ABC Speech Snub Factors Into License Review

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said Wednesday that ABC’s decision not to air President Donald Trump’s July 16 election security speech live will factor into the agency’s ongoing review of the network’s station licenses.

Carr, the Trump-appointed chairman, told reporters the Federal Communications Commission has an open proceeding examining the early renewal of eight ABC-owned stations and that the carriage decision would surface in it, according to Variety.

The chairman said the review evaluates “whether they’ve been operating in the public interest,” adding he was “sure that there are going to be points raised in that proceeding” about the network’s choice.

“I think that when you have the president of the United States standing inside the White House delivering an important speech, I think that’s something that broadcasters should be carrying,” Carr said. He added the FCC would “hold all broadcasters” to the same standard.

Carr noted concerns had been raised “including by members of Congress.” Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA) sent Carr a letter Monday asking the agency to review ABC, NBC, and CBS, Fox News reported.

“The public airwaves should inform the American people, not be used by corporate executives to decide which matters of national importance they are permitted to hear,” Carter wrote.

ABC and NBC streamed the address rather than carry it on their broadcast networks. CBS, Fox, and the CW aired it. CNN did not. Trump slammed both networks at the time, accusing them of being “part of a plot” to “protect the radical left.”

Anna Gomez, the FCC’s lone Democrat commissioner, pushed back, arguing the agency cannot dictate editorial decisions. “It’s censorship one way or another,” Gomez claimed, describing the public-interest standard as a tool “to punish speech that this administration doesn’t like.”

The review follows an April Media Bureau order forcing ABC to reapply for its licenses on an accelerated schedule, days after Trump called for Jimmy Kimmel’s firing.