FCC Chairman Brendan Carr on Friday defended his agency’s recent actions against ABC, saying broadcasters have a duty to “operate in the public interest” and that the FCC is simply working to restore that standard.
In a Fox Business Network interview with Maria Bartiromo, Carr said broadcasters “struck a deal with the American people. You broadcasters get subsidized access, free access to a valuable public resource, the airwaves, worth billions of dollars. In exchange, you have to operate in the public interest.”
“Look, as a country, we should have a trusted, respected news media, and we’re not there,” Carr said. “So I hope more broadcasters return to their public interest obligations.”
Americans have been subsidizing broadcast media to the tune of billions by giving TV stations free use of a valuable public resource—the airwaves.
— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) July 31, 2026
In exchange, broadcasters are required to operate in the public interest.
The FCC is holding them accountable to that standard. pic.twitter.com/5jERd6dvv4
The comments came one day after ABC, in its latest filing opposing the FCC’s early review of eight ABC local broadcast licenses, accused the agency of a brazen attempt to chill constitutionally protected free speech. ABC charged that the Commission is retaliating simply because it dislikes the political content of ABC’s shows.
“There is no question why the Commission is singling out these eight stations,” the network’s filing stated. “Each is owned by ABC, and the Administration has openly and repeatedly called for the revocation of ABC’s licenses, because it dislikes the content and viewpoints expressed on ABC network programs.”