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Simington Leaves FCC

TheBigA said:
There had been rumors about this earlier, but it's official now

radioinsight.com

Nathan Simington To Step Down From FCC

The FCC commission will be down to just two commissioners as Nathan Simington will step down at the end of
radioinsight.com radioinsight.com

radioink.com

FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington Announces Sudden Exit - Radio Ink

FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington, appointed by President Donald Trump, will conclude his tenure at the end of this week.
radioink.com radioink.com
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One thing to keep in mind concerning Olivia Trusty's approval by the Senate is the demand by many progressive Democrats that Democratic senators do more to block President Trump's nominees no matter what positions they are seeking.
 
ted chittenden said:
One thing to keep in mind concerning Olivia Trusty's approval by the Senate is the demand by many progressive Democrats that Democratic senators do more to block President Trump's nominees no matter what positions they are seeking.
Click to expand...

And, as I said in another thread, until at least one new FCC appointment is approved, Chairman Brendan Carr's agenda is dead in the water. He no longer has a quorum to pass anything.
 
K.M. Richards said:
And, as I said in another thread, until at least one new FCC appointment is approved, Chairman Brendan Carr's agenda is dead in the water. He no longer has a quorum to pass anything.
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To what extent will this impact the FCC's ability to do routine business? While seeing Carr's agenda be "dead in the water" seems like it is mostly a good thing, I'd hate to see this result in freezing routine business in a way that hurts the industries that the FCC regulates.
 
TheBigA said:
As we know, the routine business is done by the staff, not the commissioners. And the good news is that DOGE hasn't really touched the FCC. So I don't expect much to change. Their budget is mostly intact, and I saw that Carr was actually talking about asking for an increase.
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That's encouraging to hear.

But on a somewhat related note, Carr has made a big deal over certain contentious ownership transfers that are or have recently been before the FCC -- right now, it is Paramount/Skydance, before that it was the stake that George Soros' fund acquired in Audacy through buying out a bunch of their debt. Under what circumstances do such ownership transfers go before the commissioners as opposed to being entirely dealt with at the staff level?
 
TexasTom said:
Under what circumstances do such ownership transfers go before the commissioners as opposed to being entirely dealt with at the staff level?
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That's a good question. Typically they don't. The only reason why the Audacy deal went before the commissioners is because Ted Cruz wrote a letter demanding it. Then when it happened, Carr made up a lot of stuff about the application, implying there were national security concerns. That's total BS. This was a bankruptcy plan. Not an "ownership transfer." The same company owns the stations now that owned them before. The equity situation has changed, but once again that happens in all bankruptcies.

The Paramount thing is different. It's an actual sale. It should be pretty simple, but there's the president's lawsuit. CBS is trying to settle. I think the last offer was turned down. So unless something changes, it will go to trial.
 
TexasTom said:
But on a somewhat related note, Carr has made a big deal over certain contentious ownership transfers that are or have recently been before the FCC -- right now, it is Paramount/Skydance, before that it was the stake that George Soros' fund acquired in Audacy through buying out a bunch of their debt. Under what circumstances do such ownership transfers go before the commissioners as opposed to being entirely dealt with at the staff level?
Click to expand...

Generally speaking, once you get to that order of magnitude a full Commission vote is needed ... if for no other reason than showing that staff wasn't acting on their own. And that is where Carr seems to think he can force in the administration's agenda.

As BigA said, the routine applications never leave the purview of the Media Bureau.

And some matters that the administration would like Carr to deal with are outside of FCC jurisdiction, such as Trump always making the hollow threat to "cancel the networks" because he doesn't like the news coverage. The Commission only has the powers granted to it by Congress.
 
Thanks, BigA & K.M. Richards! The last time that I followed an ownership transfer case closely was when the Clover Park School District sold KCPQ-TV Ch 13 in Tacoma to Kelly Broadcasting. In other words...so long ago that I'm pretty vague on the process.

Not that I was expert for that sale...one of the reasons I found that case interesting was because I was a student at one of Clover Park's high schools at the time.
 
Actually I see there have been some staff reductions at FCC, while they're asking for more money:

radioink.com

FCC Seeks Bigger Budget for FY 2026 Despite Workforce Cuts - Radio Ink

The FCC is requesting $416M for FY 2026 - up 6.6% - despite a staff cut to 1,404 FTEs, signaling more enforcement and digital oversight.
radioink.com radioink.com

Some past commissioners are concerned about the FCC's threat to broadcasters:

radioink.com

Past Commissioners Warn of Trump FCC's Threat To Broadcasters - Radio Ink

A bipartisan group of former FCC Commissioners is expressing concern that the agency may be undermining the First Amendment at the request of the Trump administration.
radioink.com radioink.com
 
TexasTom said:
Thanks, BigA & K.M. Richards! The last time that I followed an ownership transfer case closely was when the Clover Park School District sold KCPQ-TV Ch 13 in Tacoma to Kelly Broadcasting. In other words...so long ago that I'm pretty vague on the process.
Click to expand...

KCPQ is a rather interesting case, but I'm not going to hijack the thread for a sidebar.
 
TheBigA said:
Actually I see there have been some staff reductions at FCC, while they're asking for more money:

radioink.com

FCC Seeks Bigger Budget for FY 2026 Despite Workforce Cuts - Radio Ink

The FCC is requesting $416M for FY 2026 - up 6.6% - despite a staff cut to 1,404 FTEs, signaling more enforcement and digital oversight.
radioink.com radioink.com

Some past commissioners are concerned about the FCC's threat to broadcasters:

radioink.com

Past Commissioners Warn of Trump FCC's Threat To Broadcasters - Radio Ink

A bipartisan group of former FCC Commissioners is expressing concern that the agency may be undermining the First Amendment at the request of the Trump administration.
radioink.com radioink.com
Click to expand...

Brendan Carr is one of those people in this Administration who knows, and probably believes, better but has decided to kow-tow to the demands of the current POTUS. I say this because I remember reading a quote from him back in 2022 (I think) where he said that it wasn't any of the FCC's business what broadcasters said over the air outside of legal areas such as pornography. In this regard, Mr. Carr is not unique in this administration.
 
ted chittenden said:
Brendan Carr is one of those people in this Administration who knows, and probably believes, better but has decided to kow-tow to the demands of the current POTUS. I say this because I remember reading a quote from him back in 2022 (I think) where he said that it wasn't any of the FCC's business what broadcasters said over the air outside of legal areas such as pornography. In this regard, Mr. Carr is not unique in this administration.
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In other words, like so many others in D.C., he lacks integrity.
 
I'm surprised Simington wanted to leave The FCC. It will be filled soon since they have the votes for the 2 other conservatives which the 2 Dems should also get a vote as the President shouldn't say I'm not filling the other 2 members, as that is abuse of power in my opinion should be changed.
 


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