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Civil war erupts at top of FCC over Sinclair's creepy grasp on US telly

Commissioners take to the stage to hate on one another amid $4bn media merger

Get with the times, bruh

At the end of his speech, he dismissed the extensive criticism laid on him as "taking the arrows fighting to promote a fair chance for broadcasters to compete."

A speech by fellow commissioner Carr then pushed the same narrative – that the FCC is simply modernizing the media landscape.

"It is perhaps more important than ever that the FCC undertake a thorough review of its media regulations and ensure that our approach to broadcasting reflects the realities of today’s media landscape," he argued. "We should be making your jobs as broadcasters easier, not harder."

That's why since Pai became chair and the FCC gained a Republican majority the FCC has been "engaged in a comprehensive media modernization proceeding… cutting the red tape that's jamming up broadcasters and discouraging investment and innovation."

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Carr then addressed yet another FCC decision that critics argue was made to benefit Sinclair – the removal of rules around joint sales agreements, or JSAs. Sinclair Broadcasting has long used JSAs as a way to aggressively expand its media empire, which is why the FCC previously decided to put limits on them.

According to Carr, those restrictions aren't needed and could even be damaging. "The record was clear that JSAs, and other sharing arrangements, enable broadcasters to attract critical revenue in a marketplace with fierce competition for ad dollars and viewers," he argued.

"The FCC has longstanding goals to promote localism, competition, and diversity of voices. Alleviating the burdens of regulation will help us better achieve those goals and help broadcasters better serve their local communities," he added before also defending the ATSC 3.0 decision.

Next up: O'Reilly

And just for good measure, Commissioner O'Reilly then gave his own speech reiterating the exact same points as his fellow commissioners.

"I don’t need to tell this crowd that the media market has changed significantly in just the last five years," he said. "For the most part, this has been in spite of the FCC, not because of it.

"Technology and the innovative American spirit have resulted in social media platforms, over-the-top providers, and Internet sites, all of which, along with cable, seek to steal the broadcaster’s slice of the viewership pie. Our rules should reflect this."

All of which leads to one of two broad conclusions.

Either Democratic commissioner Rosenworcel is wrong and insisting on retaining rules that no longer suit the digital world – and, by extension, wrongly inferring that the decisions made by the other three speakers have something to do with Sinclair's determined efforts to lobby the FCC and federal government, rather than represent a philosophical approach to cutting red tape.

Or, the three Republican commissioners have sat down together and decided on talking points to push back against a wave of criticism over FCC decisions that have benefitted one media organization that aligns with the President's politics. And a company that they as FCC commissioners will be in a position to grant a huge expansion of market power through the proposed merger.

Which do you believe to be true? ®

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