Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr said he is willing to pull broadcast licenses from media companies he believes have acted against the public interest, telling the Wall Street Journal that "broadcast licenses are not sacred cows." The comments, published Monday, underscore a more aggressive posture toward legacy broadcasters by an FCC chairman who has served on the commission since 2017.
Carr told the newspaper that the agency is "fully aligned with the agenda that President Trump is running" and defended recent inquiries into large media owners, saying regulators must ensure broadcasters meet obligations tied to the public airwaves. He cited a 1934 statute that requires networks granted exclusive use of airwaves to operate in the "public interest, convenience and necessity."
Since taking a more confrontational tone, Carr has launched probes into Comcast, the parent company of NBCUniversal, including an examination of the company’s diversity policies and whether programming decisions by NBC stations and affiliates "best reflect the needs and interests of their communities," according to statements cited by the Wall Street Journal. In April he accused NBC News and MSNBC of "misleading the American public" about coverage of a high-profile deportation.
Carr and his allies say the actions reflect longstanding statutory responsibilities for broadcasters. The last time the FCC revoked a broadcast license was in 1971, when it stripped a Mississippi station of its authorization after the outlet defended segregation; Carr has said historically rare revocations would be warranted today if misconduct merited it.
Critics contend the chairman is politicizing the agency. Robert Corn-Revere, chief counsel of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, told the Wall Street Journal that Carr’s approach "appears to be part of a political campaign against what the chairman perceives to be enemies of the president," arguing it risks violating the agency’s role in protecting free expression.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has also criticized the FCC’s handling of high-profile corporate deals, saying in July that the commission’s approval of the merger between Paramount Global, the parent of CBS, and Skydance Media "looks like corruption, plain and simple." The merger review drew attention after Paramount agreed to pay former President Donald Trump a $16 million settlement in his election-interference lawsuit over the editing of a CBS News "60 Minutes" interview. Before the merger was finalized, Skydance pledged to appoint an ombudsman to evaluate bias complaints at Paramount and said it would not enact new diversity policies; Carr noted the ombudsman reports to the company, not the FCC, and defended the agency’s review as following established rules.
Legal and policy analysts say Carr’s statements raise questions about how the commission will distinguish between legitimate enforcement of broadcast obligations and actions that could be perceived as politically motivated. The FCC did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital after the Wall Street Journal interview was published.
Carr’s remarks come as tensions between the federal government and major media organizations have intensified, with regulators and lawmakers increasingly scrutinizing content, corporate governance and diversity policies at news organizations. Any move to revoke a license would face substantial legal challenges and mark a rare escalation in federal oversight of broadcasting.
As the FCC moves forward, media companies, advocacy groups and members of Congress are expected to continue debating the scope of the commission’s authority and the standards it will apply to determine whether broadcasters have failed to serve the public interest.