FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is expected to testify in front of the Senate Commerce Committee, according to a report in Semafor.

Although no agenda has been made public, his testimony is expected to revolve around Carr's recent actions surrounding the suspension of "Jimmy Kimmel Live" on ABC.

The committee, which oversees the FCC, is led by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who, in a rare rebuke to the Trump administration, criticized Carr’s handling of the suspension of the late night talk show host two weeks ago. Kimmel had made what many Republicans considered offensive comments about the assassination of right wing commentator Charlie Kirk on Sept. 10.

After Kimmel’s remarks, Carr commented about the controversy on a podcast; comments that many saw as a veiled threat against ABC, the network that broadcasts Kimmel.

“Frankly, when you see stuff like this, I mean, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way,” Carr said on the Benny Johnson podcast. “These companies can find ways to change conduct, to take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

Carr denied that these comments were an implied threat, telling reporters on Tuesday that they were misconstrued.

“There was no threat made or suggested that if Jimmy Kimmel didn’t get fired, that someone was going to lose their license,” Carr said. “I’ve seen that there’s a lot of Democrats that are writing letters saying that is what happened, and it simply didn’t.”

After ABC announced that it was suspending Kimmel, criticism came not only from Democrats, but Republicans as well, and in particular, Cruz, who said Carr’s comments were “dangerous as hell.”

According to the report in Semafor, the date for Carr’s appearance along with the two other FCC commissioners, Republican Olivia Trusty and Democrat Anna Gomez, could be in November but has not been confirmed.

As Congress worked overtime to keep the federal government open this weekend, the Senate also unanimously voted to confirm Geoffrey Starks and Brendan Carr to serve another term as commissioners on the FCC.

Carr, a Republican, has served as commissioner since 2017; Starks began his term as a Democratic commissioner in 2019. 

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, released the following statement:

“Americans need a fully-equipped FCC that is ready to deliver on an agenda that puts consumers first. The agency cannot afford another deadlock or delay when it comes to expanding affordable broadband, protecting the security of our communications networks, driving innovative spectrum policies, and strengthening our local news. Today’s confirmation of Geoffrey Starks and Brendan Carr allows the FCC to have full membership and move forward.”

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel offered her congratulations on the approval. 

“I want to congratulate Commissioners Brendan Carr and Geoffrey Starks on their unanimous confirmation by the Senate,” she said. "Brendan has been a dedicated public servant during his time at the FCC.  I look forward to continuing working together to find common ground, including on efforts to improve network resiliency and on critical national security matters.

“In addition, I want to congratulate Geoffrey for his ongoing commitment to public service and for his important contributions to the agency and its work. His invaluable insights at the Commission have helped us reach more communities through the Affordable Connectivity Program, and I'm excited to continue our successful partnerships to help more households remain connected. 

“With a complete Senate-confirmed Commission, the FCC is now ready to take on our full slate of work and fulfill our commitment to ensuring Americans everywhere have access to the best, most reliable communication services in the world.”

NAB also chimed in: 

"NAB congratulates Commissioners Starks and Carr on their Senate reconfirmations. Broadcasters value their commitment and leadership, and thank them for their work to ensure our ability to grow our life-line service to the benefit of viewers and listeners across the country. We are eager to continue working with Commissioners Starks and Carr, and the full Commission, to modernize policies that allow local broadcasters to best serve our communities."

WASHINGTON, D.C.—In a move that puts the FCC one step closer to having a full complement of five commissioners, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, has announced that she will convene a full committee Executive Session on Wednesday, July 12, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. ET to consider the nominations for the Federal Communications Commission and the National Transportation Safety Board, along with Coast Guard promotions. 

At that time the committee will take up the nomination of Anna Gomez to be a Commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission (PN673) and the renomination of Geoffrey Starks and Brendan Carr to new terms as commissioners.

If they pass the Committee vote they would still need to be approved by the full Senate. The FCC has been divided between two Republican and two Democratic commissioners and the approval of Anna Gomez would put it in a better position to move forward with some of the administration’s proposals. 

During the hearing the Committee will also consider the nomination of Fara Damelin to be inspector general of the Federal Communications Commission; Alvin Brown to be a member of the National Transportation Safety Board (PN114) and some Coast Guard promotions 

The hearing will be streamed live here. 

WASHINGTON—The Senate Commerce Committee has announced it will hold its first hearing on the nomination of Anna Gomez to FCC Commissioner on Thursday, June 22, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. ET. Gomez was nominated by President Biden in May after public advocate Gigi Sohn withdrew her nomination for consideration due to Congressional resistance. 

The hearing will also take up the renominations of  FCC Commissioners Brendan Carr and Geoffrey Starks, who were renominated by the Biden administration, as well as the nomination of Fara Damelin to FCC Inspector General. Damelin is currently chief of staff for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General.  

Gomez is a telecommunications attorney and currently serves as a Senior Advisor for International Information and Communications Policy in the Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy. Gomez served as the National Telecommunications and Information Administration Deputy Administrator from 2009 to 2013. She also served for 12 years in various positions at the FCC.

The hearing will stream live on the Committee website, Twitter and Facebook.

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate committee tasked with vetting FCC commissioners,  is urging his fellow senators to advance the nomination of Gigi Sohn as the agency's newest commissioner.

The FCC has been without a fifth member since Chairman Ajit Pai resigned two years ago. Sohn’s nomination, which was put forth by President Biden in October 2021, lacks enough votes from Democrats on the Commerce committee—which is in charge of FCC nominations—to confirm her to the commission. Republicans—who have called for a third hearing—oppose her largely because of her support for net neutrality, however Markey, a member of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, raised the specter that such opposition may be about more than that. 

“It is outrageous that the FCC has gone without a full slate of commissioners while the nomination of the supremely qualified and prepared nominee, Gigi Sohn, languishes amidst lies and homophobia,” he said. 

If approved, Sohn—who was renominated by President Biden earlier this month would be the first openly gay FCC commissioner in history. The commission also made history in 2022 when Jessica Rosenworcel became its first permanent female chairman.

Markey went on to say that “the work of the Commission—from net neutrality to closing the digital divide—is too important for this nomination to be delayed any further. Gigi Sohn is President Biden’s nominee, and Congress should confirm her as soon as possible. 

“As a member of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and a longtime advocate for advancing telecommunications equity and access, I will continue to fight back against baseless attacks and push for swift confirmation.”

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has issued a statement applauding the Senate Commerce Committee for passing the Low Power Protection Act out of committee. 

“NAB applauds the Senate Commerce Committee on passage of the Low Power Protection Act,” said NAB president and CEO Curtis LeGeyt. “This legislation offers a long-overdue opportunity for low power television stations operating in the smallest and mostly rural markets to gain Class A status and ensure their continued service into the future. Providing important interference protections will allow these broadcasters to better serve their millions of viewers by hiring more journalists, investing in new equipment and transitioning to the ATSC 3.0 standard. America’s hometown broadcasters thank Sens. Blunt (MO) and Wyden (OR) for introducing this legislation and Sens. Klobuchar (MN) and Fischer (NE) for their support, and we support swift passage of the bill.”

U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (Mo.) and Ron Wyden (Ore.) introduced the Low Power Protection Act in December of 2021. 

WASHINGTON—Sen. Ben Ray Luján has been tapped to chair the Senate Communications Subcommittee, according to CTIA, the wireless association, which gave him a shout out Friday (Feb. 19). Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) took over as chair of the parental Senate Commerce Committee Feb. 11.

Luján, who had been a member of the House before being elected a senator in 2020, was on the House Energy & Commerce Committee's Communications Subcommittee and is a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Before being elected to the House, he was the chairman of the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission.

While in the House, Luján pushed for rural broadband deployment and for unlimited voice minutes and data for the FCC's low-income Lifeline subsidy-eligible households for the duration of the pandemic.

He also spoke out publicly against threats by President Trump to pull TV licenses. "I am both shocked and disappointed that President Trump today suggested the revocation of a major network’s broadcast license because he doesn’t like the negative light in which he has been portrayed in their newscasts," he said.

That included introducing a bill, the Protecting Dissenting Viewpoints and Voices Act, that would have prevented the FCC from targeting broadcasters "or anyone else" on the basis of viewpoint, toughen FCC political ad disclosure rules, and boost broadcast diversity.

“CTIA congratulates Senator Luján on his selection as chair of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Media and Broadband," said the wireless association's president, Meredith Attwell Baker. "Chair Luján is a strong advocate for connecting consumers to the power of wireless. We look forward to working with him, Ranking Member Thune and the members of the Subcommittee and broader Senate Commerce Committee to close the digital divide and build the 5G Economy.”

WASHINGTON—A divided Senate Commerce Committee has voted to recommend Senate confirmation of Republican FCC nominee Nathan Simington.

That came at an executive session in the committee Wednesday (Dec. 2). Democrats view it as a controversial appointment during a lame duck session. The Republicans still control the Senate, but may not after the Georgia run-offs in early January. 

A roll call vote was called for the Simington nomination, which passed 14-12 along party lines.

Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), in introducing the vote, made no comment on Simington's suitability for the post, as he had for two other nominees getting votes at the session.

Simington was reportedly a presidential pick, while traditionally, as the senior Republican on the Commerce Committee, Wicker would, by custom, have had a say in who was nominated. 

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) criticized the process of the president pulling O'Rielly's nomination, apparently in retaliation, and inserting Simington. She cited the latter's lack of experience with the FCC and questions about his candor. She said he had misrepresented his involvement with the Sec. 230 petition, citing emails to that effect that were reported last week.

Simington is currently senior advisor at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which is the President Donald Trump's chief communications advisory arm, where he worked on 5G security/supply chain issues.

Simington also worked on NTIA's petition to the FCC to come up with a regime for using changes to social media's Sec. 230 immunity from civil liability over third-party content moderation to regulate social media, a petition President Trump mandated.

In an unusual move, President Trump took to Twitter to urge the confirmation of Simington to succeed Michael O'Rielly as a Republican member of the FCC.

Trump pulled O'Rielly's nomination and replaced it with Simington, who reportedly is more in tune with the president's desire to regulate social media. O'Rielly had publicly questioned the move. Commissioner O'Rielly has to leave the commission before the new Congress is seated. Simington's nomination is for a five-year term backdated to July 1, 2019, when O'Rielly's term expired. Commissioners can serve until the end of the Congress following the one in which their term expires.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said the Simington nomination had been rushed and that the nominee's independence has been in dispute because he worked on the Sec. 230 petition that the FCC has signaled it will act on (though what a Trump FCC giveth, a Biden FCC could taketh away, as was the case with net neutrality rules adopted under Democratic chairman Tom Wheeler and jettisoned by his successor).

He said Simington's answers during his nomination hearing had been inadequate and evasive and that his sole qualification appeared to be supporting restraining social media companies.

Blumenthal said that installing Simington would deadlock the FCC—at 2-2—once FCC chairman Ajit Pai and commissioner O'Rielly exit—during a pandemic.

He also cited reports Simington had reached out to Fox News to promote the Sec. 230 issue. He pledged to fight the nomination on the Senate floor.

"No one wants Nathan Simington on the FCC except an outgoing president and a tiny handful of telecom companies who are gleeful about the idea of kneecapping the agency in the middle of a pandemic," said Fight for the Future Deputy Director Evan Greer. "If the Senate votes to confirm Simington, it will be one of the most cynical moves by this body this year, and that's saying a lot."

WASHINGTON—A new report from Senate Commerce Committee Democrats finds that online news has "decimated" broadcast TV news revenues in the age of digital, in part due to "unfair and abusive practices by tech platforms."

The report, entitled "Local Journalism: America’s Most Trusted News Sources Threatened," concludes that Congress needs to give the Federal Trade Commission more authority to protect local news from that assault.

“Local news across America creates competition and trusted information,” said Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), the committee's ranking member. “We shouldn't let regional and community news die as local newspapers and broadcasters adjust to digital delivery because online giants are unfairly leveraging the advertising market against them.”

The report concludes that the biggest of Big Tech "unfairly use content, take local news consumer data and divert customers away from local news websites, while providing little in return."

PLUS: Big Tech 'Monopoloy' Harms News Industry, Congress Finds

COVID-19 has accelerated the decline in local news revenues, the report points out, putting new urgency on the need for action. 

"Local broadcasters lost more than 40% of their advertising revenue between 2000 and 2018, and they face an additional 40% loss this year alone due to the impacts of COVID-19," said the committee report.

The report suggests that the problem with Big Tech is two-fold. It has fundamentally altered the way news is disseminated, and, as a result, "local news has been hijacked by a few large news aggregation platforms, most notably Google and Facebook, which have become the dominant players in online advertising. These trillion-dollar companies scrape local news content and data for their own sites and leverage their market dominance to force local news to accept little to no compensation for their intellectual property."

News outlets have been fighting to get a piece of that revenue, including by seeking help from Congress so they can jointly negotiate with Big Tech for the rights to redistribute their news content.

PLUS: NAB: Digital Giants Put Local Broadcasters at Disadvantage for Advertising

Second, the marketplace for online ads is deaminated by programmatic ads, with Google and Facebook together controlling 77% of locally-focused digital advertising revenue."

The solution, or at least a necessary response, says the report, is that "congressional action is needed to help local news survive the global pandemic and onslaught of unfair practices by the dominant online platforms. Local news needs new laws and regulations to make sure it can compete fairly and provide its true value to local communities and American democracy."

WASHINGTON—Nathan Simington is scheduled to have his day before the Senate for his nomination to become a commissioner for the FCC. The hearing, conducted by the Senate’s Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, will take place on Nov. 10.

Simington was nominated by President Donald Trump to take the commissioner spot that will be vacated by Michael O’Rielly. O’Rielly had his renomination as an FCC commissioner rescinded by the president as a result of his stance against efforts to regulate social media, according to reports.

Simington has served as an advisor at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, a communication advisory team to the president. Simington was involved in NTIA’s efforts to seek social media regulation.

The Nov. 10 date means that the hearing will take place after election day, which depending on the results could mean it is a lame duck session for Trump if he fails to win reelection. However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the expected influx of mail-in ballots, it is unclear when a winner for the election will be determined.

O’Rielly has said that he would continue to serve until his term ends, which will happen either with the confirmation of Simington or in January. 

WASHINGTON—The nomination of Republican FCC commissioner Michael O'Rielly for a new, five-year term at the FCC has been favorably reported out of the Senate Commerce Committee and now moves to the full Senate for a vote.  

That came by voice vote Wednesday (July 22), but with ranking member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) voting no, even though, procedural, she was the one to propose that it be reported favorably. Also asked to be recorded as "no" on the O'Rielly nomination were Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Michael Schaatz (D-Hawaii).

In explaining her no vote, Cantwell pointed out that in 2018, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel concluded that O'Rielly had violated the Hatch Act with political comments made at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).*

O'Rielly was issued a warning letter that a repeat of such statements could incur more than a warning. O'Rielly countered that he disagreed that an offhand remark was a violation, but said he took the warning seriously.

Cantwell also said that O'Rielly "had recently injected, I believe, politics into part of the spectrum issue," which she said she found "disturbing." She did not elaborate. 

In contrast, Committee chairman Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) said he looked forward to advancing O'Rielly's nomination. He said he appreciated O'Rielly's commitment to the speedy deployment of broadband, particularly given the pandemic and the greater reliance on connectivity, as well as his commitment to insuring it was targeted to areas that need it most.  

Like his fellow Republicans, O'Rielly wants the FCC to focus on the unserved first, rather than overbuilding existing service. 

O'Rielly's term expired at the end of June 2019, but commissioners can continue to serve until the close of the next Congress. The new term would date from July 1, 2019.  

O'Rielly, who has been on the FCC since 2013, is a conservative former Hill staffer who generally favors deregulation, including of ISPs, and lifting media ownership rules given the rise of competition from cable and broadband and satellite, and was instrumental in loosening KidVid regs on TV stations.    

He has also pushed for the FCC to collect better data on broadband availability before handing out billions for 5G buildouts. 

* Asked at a CPAC panel session how to avoid the regulatory issue ping-pong of changing administrations, O'Rielly said: "I think what we can do is make sure as conservatives that we elect good people to both the House, the Senate, and make sure that President Trump gets reelected." O'Rielly told the special counsel he was not advocating for the President's election but meant to relay the point that "the only way to retain that current outcome was to maintain the current leaders in government. In other words, retaining the current Administration is the only sure way to prevent regulatory ping-ponging.”

WASHINGTON—The Senate Commerce Committee, which is led by a Republican majority, approved a bill on Dec. 11 that lays out details for the C-band auction in a vote that went down party lines. The bill will now go to the Senate floor for a vote before heading to the Democratic-controlled House.

The bill was approved following a series of amendments added to it by Commerce Committee Chairman Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.). The amended bill would have the FCC auction off at least 280 MHz of C-band spectrum for 5G, with at least half of the proceeds going to the U.S. treasury and 10% for rural broadband buildouts. Per the bill, the auction would also need to be held by the end of 2020.

For more information, visit TVT’s sister publication B&C.

WASHINGTON—STELAR went to Washington on Wednesday, and both sides of the debate regarding whether the STELAR should be reauthorized or allowed to sunset made their cases, as well as some introducing new proposals that would better serve customers.

STELAR, which was first introduced in 1988 to establish the compulsory license that allows satellite operators to import distant network TV station signals into local markets where viewers lack access, is approaching the end of its latest five-year renewal in 2019. Most cable operators want the law renewed, while broadcasters believe it is time for it to go away.

According coverage from TVT’s sister publication, Multichannel News, Committee Chairman Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) made it clear that he sees STELAR as a critical law for preserving access to video services for rural residents, and even said that “the committee is preparing to reauthorize STELAR.” However, there were some on the committee, like ranking member Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), who side with broadcasters and the amount of competition in the industry today makes STELAR unnecessary.

Another area that was discussed was about how STELAR could be used as a vehicle for reforms and just what some of those reforms could be. Things brought up by witnesses included having the current set-aside for noncommercial channels on satellite in the Telecommunications Act also include independent commercial channels; a True Fees Act that would offer transparency to all the fees customers are subject to from MVPDs; and the issue of stations on state borders not receiving signals from stations actually located in their state.

One piece of legislation not on the table, however, is the Local Choice Act that Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) previously introduced during the last renewal five years ago. The act would have required broadcasters to sell their signals directly to consumers, who could choose not to take them.

For more information on the STELAR hearing proceedings, read the full report on Multichannel News.

WASHINGTON—Speaking on behalf of a number of organizations representing the interests of thousands of rural residents, the Rural & Agriculture Council of America has issued a letter to Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and ranking member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) opposing the the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act Reauthorization (STELAR), which the committee will hold a hearing on Wednesday, Oct. 23.

RACA, along with nine other organizations, cosigned a letter this past summer that said how STELAR negatively affects people in rural communities.

“There is a notable lack of reliable broadband and wireless connections in rural areas along with abysmal internet speeds, and this legislative loophole creates a broadcast television divide,” Jack Alexander, president of RACA, wrote in this new letter. “Rural Americans rely on local broadcasting for critical news and information about our communities and, especially when we are out in the field, up-to-the-minute weather and emergency information. Broadcasters work hand-in-hand as first informers with first responders in our neighborhoods, yet for residents of rural America in the communities affected by STELAR, we receive none of this sometimes lifesaving programming during times of crisis.

“For these reasons rural leaders remain steadfast our position and ask that Congress to allow STELAR to expire and end this broadcast television divide in rural America.”

For more information on the hearing, or to watch a live webcast, click here.

WASHINGTON—The beginning of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s tenure is wildly different depending who you ask on the Senate Commerce Committee. In the opening statements of the Committee’s FCC oversight hearing Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) praised Pai’s early actions, citing his moves to make the agency more transparent and some rollbacks on regulations passed by his predecessors. However, ranking member Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) was less impressed with what Pai has done in his first few weeks.

The fully story can be read on TVT’s sister publication B&C.