The latest in the ongoing battle between the Trump administration and the media erupted in late September, with the White House TV pool members—NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox—saying they would stop providing pool coverage of presidential events.
The organizations were prompted to do so because of President Donald Trump’s Sept. 18 decision to ban CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House. Three days later, the three media organizations sued to reverse the ban.
To save a bit of time and guard against forgetfulness, it seemed wise to ask Google Gemini to “list the actions of the FCC and other federal departments or agencies against TV organizations during the second Trump administration.”
Nine items popped up, including the early license-renewal review and threats against ABC/Disney; an equal-time rule challenge involving ABC O&O KTRK-TV Houston and “The View”; news-distortion inquiries into CBS related to the editing of a 2024 “60 Minutes” interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris, then a presidential candidate; the defunding of public television; and several others.
Regardless of one’s political leanings, it’s safe to say the state of affairs between the media and the Trump administration can at best be described as strained. All of this makes one wonder whether the Federal Communications Commission, which has an open notice of proposed rulemaking on the transition to ATSC 3.0 and sunsetting of ATSC 1.0, can set aside any animosity that may have festered as these skirmishes with the media have unfolded.
To date, the regulator has shown its ability to do so. Look no further than the national broadcast ownership cap, widely regarded as the industry’s No. 1 priority going into Trump’s second term. In August, the FCC adopted a report and order replacing the 39% cap with a new approach based on case-by-case reviews.
Of course, there has been one legal challenge and more are expected, but the fact the agency rose above it all may bode well for broadcast TV as the FCC moves forward on what may be the industry’s No. 2 priority for this administration. That’s not to suggest broadcasters will get everything they want from a rulemaking on the 3.0 transition and 1.0 sunset, but it at least demonstrates the agency—and its flesh-and-blood commissioners, each with his or her own thoughts, experiences and biases—has the capacity to consider the issues in the NPRM fairly.
Setting aside the ongoing feud between the administration and media, it’s important for regulators to remember what’s riding on a successful 3.0 transition. A rulemaking that establishes a date or dates certain to sunset 1.0 and authorizes broadcasters to flip the channel-sharing script to free up additional TV spectrum is necessary if the industry is to reach its full potential in serving the public interest.
Freeing up additional spectrum by sunsetting 1.0 will enable broadcasters to devote bits they do not have today to delivering emergency alerting and information messages far superior to today’s Emergency Alert System. Devoting additional spectrum to 3.0 will even enable terrestrial delivery of precise timing data to back up vulnerable satellite-based GPS service.
Time will tell if the FCC can continue to rise above it all. One can only hope.
