President-elect Trump’s nomination of Brendan Carr as the next chairman of the Federal Communications Commission is bringing both hope and fear to the media industry. For media executives, the hope comes in the promise of industry consolidation. Companies such as Fox Television Stations, Nexstar Media Group, Tegna and Gray Media are eager to buy more TV stations to better compete against deep-pocketed tech firms that are aggressively pursuing viewers and ad dollars.
During the campaign, Trump called for the agency to pull the broadcast licenses held by ABC, NBC and CBS because he was unhappy with their coverage. Carr recently said on X that he will ensure the FCC 'will enforce' laws that call on broadcasters 'to operate in the public interest.