Speaking at CES in Las Vegas on Thursday, FCC chairman Brendan Carr reiterated his view that the “balance of power” has shifted away from local TV affiliates and toward national broadcast networks.
“In the broadcast space, you have the national programmers – Disney, Paramount, Fox, Comcast,” he said. “And on the other hand, you’ve got the actual licensed, individual local TV stations that distribute that content. And I think over the years, the balance of power has shifted too far into the hands of the national programmers, and they’re effectively just using local TV stations as outlets for their own programming.”
The FCC, Carr continued, is “looking at lots of ways to really empower those local broadcast TV stations to actually identify the requirements and needs of their local communities and serve those needs of the local communities. It’s not merely to become a pass-through for content produced by those national programmers.”
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The local-national dynamic was central to Carr’s decision last September to add to the growing backlash against Jimmy Kimmel Live! after the host’s off-handed monologue quip about right-wing reactions to the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. As Donald Trump’s sharp-elbowed appointee to lead the regulatory body, Carr has frequently amplified the concerns of the White House and Trump supporters. After he went on a right-wing podcast to blast Kimmel, major station groups Nexstar and Sinclair said they would pull the late-night show, and ABC then responded by suspending it for several days.
The issue has resurfaced over the past 24 hours in relation to the fatal shooting of a motorist in Minneapolis by ICE officers. In a brief interview with Deadline after the panel, Carr was asked about Vice President J.D. Vance’s attacks on media coverage of the shooting. While cable network CNN seemed to bear the brunt of the assault from Vance, Carr was asked if local station coverage could prompt him to file a “news distortion” complaint, as he has with 60 Minutes and other instances.
“It’s important for broadcasters to operate in the public interest,” Carr said, noting that as of the time of the interview he had not heard Vance’s remarks. “There are broadcasters that are not doing that, they’re engaging in news distortion, broadcast hoax, where they simply are becoming 100% a mouthpiece for a national programmer rather than just looking out for their interest. They’re just, you know, airing Comcast and Disney programming, they’re not doing any effort to identify the needs of local community. That’s a problem.”
Trump has frequently insisted that networks or stations airing what he deems to be inaccurate coverage should “lose their license.”
Onstage, Carr appeared to be articulating a similar sentiment. Broadcast license holders control “very, very unique distribution in media,” he said. “And because the government’s picking a winner or loser, you get a license, you get this microphone, you get to speak. You don’t necessarily get to conduct yourself the same way you would if you’re running a podcast or a soapbox or a review.”
To critics of the efforts to gather what he called “public interest data” at the FCC, Carr responded, “If you’re a broadcaster and you don’t like the fact you’re not meeting this obligation, you can turn your license in. … There are lots of ways to distribute your content. You can become a cable channel, you become a podcast or you become a YouTube channel.”
The panel was moderated by Gary Shapiro, head of the Consumer Technology Association, which organizes CES. Shapiro praised Carr multiple times during the session, including for giving a “great answer” about the public interest obligation. “I appreciate what you do for our country.” He also lavished praise on Trump.
In the final moments of the session, Shapiro told his guest, “I do want to say that I did not expect – who could think you were so brilliant?”
Carr smiled and replied, “It’s so different in real life than on Twitter, apparently.”