Industry groups are concerned about FCC proposals to relax restrictions on sharing disaster reporting information with public safety authorities and the public but are broadly supportive of agency plans to streamline the disaster information reporting system (DIRS), according to comments filed in docket 21-346. Public disclosure of outage reporting data “could compromise public safety and network security, particularly at a time when vandalism of communications network infrastructure is on the rise,” said ACA Connects. The FCC should focus on more education and engagement with state public safety officials, “not a lowering of standards for protecting sensitive information from public disclosure.” But Public Knowledge said wider dissemination of outage data could improve public safety and enhance competition by giving the public another category in which to compare providers.
The FCC commissioners' last meeting of 2025 will see votes on draft orders about robocalls and low-power TV (LPTV), Chairman Brendan Carr blogged Monday. He told reporters after the agency's meeting last week that the December agenda would likely be lighter than some previous months.
Sinclair made an unsolicited offer to buy all outstanding shares of E.W. Scripps in a deal that it said could proceed under existing broadcast-ownership rules, according to an SEC filing Monday. “We are confident that under existing rules, including the national cap, the transaction can be completed in a timely manner with limited select divestitures,” the company said in the filing. The proposal includes provisions “to reinforce the combined company’s journalistic independence.”
A social media post by President Donald Trump on Sunday condemning proposals to do away with the national cap on TV station ownership drew a flurry of responses Monday from NAB, Nexstar CEO Perry Sook and Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy, who wants the cap to remain in place. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has been widely seen as likely to do away with the cap, but he has also been clear about his deference to Trump. “If this would also allow the Radical Left Networks to ‘enlarge,’ I would not be happy,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. “ABC & NBC, in particular, are a disaster - A VIRTUAL ARM OF THE DEMOCRAT PARTY. They should be viewed as an illegal campaign to the Radical Left. NO EXPANSION OF THE FAKE NEWS NETWORKS. If anything, make them SMALLER! President DJT.”
Industry groups and companies don’t want the FCC to overhaul emergency alerting, but public safety communications officials are calling on the agency to expand alerting to streaming and additional devices, according to reply comments posted last week (docket 25-224) in response to an August NPRM (see 2508070037). CTIA, NAB, T-Mobile and alerting equipment manufacturer Digital Alert Systems said wireless emergency alerts (WEAs) and the emergency alert system (EAS) already meet the FCC’s objectives. However, the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) said alerts need to be delivered through the media platforms that people most commonly use.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr signaled a possible broadcast hoax or news distortion probe of PBS and NPR in a letter sent Wednesday to those entities, as well as the BBC. The letter came a day after the agency opened a proceeding that appeared to be aimed at encouraging broadcasters to more frequently preempt shows, as they did with Jimmy Kimmel Live! President Donald Trump again called for Kimmel’s firing in a social media post Thursday.
At their November meeting Thursday, the FCC approved a rollback of cybersecurity rules, an NPRM seeking comment on modernizing the telecommunications relay service, and a direct final rule order deleting 21 public safety provisions. The commissioners also approved a proposal for upper C-band rules.
The FCC Media Bureau is seeking comment by Dec. 10 on possible agency oversight of network/affiliate contracts, broadcaster preemption rights and future rulemakings on programming agreements, said a public notice Wednesday.
Nexstar and Tegna want the FCC to waive the nationwide TV station ownership cap, along with local ownership limits in 23 markets, if those rules remain in effect when the agency decides on the companies' $6.2 billion merger, said transfer of control applications submitted Tuesday.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said the agency could look at driving “inefficiencies” out of the USF program and NTIA Administrator Arielle Roth clarified the agency’s focus for the BEAD program in separate Q&As onstage Tuesday at NTCA’s Telecom Executive Policy Summit. NTIA rules restricting the broadband funding that BEAD participants can receive are aimed at preventing bids that rely on “speculative, hypothetical funding” to complete their obligations and at avoiding defaults, Roth said. NTIA said Tuesday that it approved 18 state BEAD proposals (see 2511180007).