*

FCC licenses stations, not networks, limiting Trump's push

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FCC Chair Carr investigates broadcasters, cites need for

media

correction

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Democratic FCC Commissioner Gomez warns of First Amendment

violations

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, Aug 25 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump

reiterated a long-running push for the Federal Communications

Commission to revoke station licenses of two major U.S.

broadcasters and charge them for using the public airwaves, as

he criticized their news programming.

Trump suggested late on Sunday on social media that

Disney ( DIS )-owned ABC and Comcast-owned NBC are

biased and mostly air "bad stories" about him, and as a result,

should, "according to many, have their licenses revoked by the

FCC. I would be totally in favor of that because they are so

biased and untruthful."

The FCC, an independent federal agency, issues eight-year

licenses to individual broadcast stations, not networks.

Disney ( DIS ) declined to comment. Comcast did not immediately

respond to a request for comment.

Trump also suggested broadcasters should be required to pay

millions of dollars in license fees for the broadcast spectrum

they use. David Sacks, who is now a White House adviser, said in

October spectrum used by the networks "should be auctioned off,

with the proceeds used to pay down the national debt."

FCC Chair Brendan Carr did not immediately respond to a

request for comment, but has taken a series of steps to

investigate broadcasters. "The media industry across this

country needs a course correction," he said last month.

Last month, the FCC voted 2-1 to approve the $8.4-billion

merger between CBS parent Paramount Global and Skydance Media

after Skydance agreed to ensure CBS news and entertainment

programming is free of bias and hire an ombudsman for at least

two years to review complaints, a factor Carr cited in his

decision to approve the deal.

Democratic FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez said the FCC was

imposing "never-before-seen controls over newsroom decisions and

editorial judgment, in direct violation of the First Amendment

and the law."

Soon after being designated chair by Trump in January, Carr

reinstated a complaint about a CBS "60 Minutes" interview with

Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as complaints about how

ABC News moderated the pre-election televised debate between

then-President Joe Biden and Trump and against NBC for allowing

Harris to appear on "Saturday Night Live" shortly before the

election.

During Trump's first term, then FCC Chair Ajit Pai rejected

Trump's repeated suggestions he go after broadcasters.

"Under the law, the FCC does not have the authority to revoke a

license of a broadcast station based on the content," Pai said

in 2017. "The FCC under my leadership will stand for the First

Amendment."

In March, Carr said he was investigating the diversity practices

of Disney ( DIS ) and its ABC unit. Carr last month opened a probe into

Comcast's relationship with its local broadcast TV affiliates.

.