media posts.

“I want to ensure that Comcast’s ability to exert influence over its local broadcast affiliates does not operate to undermine broadcasters’ ability to comply with their public interest obligations,” Carr wrote.

Large broadcast groups such as Gray and Nexstar have been critical in recent years of the fees that networks charge affiliates and of networks maintaining control of the negotiations with streaming services over affiliate content (see 2505080050). Both broadcasters declined to comment on Carr’s letter.

Comcast NBC said in a statement it would cooperate with the FCC. “Local stations are a critical part of Americans’ lives as a trusted source for news and life-saving weather information, and we will continue to invest heavily in this partnership to keep the broadcast business strong." Carr previously sent Comcast a letter warning about its diversity programs (see 2502110063). Tuesday's letter said the issues the FCC is scrutinizing may not be unique to Comcast and indicated that investigations into other networks could follow.

In his post about Comcast, Trump also said “Fake News ABC” was “likewise” an arm of the Democratic Party. “Networks aren’t allowed to be political pawns for the Democrat Party," he added in a follow-up post Saturday. "It has become so outrageous that, in my opinion, their licenses could, and should, be revoked!” Networks are not licensed by the FCC.

Carr sent a letter to ABC warning it about its affiliate relationships in December, just before becoming chairman (see 2412270039).

FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez condemned the letter Wednesday. “Billion-dollar companies do not need our help in their negotiations with the even larger and powerful national networks,” she said in an emailed statement. FCC scrutiny of contract negotiations would benefit large broadcast groups and “not the small, independent, and local broadcast stations that are at-risk of closing shop,” she said. “This misguided pressure campaign will only help these companies impose more linear, top-down programming, and it directly contradicts those critics who for so long have allegedly argued in support of fair and market-driven competition.”

Preston Padden, a former Disney and Fox executive associated with the Media and Democracy Project, said the FCC was intruding on the free market. “Hundreds of stations every year conclude that renewing their network affiliation, even though they would prefer better terms, is the best way to enhance the profitability of their station,” Padden said. The FCC has "absolutely no business wading into these free market business discussions," he said. "My opinion is that what the FCC is doing is simply serving President Trump‘s political vendetta against the three old networks.”