WASHINGTON, Nov 7 (Reuters) - U.S. Federal

Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr will testify on

December 17 before the Senate Commerce Committee after he faced

bipartisan criticism for pressuring broadcasters to take ABC

late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel off air.

Senator Ted Cruz, the committee chair, announced the

oversight hearing late on Friday, which will also include

commissioners Olivia Trusty and Anna Gomez.

Carr did not immediately comment.

Kimmel drew fire from the White House and others for

remarks he made about the assassination of conservative activist

Charlie Kirk, prompting condemnation from Carr who urged local

broadcasters to stop airing "Jimmy Kimmel Live" on ABC.

In September, Cruz sharply criticized Carr days after he

threatened the licenses of Disney ( DIS ) and local broadcasters who

aired Kimmel's show after the FCC chair said: "We can do this

the easy way or the hard way."

Cruz said the

comments were "dangerous as hell."

"I got to say that's right out of 'Goodfellas'," Cruz

said, evoking the Martin Scorsese gangster movie. "That's right

out of a Mafioso coming into a bar going, 'Nice bar you have

here. It would be a shame if something happened to it.'"

Cruz had said that Carr's threats could one day hurt

conservative media outlets if employed by a future Democratic

administration.

Sinclair and Nexstar Media Group ( NXST ) both

quickly ended a boycott of the Kimmel show on their 70

ABC-affiliated stations covering nearly a quarter of U.S.

households.

Carr will also face questions from Democrats about the

FCC's pressure on other broadcasters.

In July, the FCC approved 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 to hire an ombudsman for at

least two years to review complaints and end diversity programs.

In January, Carr reinstated complaints about a CBS "60

Minutes" interview with then Vice President Kamala Harris, how

ABC News moderated the pre-election televised debate between

then-President Joe Biden and Trump and Comcast ( CMCSA )-owned NBC for

allowing Harris to appear on "Saturday Night Live" shortly

before the election.