FCC July meeting ‘deletes’ some regulations as ownership rules review continues

The Federal Communications Commission advanced its deregulatory agenda at its July 24 meeting, approving six items that target outdated regulations and barriers to infrastructure deployment.

The meeting also revealed tensions over media policy and broadcast regulation, with Chairman Brendan Carr indicating potential changes to the agency’s approach toward national programmers while Commissioner Anna Gomez warned of unprecedented government interference in newsroom operations.

During the post-meeting press conference, Carr acknowledged that Skydance Media had filed voluntary commitments in the FCC record related to its pending acquisition of Paramount Global. The commitments, filed earlier this week, include establishing an ombudsman for CBS News operations and what Carr characterized as addressing “bias issues” and “embracing fact-based journalism.”

“I was very pleased to see Skydance put in a filing that says if this deal goes through, they are committing to serious changes at CBS,” Carr said. “They’ve committed to addressing bias issues. They’ve committed to embracing fact-based journalism. They’ve also committed to either not extending or removing invidious forms of DEI discrimination.”

The chairman tied these developments to broader concerns about trust in national media, citing Gallup polling and comments from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos about declining public confidence in news organizations.

“Americans’ trust in national programmers, ABC, CBS, NBC, is at a historic low,” Carr said.

However, Gomez characterized the situation differently during her own press conference, describing Skydance’s commitments as “cowardly capitulation” to government pressure that violates First Amendment principles.

“This once independent agency has used its vast power to pressure Paramount to reach a private settlement and to further erode press freedom,” Gomez said. “The company also said it will comply with this agency’s ideological demands to undermine efforts to combat discrimination and expand opportunity.”

Advertisement

Media ownership rules face renewed scrutiny

The meeting came just one day after the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on media ownership regulations, vacating one of the FCC’s remaining television ownership rules. Carr indicated the decision would influence the commission’s approach to its long-delayed 2022 quadrennial review of media ownership rules.

“The decision does a couple things. One, it makes clear the deregulatory intent that Congress had when it set the FCC down on this path of the quadrennial reviews,” Carr said. “Two, it eliminates one of the three rules left on the TV side. So that potentially makes the FCC’s inquiry a little narrower, which will be a good thing.”

The chairman suggested the court’s approach would help inform the commission’s review, particularly regarding what he sees as barriers to investment in local news and journalism. “We’ve just had these rules and regulations on the books for far too long. I think it’s held back investment in local news, local journalism,” Carr said.

Gomez took a more cautious approach, emphasizing that broadcast licenses must continue to serve the public interest through localism, viewpoint diversity, and competition.

“Ensuring that broadcast licenses are used in the public interest to further localism, viewpoint diversity and competition needs to remain our North Star as we consider these and related issues,” she said.

Gomez criticized what she sees as backroom dealing on the Paramount transaction, calling for a full commission vote rather than approval through staff-level processes. She expressed particular concern about reports that President Trump expects to receive additional compensation from Paramount related to a settlement of his lawsuit against CBS.

“The Commission’s action on this merger should not actually take into account the complaints against CBS, the lawsuit against CBS, or any such settlement against CBS,” Gomez said. “The complaint against CBS was unfounded based on the facts and the law. Paramount did not need to settle that.”

She argued that any settlement or commitments made under regulatory pressure actually work against the public interest by undermining press freedom. “What they did was basically cowardly capitulate to the demands of this administration in a desperate attempt to get their transaction approved,” she said.

Network modernization affects broadcast infrastructure

While much of the meeting focused on broadband and wireless infrastructure, several items have implications for broadcast operations. The commission approved measures to streamline the pole attachment process, which affects broadcast tower infrastructure and advanced rules for transitioning from copper-based networks that support broadcast facilities.

“Universal connectivity and broadband affordability depend on timely and efficient network deployment,” said Commissioner Olivia Trusty, noting that the Communications Act provides tools to leverage existing infrastructure like utility poles for network deployment.

Beyond media policy, the commission adopted a direct final rule eliminating obsolete broadcast-related regulations, including closed captioning requirements for analog television receivers that no longer receive broadcasts. The action removes 11 regulatory provisions covering 39 regulatory burdens across 16 pages of federal regulations.

The commission also updated consumer protection rules that affect billing practices for video and telecommunications services, seeking comment on whether anti-slamming protections remain necessary given the evolution of the marketplace.

Advertisement

The tensions revealed at the July meeting suggest significant changes ahead for media policy under the Trump administration. Carr indicated the commission will continue its deregulatory push at the August 7 meeting, potentially addressing environmental regulations that affect broadcast tower construction and other infrastructure deployment.