FCC – Media & Communications Policy

October 16, 2025October 16, 2025 By Adonis Hoffman, Esq.

TV Consolidation – A Moat Against Extinction

Broadcast television, once the unquestioned center of American life, now stands at the edge of obsolescence. What was once a cultural hearth has been pushed to the margins by streaming, cord-cutting, “cord-nevers,” and the algorithmic dominance of Big Tech. Viewers have migrated, advertisers have followed, and revenue models that once sustained thousands of stations are eroding at an accelerating pace.

The uncomfortable truth is that fragmentation has become fatal. American broadcasters, still bound by ownership rules written for another era, are ill-equipped to compete against digital behemoths that operate without limits. Unless policymakers, regulators, and industry leaders embrace consolidation, the medium that has long been free, universal, and trusted risks being reduced to a relic of a bygone era.

September 18, 2025October 22, 2025 By Adonis Hoffman, Esq.

The Future of Conservative Media

The slaying of conservative activist and media personality Charlie Kirk as he spoke at a campus rally in Utah was a tragedy on many levels: the wrenching of a devoted family man from his wife and young children; the fatal silencing of a speaker in a nation where freedom of speech is a constitutional guarantee; and a manifestation of the increasingly brutal partisanship gripping this country.

This senseless killing also has drawn newfound attention to the environment in which Charlie Kirk thrived – the catalyst that propelled him to the forefront of a movement, making him a hero to millions and a public figure to all: conservative media.

June 26, 2025June 25, 2025 By Guest Author Anna Gomez

Government’s Unprecedented Threat to the First Amendment

Our current political moment poses challenges unlike anything I thought I would face as an FCC Commissioner. This Administration has been on a campaign to censor and control since, well, before day one. And since day one the FCC has been implementing the will of this Administration and undermining the First Amendment at every turn.

The First Amendment has protected our fundamental right to speak freely and to hold power to account since 1791. It is foundational to our democracy. Today, the greatest threat to that freedom is coming from our own government.

March 21, 2025March 19, 2025 By Michael O'Rielly

Bringing Forbearance to Video Services

The communications sector is beset by layers upon layers of unnecessary government burdens. While visible in many areas, obsolete policies fastened to traditional video providers – some of which were chiseled over 40 years ago – are clearly ready for the delete button.

Yet, erasing outdated regulations, even if there’s universal agreement, takes massive amounts of time and Herculean effort to overcome the procedural hoops and eventual court challenges. That’s unacceptable in today’s very fluid and competitive video marketplace.

March 13, 2025March 13, 2025 By Guest Author Curtis LeGeyt

Local Broadcasters Need Level Playing Field To Compete, Innovate, Serve the Public

America’s broadcasters are beacons of our democracy. Every day, they exercise their First Amendment right to report, inform, and help citizens understand the issues that affect their daily lives.

And let’s face it: This is a challenging time to be a broadcast journalist. As the truth competes with falsehoods on social media and political polarization gets the headlines, exercising our First Amendment right to inform the public and provide the facts has never been more challenging – or essential.

March 6, 2025March 6, 2025 By Stuart N. Brotman

Government Should Have No Role in Policing News Distortions

In early February, CBS News complied with an FCC request to hand over the raw footage and transcript from an October 2024 interview with Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. The FCC has re-opened a closed file of a complaint that alleges CBS doctored the interview.

President Trump has already weighed in with his conclusion in a Truth Social post – CBS “defrauded the public,” he claims, and the network “should lose its license.”

January 22, 2025 By Michael O'Rielly

Lifeline 988 Texting: Let Industry Innovate

Since becoming operational in 2022, the short code telephone number 988 has been a literal lifesaver with over 10 million callers reaching out with hope of stopping human suicides. With this success, system expansions have been proposed to make it more effective and save even more individuals. The latest proposition – georouting 988 texts to more localized suicide crisis centers – has generated broad support among most interested parties.

If there is any concern or reluctance to georouting 988 texts, it primarily rests with whether the government should impose mandates to execute the necessary steps. This is especially true when the technological specs haven’t been fully developed or adopted by industry yet. Indeed, government requirements could be unnecessary and potentially counterproductive. To the extent that increased precision of 988 for texts provided by georouting is appropriate, the private sector should maintain maximum flexibility over the when and how.

December 4, 2024December 3, 2024 By Adonis Hoffman, Esq.

A New Era at the FCC: What’s Ahead

Media have become more important and invasive in our lives than ever. Whether online, TV, video, wireless, or wearable devices, Americans can’t seem to survive more than a few minutes without them.

It thus stands to reason that a newly established Federal Communications Commission led by incoming Chairman Brendan Carr will expand the agency’s reach into areas where more and more Americans are engaged. As such, it could become as important and involved in our lives as the very media it regulates.

September 26, 2024September 26, 2024 By Stuart N. Brotman

Focusing on ‘Net Vitality’ Can Help End ‘Net Neutrality’ War

The latest battle over “net neutrality” has returned to the federal courts and to the sharply divided perspectives regarding the extent to which the Federal Communications Commission should assert regulatory authority over how internet service providers offer broadband network service.

In August, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued a stay that freezes the latest move by the FCC to re-impose a regime that requires ISPs to treat all services they carry equally, akin to the way that more traditional telephone companies have been regulated for nearly a century as nondiscriminatory common carriers. However, it has not yet rendered a decision on the case’s merits, which offers a real opportunity to look at the issue differently.

May 29, 2024May 28, 2024 By Adonis Hoffman, Esq.

American TV Is Changing for Better or Worse

The American TV market is changing before our very eyes, presenting viewers, creators, and advertisers an unprecedented degree of choice, convenience, and competition. We are witnessing a platinum age of television, where an alluring array of movies, sports, and specials is accessible on our phones, tablets, and computers, available anytime and anyplace, on demand. Though we now refer to it as “video,” at its essence it remains television, and we just cannot get enough of it.

But, for traditional TV broadcasters, these changes are both a blessing and a bane. A blessing because more people are watching more video than ever before. A bane because more people are viewing that video through non-traditional media, which represents an evolving societal shift.