The U.S. Supreme Court said Friday that it will hear argument on a circuit split over fines that the FCC imposed on AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile for violating the agency's data privacy rules (see 2512150027). The U.S. government, CTIA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce agreed in filings at the court last month that justices should hear the case. The court made the decision during a conference Friday (see 2512170019).
The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation announced Tuesday that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit was chosen in a lottery to review the FCC’s recent controversial changes to rules for incarcerated people's communications services. The D.C. Circuit was one of five in which appeals were filed (see 2512230068), with a challenge lodged there by the United Church of Christ's Media Justice Ministry (see 2512160048). IPCS providers wanted the conservative 5th Circuit to hear the case.
President Donald Trump issued a memorandum Friday night directing NTIA to “immediately begin the process of identifying” the 7.125-7.4 GHz band “for reallocation for full-power commercial licensed use” and study how to reallocate federal systems on the airwaves “to other frequencies,” including the 7.4-8.4 GHz band. Trump framed the reallocation as needed to ensure U.S. leadership in “6G development.” The move came a day after Trump signed off on the FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, which Congress passed after leaders reached a deal to omit Senate-side language that would have given the defense secretary and Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman authority to essentially veto commercial use of the 3.1-3.45 and 7.4-8.4 GHz bands.
DirecTV has standing to pursue antitrust claims against Nexstar, Mission Broadcasting and White Knight Broadcasting, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Tuesday (docket 24-981). Judges Denny Chin and Steven Menashi reversed a District Court ruling that DirecTV lacked antitrust standing and remanded the case. They said lost profits from a reduction in output is a cognizable injury, and DirecTV has made a plausible case that it lost profits from a price-fixing conspiracy by the broadcasters.
President Donald Trump signed off Thursday night on an executive order that would direct NTIA to potentially curtail non-deployment funding from the $42.5 billion BEAD program for states that the Trump administration determines have AI laws that are overly burdensome. Some estimates have found that $20 billion in BEAD funding qualifies as non-deployment money. Trump's order is identical to a draft proposal, circulated in November, that drew significant bipartisan opposition.
Paramount Skydance is launching a hostile takeover attempt to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, announcing Monday that it's attempting to purchase all outstanding shares of the company for $30 each. The move follows the announcement that Netflix struck an $82.7 billion deal last week to buy WBD (see 2512050046).
No final decisions have been made about what happens with BEAD non-deployment funds, but NTIA "is operating under the assumption states will get to use BEAD savings," agency Administrator Arielle Roth said Tuesday at a Free State Foundation event. Guidance about the funds will likely come early in 2026, she said, noting that NTIA estimates that about $21 billion of the $42.5 billion allocated to states will go unused due to changes made to the BEAD program earlier this year, including dropping its fiber-centric focus.
Sinclair has made an offer to buy 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,” said the filing. Sinclair would pay $7 per share to Scripps shareholders -- $2.72 in cash and $4.28 in combined company common stock. Under the terms of the deal, Sinclair would also separate its broadcast business from its other endeavors and merge it with Scripps. The company’s board would include representation from both the Scripps family and the Smith family, which owns Sinclair. The new company would also “propose adopting jointly developed editorial standards” and appoint an independent ombudsman selected by both families to oversee adherence to them, the filing said. Sinclair has asked for a response from Scripps by Dec. 5. Scripps didn’t immediately comment.
Senate Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chair Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Communications Subcommittee ranking member Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., filed an upper chamber companion Thursday to the House Communications Subcommittee-cleared Broadband and Telecommunications Rail Act (HR-6046), Blackburn’s office told us Thursday night.
Citing a California law barring the state from collecting Social Security numbers or sharing data with the federal government, the FCC said Thursday that it was suspending California's ability to run its own Lifeline verification program. Instead, the state will have to go through the federal Lifeline verification system, the commission said. A spokesperson for California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) didn't immediately comment.