The FCC should deny Sinclair Broadcast’s proposed sale of five stations to Rincon Broadcasting because of Sinclair’s sidecar relationships with Deerfield Media and Cunningham Broadcasting, said a petition to deny filed Monday by a newly formed public interest group, Frequency Forward. “In addition to controlling television stations in violation of the Commission’s multiple ownership rules, Sinclair has made material misrepresentations to conceal the extent of its control over these sidecar stations,” the petition said. “Neither Sinclair, nor Cunningham and Deerfield, Sinclair’s alter egos, are qualified to be Commission licensees.” It called for the FCC to hold a hearing into whether Sinclair and its sidecars are qualified to remain broadcast licensees.
The FCC's World Radiocommunication Conference Advisory Committee held its third meeting Tuesday as it prepares for the next WRC in 2027, approving early proposals for U.S. positions. The meeting was the first under the current Trump administration and finished in 20 minutes. The committee last met in August (see 2408050034).
President Donald Trump intends to request that Congress claw back about $1.1 billion in advance CPB funding as part of a broader $9.3 billion funding rescission package, White House OMB Director Russell Vought confirmed Tuesday. Set for later this month, the proposal reportedly targets $535 million in advance annual funding for CPB in fiscal years 2026 and 2027, which Congress allocated as part of an FY 2024 appropriations package (see 2403210067) and March continuing resolution that extended the allocation through Sept. 30. Congressional Republicans have shown growing interest since January in ending federal funding for public broadcasters amid rancor over what they perceive as pro-Democratic bias in news coverage (see 2502030064).
President Donald Trump blasted CBS' 60 Minutes in a social media post Sunday over its reporting, repeating his call for CBS to lose its “license” and saying he hopes FCC Chairman Brendan Carr will punish the network. The FCC doesn't license broadcast networks or TV programs. The post also mentioned Trump’s ongoing, private lawsuit against the network.
Federated Wireless urged the FCC to consider the success of spectrum sharing in the citizens broadband radio access service and 6 GHz as it moves forward on the 4.9 GHz public safety band. The CBRS spectrum access system (SAS) and 6 GHz automated frequency coordination (AFC) system “enable widespread commercial access to spectrum while protecting existing and evolving incumbent use,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 07-100. As the FCC considers “the requirements and responsibilities” of the 4.9 GHz band manager, it should consider leveraging “proven spectrum management tools and capabilities” such as the SAS and AFC “to ensure efficient and intense utilization of the 4.9 GHz Band in support of public safety missions nationwide,” said Federated, whose representatives met with staff from the Wireless and Public Safety bureaus.
Tesla asked the FCC to act on its request for a waiver of agency rules to allow authorization for an ultra-wideband (UWB) positioning system operating in the 7.5-8.5 GHz frequency range, which would “facilitate wireless charging” of electric vehicles (EVs). The FCC sought comment in February, and Tesla noted that there has been no opposition (see 2502250037). “Grant of the requested waiver is necessary so the UWB sensors can be used to assist in the alignment of the EV with the outdoor pad in order to optimize usage of limited parking space, assist in alignment of the EV with an automated underbody conductive charger, or maximize coupling in applications such as wireless charging of the EV, and thereby provide efficient battery charging,” Tesla said in a filing posted Monday in docket 25-101.
USTelecom noted that the FCC is looking to get rid of outdated rules through its “Delete” proceeding (see 2504140046) and shouldn’t now layer on new pole attachment rules. USTelecom representatives met with Wireline Bureau staff on the issue, according to a filing posted Monday (docket 17-84). “At a time when the Commission is looking to cut burdensome and counterproductive regulations from its rulebooks, it should avoid imposing prescriptive make-ready rules that fail to account for the operational realities of broadband deployment,” USTelecom said.
Some space operator interests, including SpaceX and the Commercial Space Federation, are keen on shot clocks for satellite and earth station licensing determinations, according to docket 25-133 filings posted Monday in FCC Chairman Brendan Carr's "Delete" proceeding. Space industry filings also included several companies targeting technical rules and requirements. Other "Delete" proceeding submissions presented deregulatory ideas from telecom, broadcast and cable interests (see 2504140046 and 2504140063).
CTIA offered the FCC a list of programs for streamlining through the commission’s “Delete” proceeding in comments posted Monday in docket 25-133. In addition, USTelecom recommended “eliminating, streamlining, or reforming” some 3,000 rules in the "Code of Federal Regulations." The comments provide commission staff with thousands of suggestions to wade through as they evaluate changes the telecom industry suggested. As of late Monday, the commission has received nearly 900 comments in the proceeding (see 2504140063 and 2504140037).
Broadcasters called for the FCC to “delete” nearly every reporting and filing obligation the agency imposes on them in scores of comments posted in docket 25-133 Monday, but the agency should roll back ownership rules first, NAB said. Multichannel video programming distribution (MVPD) interests and allies repeatedly argued that the highly competitive video distribution marketplace necessitates doing away with rules they claim tip the competitive scales. The docket also received many comments from space interests and the telecom industry (see 2504140037 and 2504140046).