President Elect Donald Trump has nominated FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr to be the next Chairman of the FCC. NYSBA applauds the selection. Carr’s appointment will bring an end to the reimposition of outdated regulations that have been the hallmark of the last administration.
As a sitting Commissioner, he has the experience and is expected to implement his agenda quickly. Following tradition, we anticipate that the current Chair, Jessica Rosenworcel, will resign on or before January 20th. (Although by law she is not required to resign.) Assuming she resigns, the FCC will have 2 Republicans and two Democrats. A third Republican commissioner will need to be appointed and confirmed in order to implement new FCC regulations.
Nonetheless, the “Carr Commission” will be able to block new regulations proposed by the Rosenworcel administration. For example, the new FCC would be unlikely to implement the proposed “political AI" rules for broadcasting. Additional regulations such as adoption of the new EEO Form 395 B form, which is now the subject of litigation, are unlikely to be implemented.
We anticipate that a “Carr Commission” will take a fresh look at the current broadcast ownership rules for both radio and television. For years, the FCC has incorrectly argued that broadcast ownership rules were necessary because stations do not compete with digital media in the marketplace. We anticipate the new Commission will understand the reality of the marketplace and move to relax these rules.
At the same time, Commissioner Carr has stated he will require broadcasters to meet their public interest responsibilities. There has also been some discussion about new auctions for TV spectrum. He has expressed views on the need to reign in Big Tech. We shall see how these issues develop.
On balance, this will be a welcome change. We look forward to working with the new “Carr Commission.”
You can access Commissioner Brendan Car’s bio here.