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Can the FCC revoke broadcast licenses for blatent and repeated lies and propaganda?

Shrink726

The tolerant left? I'm the intolerant left.
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If a news outlet (read: Fox) is clearly spreading lies and what amounts to propaganda while presenting it as "news," can the FCC revoke its license?
 
If a news outlet (read: Fox) is clearly spreading lies and what amounts to propaganda while presenting it as "news," can the FCC revoke its license?


Not the cable broadcast... For over the air, it's possible but very dangerous territory for everyone.

Many people forget one of the drivers for cable television was the lack of regulation in addition to the number of channels it could carry. The FCC has almost no oversight of cable television.
 
If a news outlet (read: Fox) is clearly spreading lies and what amounts to propaganda while presenting it as "news," can the FCC revoke its license?
All on-air broadcast licenses come up for renewal, and they're all within a broadcast area based on the range of the broadcast wattage. In theory, if enough people in the viewing area complained about the content, a local license could fail to be renewed, and the band width awarded to another, hopefully more responsible, organization. As such, I think it would be unlikely to, for example, shut down FOX from coast-to-coast, for something said or done by a single local affiliate station.

But the short answer is: Yes. A broadcast license can be revoked by the FCC, and the band width awarded to another source.
As stated by BlueTex above, cable is an entirely different issue. What can be done is that some very large number of cable subscribers might demand that a station be taken off the line, and the cable company, like any company, yield to the wishes of its subscribers. In that case, it's all about the money.
 
that would set a precedent that we don't want. i vote no.
I agree with that. The best way would be for people to boycott the advertisers to an extent that the broadcaster is forced to change it's programming. In the case of Fox cable, this is unlikely due to the huge following they have.

The reality is if you don't like the programming, change the channel.
 
The spread of disinformation and conspiracy theories helps to undermine democracies. But I don't know how the government would combat that without faceplanting into the First Amendment. It's a real problem.
 
Networks are not licensed by the FCC. Only the local TV/radio broadcasters are licensed. Unfortunately, president Reagan pretty much defanged the FCC during his tenure.
 
 
Networks are not licensed by the FCC. Only the local TV/radio broadcasters are licensed. Unfortunately, president Reagan pretty much defanged the FCC during his tenure.
Agreed....FCC has been a train wreck since. They are underfunded, vacant of any technical expertise worth talking about, a real mess.
 
If a news outlet (read: Fox) is clearly spreading lies and what amounts to propaganda while presenting it as "news," can the FCC revoke its license?

The Federal Communications Commission's ability to revoke broadcast licenses applies to over the air TRANSMITTERS, as in "things that use an ANTENNA" to send to receivers that use ANTENNAS.

Fox News, OAN and the like do not operate tranmitters, the local affiliate stations do but frankly speaking, you could turn off every OTA transmitter in the country and 90% of the audiences would still be receiving programming either through cable, satellite or streaming.
The same applies to terrestrial RADIO these days.
 
Not the cable broadcast... For over the air, it's possible but very dangerous territory for everyone.

Many people forget one of the drivers for cable television was the lack of regulation in addition to the number of channels it could carry. The FCC has almost no oversight of cable television.

The FCC's jurisdiction over cable and satellite is strictly one that addresses electronic and technical specs.
IOW your cable system or satellite broadcast cannot generate harmful electronic interference that degrades the performance of OTHER services.
 
The Federal Communications Commission's ability to revoke broadcast licenses applies to over the air TRANSMITTERS, as in "things that use an ANTENNA" to send to receivers that use ANTENNAS.

Fox News, OAN and the like do not operate tranmitters, the local affiliate stations do but frankly speaking, you could turn off every OTA transmitter in the country and 90% of the audiences would still be receiving programming either through cable, satellite or streaming.
The same applies to terrestrial RADIO these days.

Much of that yummy spectrum is going to waste...
 
All on-air broadcast licenses come up for renewal, and they're all within a broadcast area based on the range of the broadcast wattage. In theory, if enough people in the viewing area complained about the content, a local license could fail to be renewed, and the band width awarded to another, hopefully more responsible, organization. As such, I think it would be unlikely to, for example, shut down FOX from coast-to-coast, for something said or done by a single local affiliate station.

But the short answer is: Yes. A broadcast license can be revoked by the FCC, and the band width awarded to another source.
As stated by BlueTex above, cable is an entirely different issue. What can be done is that some very large number of cable subscribers might demand that a station be taken off the line, and the cable company, like any company, yield to the wishes of its subscribers. In that case, it's all about the money.

These large networks only own a handful of local affiliate stations, all of which, by the way back up their broadcasts on cable, satellite and streaming, so the loss of their transmitters would have a minimal effect on their audiences, 90 percent of which do NOT use an antenna anymore in the first place.

Transmitting OTA is becoming antiquated and quite frankly, obsolete.
I hope it never goes away completely but it's not the main way in which most people receive their television anymore.
 
If a news outlet (read: Fox) is clearly spreading lies and what amounts to propaganda while presenting it as "news," can the FCC revoke its license?

That is an unwise suggestion.

You further empower government to make the determination of what are lies and propaganda, becomes subject to political whim, and lastly creates yet another area of governance weaponized against opposition.
 
If a news outlet (read: Fox) is clearly spreading lies and what amounts to propaganda while presenting it as "news," can the FCC revoke its license?

Can you present an example of whatever it is that you have been deluded into believing?
 
Much of that yummy spectrum is going to waste...

Ehhhhhh, you'd be surprised.
It is the explosion of ethnic, cultural and even RETAIL use that still makes it relevant.

If you have ever switched your TV to ANTENNA and looked at the channel lineup you notice that every channel now has SUB channels.
Thus, Channel 5 might have 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, and on up to 5.18 piggybacked, and all of them are either infomercials, old TV reruns, TV preachers or foreign language programming.
So while you might not be watching Channel 5 (Channel 5.1) over the air, your Korean, Chinese, Mexican or Armenian neighbor might be watching Channel 5.8 and enjoying an altogether different programming lineup.

And since the Channel 5 station is acting as a VENDOR to these sub channel programmers it is not even apparent that FCC would shut down any more than just the main channel's transmitter as these clients did nothing wrong and do not deserve to be penalized for the mother ship's transgressions.
 
Ehhhhhh, you'd be surprised.
It is the explosion of ethnic, cultural and even RETAIL use that still makes it relevant.

If you have ever switched your TV to ANTENNA and looked at the channel lineup you notice that every channel now has SUB channels.
Thus, Channel 5 might have 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, and on up to 5.18 piggybacked, and all of them are either infomercials, old TV reruns, TV preachers or foreign language programming.
So while you might not be watching Channel 5 (Channel 5.1) over the air, your Korean, Chinese, Mexican or Armenian neighbor might be watching Channel 5.8 and enjoying an altogether different programming lineup.

And since the Channel 5 station is acting as a VENDOR to these sub channel programmers it is not even apparent that FCC would shut down any more than just the main channel's transmitter as these clients did nothing wrong and do not deserve to be penalized for the mother ship's transgressions.


I have! Spent some time playing around with SDR...

 
I have! Spent some time playing around with SDR...



Goddammit!
I HAD one of those SDR dongles (yes I admit it was just a cheap $20 dongle!) and they're a wee bit skimpy on ways to connect a really decent tuned antenna array unless you spend as much as you'd spend for a bare metal hardware radio rig.
And then the one I did have bricked itself after only five month's use.
So now I have to start all over again from scratch.

But yeah, I did love screwing around with software defined radio, it's a blast.
 
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Goddammit!
I HAD one of those SDR dongles and they're a wee bit skimpy on ways to connect a really decent tuned antenna array unless you spend as much as you'd spend for a bare metal hardware radio rig.
And then the one I did have bricked itself after only five month's use.
So now I have to start all over again from scratch.

But yeah, I did love screwing around with software defined radio, it's a blast.


Yeah, skip the cheap dongle ones if you can... Amazon has some much better stuff around $100... It's rabbit hole though... :ROFLMAO:
 
Yeah, skip the cheap dongle ones if you can... Amazon has some much better stuff around $100... It's rabbit hole though... :ROFLMAO:

Hey, you're right but in my defense I WAS just dipping my toe in the water.
A lifetime ago I was an actual ham and I even built my OWN Heathkit rigs, even a 2kW amplifier to go with the receiver and transmitter.
I also had a beautiful old Hammarlund, and some Collins gear, Hallicrafters, you name it.
This was back when I was still a teenybopper back in the 1960's and early 70's.
It all got sold off or traded for piano equipment because I'd found a lot more joy in playing rock and roll and being in a band.
(And THAT stuff got sold off or traded for FILM and VIDEO equipment a few years later!)
 
If a news outlet (read: Fox) is clearly spreading lies and what amounts to propaganda while presenting it as "news," can the FCC revoke its license?

Can you present an example of whatever it is that you have been deluded into believing?

Can you present an example of a person unable to use a search engine?
 
Truth is, we have to allow the liars and the racists in our society.

And it's the responsibility of sane people to shout them down.
 
If a news outlet (read: Fox) is clearly spreading lies and what amounts to propaganda while presenting it as "news," can the FCC revoke its license?
But you are OK with lies coming out of CNN?
 
Hey, you're right but in my defense I WAS just dipping my toe in the water.
A lifetime ago I was an actual ham and I even built my OWN Heathkit rigs, even a 2kW amplifier to go with the receiver and transmitter.
I also had a beautiful old Hammarlund, and some Collins gear, Hallicrafters, you name it.
This was back when I was still a teenybopper back in the 1960's and early 70's.
It all got sold off or traded for piano equipment because I'd found a lot more joy in playing rock and roll and being in a band.
(And THAT stuff got sold off or traded for FILM and VIDEO equipment a few years later!)

Man, Heathkit, that brings back some memories.. I used to drool over their catalog...
 
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