Protesters, Kimmel Questions Overshadow FCC Approval of 2022 Quadrennial Review NPRM

In a post-meeting press conference, Carr also suggested that the FCC could sunset previous rulings that talk shows such as The View qualify as news programs under FCC rules. “There was no threat made and no suggestion that if Jimmy Kimmel didn’t get fired, someone was gonna lose their license,” Carr said. Commissioner Anna Gomez disagreed, saying that “this was no simple business decision. It was a clear act of government intimidation.”

Before the meeting, a digital billboard box truck sat parked in front of FCC headquarters, displaying the message "government can’t control media content.” The Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders took credit for the truck.

Inside headquarters, close to a dozen protesters from groups such as Free Press and Communications Workers of America -- including many of the group's staff members -- sat through the meeting wearing “Federal Censorship Commission” T-shirts and periodically raising signs or leaflets calling for Carr to be fired. The meeting was interrupted at one point when two protesters loudly chanted, “Fire Carr, the censorship czar.” Security escorted them out, and Carr and the other commissioners didn’t noticeably react. The meeting also saw a greater security presence than usual.

In a letter Tuesday to Carr, more than five dozen legal, journalism and First Amendment scholars and professors cited criticisms that Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, made of Carr’s ABC actions. “We couldn't have put it better: your extortion is ‘dangerous as hell,’” they wrote, adding the major danger is that threats from the FCC “work despite their unconstitutionality.”

“Facing loss of their licenses or regulatory harassment, many will interpret your threats as ‘an offer [they] can’t refuse,’” the letter said. “Make no mistake: critical speech has been chilled,” with broadcasters, journalists and comedians now self-censoring. Other signatories included TechFreedom, the American Civil Liberties Union, Free Press and Public Knowledge.

In Tuesday’s post-meeting press conference, virtually every question concerned the Kimmel matter. Carr said the incident was “a significant win if your goal is to empower local TV stations to comply with their public interest obligations.” Asked about Sinclair and Nexstar restoring Jimmy Kimmel Live! to the airwaves (see 2509260054), Carr said he never expected the broadcasters to be able to sustain the preemption because of the power imbalance between broadcast groups and networks.

Carr repeatedly denied that his comments on the Benny Show podcast hours before Kimmel's suspension were a threat (see 2509220059). He again said he was speaking generally about the FCC’s news distortion policy, and his words were taken out of context and distorted by Democrats. He also pointed to statements from Nexstar and Sinclair denying that FCC pressure was behind their preemption of Kimmel. Asked about the numerous Republican legislators who panned his actions, Carr declined to comment.

In addition, Carr said Tuesday that all his actions against broadcast stations were made possible by the previous administration's conduct in matters such as the license renewal of Fox's WTXF Philadelphia. “What we're doing right now stands on the precedent set by the prior FCC.” Those commissioners sought comment on a petition to deny WTXF’s license and kept the proceeding open for years, stalling the station's license renewal. However, broadcasters can operate while their license renewal is pending, and the previous FCC dismissed the WTXF petition at the very end of former Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel’s tenure.

“I didn't see the previous administration threaten to revoke licenses,” said Gomez during her press conference. "What we are seeing today is unprecedented," she added.

Asked about comments he made about the FCC investigating ABC’s The View, Carr said at the press conference that “there may come a time” when the agency could sunset previous Media Bureau rulings that some programs qualify for a news exemption to FCC rules requiring that political candidates have an equal opportunity for airtime before elections. The agency could then require programmers to make the case to the FCC that a given show qualifies for the exemption, he added.

“Right, left, center. It doesn't matter to me,” Carr said. “Come back to the FCC, in light of how your program operates today, and make the case that you should qualify for the bona fide news exception.” The FCC’s past guidance that most talk shows qualify is “not necessarily going to guide today.” Carr said the agency could sunset previous guidance and open windows for new applications for news exceptions.

Meanwhile, Senate Homeland Security Investigations Subcommittee ranking member Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told us he’s “hopeful” that Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, will press Carr to testify at an FCC oversight hearing on his Kimmel actions “and, if necessary, subpoena” him. Blumenthal led an unofficial hearing Monday on Carr’s actions, which ultimately drew only Democratic lawmakers (see 2509290062). But he told us Cruz “has been pretty tough on” Carr, and some other Republicans, at least privately, “seem to be troubled by what” the FCC chairman has done. Those Republicans “know that the tactics and abuses of this administration lower the bar for future administrations, and someone has to stop it,” Blumenthal said. Carr said Tuesday that he and Cruz will continue to have a good working relationship despite Cruz's condemnation of Carr's actions in the Kimmel matter.

Quadrennial Review

All three commissioners voted to approve the 2022 Quadrennial Review order, which seeks comment on local radio and TV ownership limits, as well as FCC rules barring the big four networks from merging. “We intend to take a fresh approach to competition by examining the broader media marketplace, rather than treating broadcast, radio and television as isolated markets,” Carr said.

He said the agency will look at the rules with the goal of promoting investment in local broadcasters but will also “consider whether public safety, national security and other public interest goals should be part of this review.” The FCC is statutorily required to complete the 2022 QR by the end of the year. Every previous QR order has led to litigation, and the 2022 version is widely expected to continue the trend.

Although Gomez approved the item, she said allowing further consolidation in the broadcast industry leads to companies capitulating to unconstitutional pressure from the government. The Kimmel matter’s “precise example neatly encapsulates the danger of allowing vast and unfettered media consolidation,” she said. “This form of media consolidation will further push independent local users to answer to corporate masters who are already under political pressure from this administration.” Eventually, the FCC “won't need to threaten to investigate individual stations. Journalists and comedians won't need to be censored directly,” she argued. “They'll censor themselves to avoid conflict with regulators who risk losing government favor.”

The “broadcast ecosystem is a long-standing public-private partnership,” Gomez added. “I call on all stakeholders to approach this pivotal moment with an open mind to identifying modifications to current rules that would both shore up the economics of broadcast television and preserve the public interest.”

Connoisseur Media CEO Jeff Warshaw praised the FCC’s vote in an interview. “Local broadcasters need to get the foot taken off of our throats,” he said. “The limitations that we have are killing the industry.”

The rulemaking “is a critical step to ensure that local stations can compete on a level playing field with streaming platforms and digital giants,” NAB CEO Curtis LeGeyt said in a release. “Modernizing these rules is essential to protecting the future of local journalism, and we look forward to working with the Commission to move this process forward.”