D.C. Memo: Rep. Hudson Pressures FCC to Deregulate Broadcasters

◾ CAR's Suhr Blasts Liberals on 'Selective Enforcement' ◾ Rep. Pallone Opens Carr Probe ◾ Rep. Gill Wants NPR/PBS Defunded ASAP ◾ MTC Cable Expands Video Plans ◾ GoNetspeed Fed Up with Mass. on Poles

NAB: TV station owners like Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Inc. looking to the M&A market to bulk up against Big Tech and fund newsrooms got a boost yesterday from House Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Rich Hudson (R-N.C.). Hudson organized a letter signed by 73 House members calling on the FCC to loosen broadcast ownership restrictions, which NAB is already fighting in federal court. “Reforming outdated ownership rules is essential to ensuring that broadcasters remain viable, competitive, and capable of fulfilling their essential role in American democracy,” the March 28 letter to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said. “By modernizing these regulations, the FCC can empower broadcasters to better serve their communities, promote local journalism, and compete in the modern media marketplace. Updating these rules is not just an urgent economic necessity, it is a public service imperative.” The letter was bipartisan, including House Democrats Marcy Kaptur (Ohio) Henry Cuellar (Texas), Jared Golden (Maine) and Julie Johnson (Texas). TV station owners want to be able to reach more viewers nationally and merge within local markets. Hudson called for broadcast deregulation at the Free State Foundation’s 17th Annual Policy Conference in Washington, D.C. on March 25. At the FCC, the agency is deadlock 2-2 between Republicans and Democrats. Carr needs to await the confirmation of Republican nominee Olivia Trusty to have a majority before the planned departure of FCC Democratic Commission FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks this spring.

FCC: The head of the Center for American Rights is calling out a few liberal Democrats for attacking its news distortion complaint against CBS when they wanted the FCC in 2018 to investigate right-of-center Sinclair Inc. for running a “systemic news distortion operation” in violation of longstanding FCC precedent against such practices. CAR President Daniel Suhr accused Sens. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) of favoring “selective enforcement” when it comes to news distortion. “‘Selective enforcement’” is when Fox and Sinclair are constantly under regulatory pressure from Democrats at the FCC and in Congress and from their outside allies, but then unchecked ‘press freedom’ is the sacrosanct principle when CBS or NBC allegedly transgress the same lines when Republicans are in power,” Suhr said in an Op-Ed in the Federalist yesterday. CAR filed the news distortion complaint against CBS over the editing of an Oct. 7 interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris aired on 60 Minutes. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, despite pressure from conservatives and liberals to dismiss CAR’s complaint, has said FCC review of the complaint “remains active and ongoing.”