Broadcasting&Cable

FCC Seeks Supreme Court Review of Media Ownership Decision

The Solicitor General of the United States, on behalf of the Federal Communications Commission, has asked the Supreme Court to review a US Third Circuit Court of Appeals decision overturning most of the FCC's media ownership deregulation decision, hammering the circuit for what the FCC suggested was serial obstruction of what it had concluded was in the public interest. The FCC said that it has been trying to grant the ownership deregulation for 17 years, thwarted by a series of decisions by a divided panel of the Third Circuit.

FCC Commissioner Carr: Far Left Is Trying to Weaponize FCC

Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr said that groups like Free Press — he did not name them but made it clear who he was talking about — are engaged in a "sweeping and dangerous attempt to weaponize the FCC against political actors" it doesn't like. On April 6, the FCC — in this case comprising Chairman Ajit Pai, the general counsel, and the Media Bureau chief —flatly, and strongly, rejected a petition by Free Press seeking a government investigation into broadcasters who aired statements by President Donald Trump during coronavirus briefings and "related commentary." Chairman

Trump Campaign Sues Wisconsin TV Station Over Critical Ad

President Donald Trump's reelection campaign is suing a Wisconsin TV station for running an anti-Trump commercial that pieces together audio clips of the president talking about the coronavirus outbreak in a way they argue is misleading and false. The ad by the Democratic super PAC Priorities USA features a series of soundbites in which Trump downplayed the threat posed by the virus, while a chart that is splashed across the screen gradually begins to shoot upward as cases of the virus skyrocketed across the US.

Henry Geller: Fifty Years Ahead of His Time

There’s no such thing as a “new” idea, said Mark Twain. In the Federal Communications Commission World there really isn’t because someone thought of almost every great new idea 50 years earlier. That someone was the FCC world’s Visionary-in-Chief, former FCC General Counsel and National Telecommunications & Information Administration Director Henry Geller. On April 7, at the age of 96, Henry passed away. Who in their field has matched what Henry accomplished in ours? Irving Berlin (songs). James Brown (dances). Abe Lincoln (oratory).

OpenVault: COVID-19 Broadband Usage "Reaching A Plateau"

Broadband consumption is showing indications of reaching a plateau in markets that have been “quarantined” against the coronavirus pandemic, according to the most recent data analyzed by OpenVault. Following three weeks of double-digit percentage growth, the total downstream data usage in those markets with shelter-at-home policies declined 5.80% during the week of March 30–April 3 when compared to the previous week. While total upstream usage continued to grow during the March 30–April 3 timeframe, the increase over the previous week was only 2.3%.

Coronavirus Bill Buttresses Rural Broadband Buildout Funding

The $2 trillion coronavirus aid bill includes $125 million dollars to buttress the Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (RUS) telemedicine and distance learning and broadband buildout loan and grant programs. The bill must still be passed by the House — a vote is scheduled for March 27, but that is expected to happen and the President to sign it the same day.