In an exclusive interview with CBS News Saturday, Federal Communications Chair Brendan Carr doubled down on his warning that broadcast licenses could be revoked amid President Trump’s criticisms of media coverage of the war in Iran.
“People have gotten used to the idea that, you know, licenses are some sort of property right, and there’s nothing you can do that can result in losing their license,” Carr told CBS News. “I try to sort of help reorient people that, no, there is a public interest, and broadcast is different.”
Earlier Saturday, Carr wrote in an X post that “broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions – also known as the fake news – have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up. The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not.”
Carr posted the message in response to Mr. Trump’s Truth Social post slamming media coverage of an attack on U.S. air tankers in Saudi Arabia.
“Four of the five had virtually no damage, and are already back in service,” Mr. Trump wrote. “None were destroyed, or close to that, as the Fake News said in headlines.”
In his post, Mr. Trump specifically criticized newspaper outlets The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, but the president has often criticized broadcast TV news outlets, claiming negative coverage and suggesting some have their licenses revoked.
Critics immediately pounced on Carr’s post from Saturday.
“Constitutional law 101: it’s illegal for the government to censor free speech it just doesn’t like about Trump’s Iran war,” Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts wrote on social media in response.
“This is the federal government telling news stations to provide favorable coverage of the war or their licenses will be revoked. A truly extraordinary moment,” Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut wrote.
“All broadcasters should, you know, feel entirely free to do all of their reporting,” Carr told CBS News, as long as they’re not engaging in “news distortion.”
“Everyone that complies with the terms of the licenses should feel, you know, very comfortable,” Carr said. “Anyone that doesn’t like, you know, the contours of the licenses, they’re fine to take it to cable or to a streaming service, or to turn the license in and do it a different way. But, you know, there is something unique about being on the broadcast airwaves.”
The FCC, an independent agency, issues eight-year licenses to individual broadcast stations, many of which are owned and operated by television networks. It does not license TV networks such as CBS, NBC, ABC or Fox.
The FCC’s authority over content standards is limited to over-the-air broadcasts on television and radio, but not other forms of programming, such as cable networks or streaming platforms.
“Over-the-air broadcasts by local TV and radio stations are subject to certain speech restraints, but speech transmitted by cable or satellite TV systems generally is not,” the FCC’s website states. “The FCC does not regulate online content.”
Carr added there was no imminent effort to reassess broadcast licenses, but pointed to ongoing investigations which could serve as a reason to call for early license renewal. Specifically, Carr gave two examples, including an FCC investigation into ABC’s “The View” over the equal time rule, and a probe into Comcast and its subsidiary, NBC Universal, over diversity, equity and inclusion policies. (cbs link?)
Last month, Stephen Colbert, host of “The Late Show” on CBS, criticized the network, alleging an interview he conducted with U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico was blocked from airing over fears it violated the equal time rule. The interview was not broadcast, but was posted online.
In a statement, CBS countered that the Late Show “was not prohibited by CBS from broadcasting the interview, but that “the show was provided legal guidance that the broadcast could trigger the FCC equal-time rule for two other candidates, including Rep. Jasmine Crockett, and presented options for how the equal time for other candidates could be fulfilled. THE LATE SHOW decided to present the interview through its YouTube channel with on-air promotion on the broadcast rather than potentially providing the equal-time options.”
Under the equal-time rule, an FCC-licensed broadcaster that lets a political candidate appear on its airwaves must also offer “equal opportunities” to all other candidates running for the same office.
The FCC issued a notice in January that daytime talk shows and late-night programs were subject to the equal-time rule, a reversal from previous policy.
Broadcast TV licenses are up for renewal as early as June 2028 in a handful of states, with rolling dates thereafter through August 2031, according to the FCC’s website.
The Trump administration is also set to consider mega mergers that will likely reshape the television industry. Last month, Mr. Trump appeared to support the $6.2 billion purchase of Tegna by the Nexstar Media Group. Carr has also signaled his support for the deal as the FCC moves closer to weighing in on the merger.
The FCC and the Justice Department will also have to consider the $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery by CBS News parent company Paramount Skydance.
Mr. Carr praised Mr. Trump for “fundamentally reshaping the entire media landscape,” but “at the same time, there’s more change that needs to happen.”
“It used to be there was a good balance between the local TV stations and the national programs,” he told CBS News. “So if there was some stuff that the national programs were running that the local TV stations didn’t think was a good fit for the community, they would pre-empt, they would push back.”
Carr went on: “And it’s just been lost. And now, it’s just, basically, the license TV stations are effectively just mouthpieces for the programming coming from, no disrespect, Hollywood and New York.”
Carr kickstarted a cascade of controversy on Sept. 17, 2025, when in an interview he criticized remarks made by late-night host Jimmy Kimmel about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk as “some of the sickest conduct possible,” and said there was a “path forward for suspension over this.”
“The FCC is going to have remedies we could look at,” he said at the time.
Later that same day, ABC announced it had suspended the show “indefinitely,” while media giants Nexstar and Sinclair said they were pulling the show.
Kimmel eventually returned to the air six days later, and both Nexstar and Sinclair also soon after restored the show to their stations.
