Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions - also known as the fake news - have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up. The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not.
All year on The Vergecast, we've been tracking the many bizarre and problematic actions of FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. There has been a lot to discuss! Then, this week, ahead of one of our last episodes of the year, Carr appeared in front of the Senate Commerce Committee and spent three hours explaining how he thinks about his job, the FCC, and the state of online communication and entertainment. It was a lot.
Last year almost a dozen major U.S. ISPs were the victim of a massive, historic intrusion by Chinese hackers who managed to spy on public U.S. officials for more than a year. The "Salt Typhoon" hack was so severe, the intruders spent much of the last year rooting around the ISP networks even after discovery. AT&T and Verizon, two of the compromised companies, apparently didn't think it was worth informing subscribers any of this happened.
The US Federal Communications Commission has launched "Space Month," with Chairman Brendan Carr saying that "we'll replace a default to no at the agency to a default to yes" for satellite licensing requests. The FCC's processes are set for an overhaul, with bespoke licensing being ditched in favor of what Carr called "a licensing assembly line" and a review of sitting rules for Earth stations to facilitate more intensive use of the upper microwave spectrum.
Together, Sinclair and Nexstar's preemption of the show left about 25% of TV viewers in the US unable to watch it, with the two companies owning 70 ABC-affiliate stations combined. The two companies are the largest owners of local TV stations in the country. Sinclair currently owns more than 185 TV stations across 85 markets, while Nexstar owns 200 stations across 116 markets.
The comments came as he praised ABC for suspending late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, whose monologue about the death of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk sparked backlash. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on his return from a state visit to the UK, Trump claimed that about 97% of media coverage of him is negative. He said that network owners currently hold broadcast licences and questioned whether those licences should be "taken away."
EchoStar ( NASDAQ:SATS ) is on a rocket ride today with shares soaring 17% higher in morning trading after announcing a $17 billion deal to sell a portion of its spectrum licenses to SpaceX. This follows a similar blockbuster $23 billion spectrum sale to AT&T ( ) just two weeks ago - fueling a staggering 163% stock surge in 14 days.
