The FCC is expected to unanimously approve an order at its open meeting Thursday that would update a number of low-power TV and translator rules, industry and FCC officials told us. The final item is expected to change little from the draft version, which updates and clarifies agency policies on station relocation, channel sharing, alerting and other matters. “In light of changes within the broadcast industry and LPTV Service over the last forty years, we adopt changes to our rules to ensure that the LPTV Service continues to flourish and serve the public interest long into the future,” the draft says.
The Center for American Rights kicked off an online campaign Monday supporting the elimination of the broadcast TV ownership cap and targeting the Senate Commerce Committee's FCC oversight hearing Wednesday. In an interview, CAR President Daniel Suhr told us he bases the group’s FCC filings on President Donald Trump’s social media posts and public comments. He added that CAR’s focus on media resonates with conservatives and has raised its profile, increasing donations to the organization.
The FCC should reject NextNav’s petition on reconfiguring the lower 900 MHz band for 5G-based 3D positioning, navigation and timing operations, said numerous trade groups in filings last week (docket 24-240).
Broadcast licensees want the FCC to rebalance the network-affiliate relationship by regulating the contracts stations reach with networks, while the networks don’t believe an imbalance exists or that the FCC has authority over their affiliation agreements, according to comments filed by Wednesday’s deadline in docket 25-322. Stations called for the agency to delve into virtual MVPD negotiations, apply restrictions to network-affiliate contracts, and cap network fees, but the big four networks said the FCC injecting itself here could kill broadcasting. Agency intervention “has the potential to severely disrupt the broadcasting ecosystem, threatening the continued survival of broadcasters facing a thinning market,” said NBCUniversal. “The market is working, and the government should not interfere.”
Laura Loomer, a podcaster widely seen as having the ear of President Donald Trump, endorsed the Nexstar/Tegna deal in a post on X late Tuesday, calling on FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to approve the transaction. Loomer denounced Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy, who has been a vocal opponent of the deal (see 2508050051). Ruddy is a “selfish leftist” who “opposes both the Nexstar-Tegna merger and the proposed FCC ownership rule change,” Loomer wrote. His network is widely seen as one of the most conservative TV news channels. Many FCC watchers suspect that Trump’s connection with Ruddy led to the president’s recent post objecting to proposals to do away with the national TV-ownership cap (see 2511240055). Ruddy’s opposition to the deal “only empowers the left and their mainstream media allies, who can still control programming in America through ownership no matter who is in the White House or running the FCC,” Loomer said.
Charter, Cox and a number of groups supportive of the MVPDs’ $34.5 billion merger blasted a petition to deny the deal in replies filed in FCC docket 25-233 last week. The petition (see 2511190049) from Public Knowledge, the Communications Workers of America (CWA), the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society and the Center for Accessible Technology used old data and ignored the competitive landscape for MVPDs, said filings from the Free State Foundation, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the Center for American Rights, the League of Latin American Citizens and others. The petition’s “portrayal of Charter and Cox as dominant Internet access ‘gatekeepers’ simply does not match today’s marketplace realities,” said a joint filing from the companies.
Netflix announced Friday an agreement to buy Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion after the latter company spins off Discovery Global, but the deal could face regulatory hurdles at the FTC or DOJ, and the combination has been criticized by lawmakers of both parties.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr cracked self-deprecating jokes about his relationship with President Donald Trump, the uproar over his conflict with Jimmy Kimmel, and his colleagues on the commission during his first address as chairman at the annual FCBA dinner Wednesday night. Directly across Massachusetts Avenue from the event at Washington’s Marriott Marquis hotel, Free Press, Public Knowledge and Tech Freedom projected criticisms of the Carr administration onto the front of the Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church.
The FCC will be expanding its rule deletion efforts in 2026, tackling more items at open meetings and focusing on churning out orders stemming from the many NPRMs it issued in 2025, said Chairman Brendan Carr and bureau and 10th-floor staff at a Practising Law Institute event Wednesday. “I think you’re going to see even more results in getting to orders here in the second year” of his chairmanship, Carr said during a Q&A.
The FCC should take action against statewide exclusivity contracts between MVPDs, state athletic associations and networks that prevent local broadcasters from airing high school sports championships, said Mid-State Multimedia President Robert Meisse in a filing in docket 25-322 Tuesday.