Congressional Democrats swiftly decried FCC Chairman Brendan Carr on Wednesday night and Thursday for what they see as his central role in pressuring ABC and parent Disney before the network, Nexstar and Sinclair pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live! from the air indefinitely Wednesday night (see 2509180066). Carr threatened ABC in a podcast interview, saying it should discipline Kimmel for comments about the political affiliation of the suspected killer of conservative activist Charlie Kirk (see 2509170064) or face FCC action.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s use of agency threats against Disney, ABC and local broadcasters on Wednesday led to Jimmy Kimmel Live! being pulled from the air within hours, and Carr is widely expected to keep repeating the tactic, academics and attorneys said in interviews Thursday.
A bill that headed to California Gov. Gavin Newsom's (D) desk Tuesday would prohibit the California Public Utilities Commission from sharing the immigration status of FCC Lifeline applicants or subscribers with other government entities without a valid subpoena or warrant. AB-1303, which passed the state Senate last week, requires a "court-ordered subpoena or valid judicial warrant" for an individual's personal information to be released. It also clarified that Lifeline is a state law "that may provide assistance and services for individuals not lawfully present in the United States" under federal statutes.
FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty assured Competitive Carriers Association members that the agency understands their need for faster buildouts and access to more spectrum. “We are working to create a regulatory environment that empowers you, the private sector, to build and innovate,” she said in written remarks for CCA's annual convention, posted Wednesday.
Comments are due Oct. 16, replies Oct. 31, on Tin Can’s petition for a declaratory ruling that its services don’t constitute interconnected VoIP under Title II of the Communications Act, said a public notice in Tuesday’s Daily Digest. Tin Can provides “restricted access to whitelisted contacts through the Public Switched Telephone Network.” If the FCC instead determines that the VoIP rules apply to Tin Can’s service, the company wants the FCC to waive its VoIP regulatory requirements, the notice said.
The FCC continues to hear from people with family members in prison as they challenge a Wireline Bureau order delaying some incarcerated people’s communications service (IPCS) deadlines until April 1, 2027 (see 2507310049). “Contrary to the baseless claims made by the opposition, which is dominated by the predatory correctional telecom industry itself, the delay will significantly harm families impacted by incarceration,” said a comment by Karen Christenson this week in docket 23-62.
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.
The spectrum that is likely to be used for a “Golden Dome” and other details remain unclear eight months into the second Trump presidency (see 2503100058), National Spectrum Consortium CEO Joe Kochan told reporters in a briefing Wednesday. Leaders of the consortium, which works with industry and the government on spectrum issues, also said reallocating the upper C band for 6G and moving to more dynamic sharing remain complicated, with no easy answers in sight.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr signaled in a podcast interview posted Wednesday that the FCC could act against ABC and parent company Disney if they don't discipline late-night host Jimmy Kimmel over comments related to the political affiliation of the man arrested in the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. First Amendment attorneys told us that policing the speech of late-show monologues is outside FCC authority.
The FCC Media Bureau is seeking comment on Kansas Public Telecommunications Service’s request to substitute channels for its station KPTS Hutchinson, Kansas, an NPRM said Tuesday. KPTS is currently on Channel *8 and seeks to switch to Channel *33. The FCC designates noncommercial channels with an asterisk. Comments will be due in docket 25-287 30 days after the NPRM is published in the Federal Register and replies 15 days later. The Media Bureau also granted a substitution request for theDove Media, which wanted to substitute Channel *24 for Channel *4 for a future noncommercial station in Jacksonville, Oregon.