FCC Chair Brendan Carr has been unafraid of ruffling feathers since assuming the position with the commission. He’s now turning his attention to the licenses held by broadcasters.
It isn’t the first time that Carr has spoken about broadcast licenses. Late last year, he argued that the “status quo” surrounding “legacy media” needs to change.
In an interview with Media Research Center President David Bozell, Carr said that he remains open to revoking licenses from broadcasters.
“I’ve said from the get-go: Broadcast licenses are not sacred cows. If you think there’s nothing you can do to lose a license, then it’s not a license. That’s called a property right. And that’s something very fundamentally different,” Carr said.
“And so, I’m very open to the idea that there’s broadcasters out there that may very well end up losing their licenses. Now, of course, there’s a whole process that has to be run there that people don’t really focus on.”
Carr added that it’s his belief that leading the FCC means he has a duty to “reinvigorate the public interest standard.”
“Licensed broadcast television is fundamentally different from any other form of communication, whether it’s a cable channel, a podcast, or a soapbox on the street. None of those are licensed by the FCC, and therefore, what we want there is the most wide-open and robust debate possible,” continued Carr.
“When it comes to licensed broadcast TV, they have an FCC license, which means they have a public interest obligation. They’ve been given a monopoly on the airwaves by the federal government, and in exchange for that, they need to serve the needs of their local communities.”
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