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CNET
an hour ago
- Business
- CNET
Gig Speeds for Every American? Trump FCC Moves to Drop One of the Group's Most Ambitious Goals
One of the federal government's most ambitious broadband targets may soon be abandoned. On August 7, the FCC will vote on a proposal to drop its goal of gig speeds for every American. In March last year, the Democratic-led group voted to raise the definition of minimum broadband speeds from 25Mbps download and 3Mbps upload speed to 100/20Mbps. It also set a more ambitious long-term goal of increasing the benchmark to 1,000Mbps download and 500Mbps upload speed. Trump's pick for FCC chair, Brendan Carr, has consistently advocated for a 'technology neutral' approach to broadband subsidies. There's only one broadband technology that can currently reach 1,000/500Mbps, and that's fiber internet. Carr's proposal repeatedly points to the previous, Democrat-led FCC's goals as outside the bounds of Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which requires the FCC to 'encourage the deployment' of telecommunications service 'on a reasonable and timely basis' to all Americans. "Not only is a long-term goal not mentioned in section 706, but maintaining such a goal risks skewing the market by unnecessarily potentially picking technological winners and losers," Carr's plan says. Locating local internet providers While Carr was critical of the increase to the minimum broadband threshold when it passed last year, there is no mention of rolling back the 100/20Mbps requirement. Changes in how we measure broadband progress Another notable departure from the 2024 report is how the FCC could measure broadband deployment going forward. Last year, for example, the Commission determined that 7% of Americans did not have access to 100/20Mbps speeds. Carr's proposal argues that this is a flawed way to measure progress toward closing the digital divide. It all hinges on one key sentence used in Section 706: 'The Commission shall determine whether advanced telecommunications capability is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion.' Carr's proposal argues that the FCC has been (wrongly) measuring where broadband has been deployed already, not where it is in the process of being deployed. 'We believe that the prior Report's binary interpretation of the threshold for issuing a passing or failing grade in the ultimate section 706 finding effectively read the 'reasonable and timely' language out of the statute,' Carr's proposal says. 'That interpretation seemingly found anything short of 100% was insufficient to warrant a passing grade and thus disregarded Congress's use of the present progressive tense in 'is being deployed.'' The interpretation of that phrase could have huge repercussions. Section 706 requires that if broadband is not being deployed to all Americans, the FCC must 'accelerate deployment of such capability by removing barriers to infrastructure investment and by promoting competition.' With $42.5 billion in federal funding through the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program currently being deployed to states, the FCC can reasonably argue that broadband is in the process of being deployed to all Americans. If the question was whether all Americans have access to broadband speeds -- as the Democratic-led FCC previously interpreted -- the answer would be a resounding no, and the FCC would be required to take concrete action to achieve that goal. Broadband affordability is no longer an FCC goal It's easy to miss the affordability aspect in Carr's proposal, but it could have far-reaching impacts. It says that the previous FCC read 'several extraneous universal service criteria' into section 706. In a footnote to that sentence, it defines these criteria as 'deployment, adoption, affordability, availability and equitable access.' In last year's report, the FCC determined that, 'The legislative history of section 706 further supports the view that Congress expects us to examine more than physical availability, and explicitly identifies affordability in describing the goals of section 706.' Carr vehemently disagreed with this interpretation, writing in a dissenting statement, 'That cannot be right. For one, those terms appear nowhere in Section 706.' Most broadband experts agree that cost is the main reason people don't have home internet, not a lack of availability. That was borne out when 23 million Americans enrolled in the Affordable Connectivity Program, a federal subsidy to help low-income families pay for internet that expired one year ago. "As folks in this space like to say, if it's not affordable, it's not accessible," Sean Gonsalvez, a director of communication with the advocacy group The Institute for Local Self-Reliance, told me in a previous interview. A 2021 Pew Research Center survey found that one in five people who don't have a broadband subscription cited cost as the main reason -- the highest of any answer and well above the number who said service isn't available. Another study found that "for every American without broadband service available, up to twice as many have service available but still don't subscribe." Even though affordability was outlined as a goal in last year's report, the previous FCC did not make much progress on the issue. Instead, it's been largely left up to states to legislate. In New York, for example, internet providers are required to offer low-income residents plans as low as $15 per month. In mid-December, the Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to the law. One month later, AT&T announced it would be removing access to its AT&T Internet Air service in New York.
The Independent
an hour ago
- Business
- The Independent
Incoming CBS owner promises Trump's FCC it will review ‘complaints of bias' at news network and eliminate DEI policies
Skydance Media, the production company that will soon take over Paramount, told the Trump administration this week that it would eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies and hire an ombudsman to review 'complaints of bias' at CBS News once its $8.4 billion merger is complete. In a pair of letters to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr this week, Skydance's general counsel Kyoko McKinnon noted that while Skydance 'does not have DEI programs in place today,' the company confirmed that the New Paramount would not establish any similar practices in the future. Following President Donald Trump's executive orders earlier this year calling for the eradication of diversity and equity policies, Carr launched investigations into media conglomerates Disney – which owns ABC News – and Comcast, the parent company of NBC News, over their DEI hiring and editorial initiatives. Trump's hand-picked FCC chief, meanwhile, has also said that his agency would block any media mergers and acquisitions if the companies involved had diversity policies in place. 'Any businesses that are looking for FCC approval, I would encourage them to get busy ending any sort of their invidious forms of DEI discrimination,' he told Bloomberg in March. 'If there's businesses out there that are still promoting invidious forms of DEI discrimination, I really don't see a path forward where the FCC could reach the conclusion that approving the transaction is going to be in the public interest.' McKinnon additionally told Carr that Skydance would hire an ombudsman for at least two years, noting that the person would report directly to the president of the New Paramount and 'receive and evaluate any complaints of bias or other concerns involving CBS.' The letter added that the company's executive leadership would 'carefully consider any such complaints in overseeing CBS's news programming.' This pledge comes weeks after Paramount settled a lawsuit brought by Trump alleging 'election interference' due to the editing of a 60 Minutes interview with 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. Even though the network denied the president's claims of 'deceptive' editing and called the lawsuit 'meritless,' Paramount paid Trump $16 million amid the pending merger, sparking accusations of bribery from Democratic lawmakers, free press organizations and CBS employees. 'New Paramount's new management will ensure that the company's array of news and entertainment programming embodies a diversity of viewpoints across the political and ideological spectrum,' McKinnon also noted, echoing similar promises Skydance CEO David Ellison made to Carr in a meeting this month. Ellison, the son of billionaire and Trump ally Larry Ellison, urged Carr to approve the merger and 'promptly grant' Paramount's request to transfer control of its broadcast licenses to Skydance. He further vowed that CBS would be 'unbiased' under the new corporate leadership. 'Relatedly, we discussed Skydance's commitment to unbiased journalism and its embrace of diverse viewpoints, principles that will ensure CBS's editorial decision-making reflects the varied ideological perspectives of American viewers,' Ellison's lawyer wrote in a regulatory filing. The meeting between Ellison and Carr took place days before Paramount and CBS announced that they had canceled outspoken Trump critic Stephen Colbert's late-night show, leading to further speculation that the demise of The Late Show was not a 'purely financial decision' and may have been politically motivated. Paramount has insisted that the cancellation was due solely to the dwindling ad revenues for late-night television and the high production costs of Colbert's show, though many CBS staffers feel it is actually 'part and parcel of the Trump shakedown settlement.' Regardless of whether Colbert's cancellation was a move to appease Trump or not, both the president and Carr have gloated over the decision. 'I absolutely love that Colbert got fired,' Trump declared on Friday. 'His talent was even less than his ratings.' Carr, meanwhile, tweeted on Tuesday that the 'partisan left's ritualist wailing and gnashing of teeth over Colbert is quite revealing,' adding that 'they're acting like they're losing a loyal DNC spokesperson.' Later on in the day, the president repeated his claim that he had struck a secret side deal with Skydance to give him up to $20 million more in pro-Trump advertising and PSAs as part of the 60 Minutes settlement. A group of liberal senators is investigating whether Ellison made any such promises to Trump. Paramount has denied knowledge of that backdoor arrangement, asserting that its payoff to Trump "does not include PSAs or anything related to PSAs.'
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
What Will Stephen Colbert Do After ‘Late Show' Ends? He Has Options
It's the old — and not very funny — joke: Where does a 1,000-pound gorilla sit? Answer: Wherever he wants. More from The Hollywood Reporter David Ellison Met With FCC Chairman in Push to Finalize Approval for Paramount Deal Writers Guild Calls for Investigation After 'Late Show' Cancellation, Citing Bribery Concerns CBS' Colbert Axe and Late-Night's Slow Death The Late Show host Stephen Colbert may not quite be the 1,000-pound gorilla of the modern interview format (that would be Joe Rogan), but he certainly carries a lot of weight. When you're the highest-rated late-night host on broadcast television and one of the most recognizable people in media, plus have a loyal audience that has grown addicted to watching you five nights a week for years … you have a significant value in the marketplace, even if CBS is showing you the door. Colbert may not be able to sit anywhere he wants when his series ends, but he's definitely going to have a few seats to choose from. In some sense, the 61-year-old's relative lack of future-proofing preparedness for this upheaval is his own fault. Despite coming to CBS from the once-edgy realm of Comedy Central's The Daily Show and his own The Colbert Report, the host's tenure on broadcast has been marked by his embrace of a highly traditional talk show format. On NBC, Jimmy Fallon has long produced digital shorts, making potentially viral content for online users. On ABC, Jimmy Kimmel made himself into a network utility player — hosting awards shows, game shows and delivering a set each year at the New York upfronts. Conan O'Brien — having previously been fired from a broadcast talk show — wisely and pre-emptively launched his hit podcast three years before TBS pulled the plug on his cable network talk show in 2021. Colbert — and this isn't meant as a slight — seemed to simply enjoy doing the job as a talk show host in the studio every night to the best of his ability. Given that his ratings were better than his rivals, why would he have done anything different? One could easily imagine Colbert being reassured by network executives over the years: Just keep doing what you're doing. After all, if you're consistently winning your time slot, and staying out of trouble, that's all you've ever needed to do on television since … well, since the dawn of television. Your business has a real problem if you can't win by winning (The New York Times reports ad revenue for late night has dropped by half in the last seven years and, last month, broadcast fell below 20 percent of all TV viewing for first time). With CBS deciding to cancel The Late Show — not ditch the show's highly paid current host, but retire the format — the network has basically undercut the speeches that all broadcast presidents and ad sales executives give each year at the upfronts: That broadcast remains strong, that it's still relevant and still matters. Colbert arguably has better options than the network giving him the boot. He is a talent and talent can draw an audience. While CBS now has … what? A hole that needs to be filled. So what happens now? Not at CBS, but for Colbert? David Letterman launched an elevated interview show on Netflix. Jon Stewart did his own twist on The Daily Show for Apple TV+ and launched a podcast before returning to The Daily Show. And O'Brien not only launched a podcast, but a whole podcast network, which he sold to SiriusXM for a tidy $150 million, and on the side makes a travel show for HBO Max. The easiest option for Colbert would be if another company — perhaps a deep-pocketed streamer — wants to pay him to keep doing something rather similar to what he's already doing for a chance at getting his 2.4 million viewers a night. The bigger hurdle, one imagines, is finding a company that's both down for this and doesn't mind potentially irking the Trump administration in the process (especially given that Disney, Apple and Amazon have seemed inclined to bend the knee, not just CBS parent Paramount). Another road is if Colbert decides to launch his own talk or interview show — whether a podcast or on YouTube. The average age of a Colbert viewer is 68, which perhaps says more about CBS' audience than it does Colbert's, but it also makes it a bit tougher to imagine Colbert hustling viewers to 'smash that like and subscribe button' on YouTube alongside MrBeast. 'My big thesis here is that what you're seeing is the slow destruction of the traditional Hollywood pipeline, and you're going to see a lot less big shots, and a lot more individuals taking a shot,' Gavin Purcell, the former showrunner for NBC's Tonight Show, and host of the AI For Humans podcast, told THR. 'Distribution is easy now. That's the thing that's really interesting. What's hard is attention. And the thing that Colbert and that team still do a great job of is commanding attention.' There's also the unforeseeable possibility that Colbert might get signed onto some entirely new format somewhere and rise, phoenix-like, as part of a brand new thing. While he might be the most traditional of the broadcast hosts, in some respects, the man has certainly done major pivots before. The Colbert Report, after all, was Colbert pretending to be an entirely different person. The wild-card outcome is that Colbert decides — after rolling out Trump jokes for a decade — to get in the political game himself. While Colbert lives in New Jersey, he's from South Carolina, and one of the state's Senate seats is open next year. Colbert has joked about the idea of running for office over the years, but when asked directly about whether he'd be interested, he tends to deflect the question. Back in 2007, when Larry King asked if he'd ever considering running for president, Colbert replied, 'Obviously, every boy has thought of it. And when you look at a field [of candidates] like this, you know …' Finally, there's an option that's perhaps even less likely than Colbert running for office: That he retires and stays retired. The thing about broadcast late-night hosts is all have made more than enough money to never work again, and yet they still get lulled back into some variation of the job, regardless of their age. They rarely quit a show, and, if pushed out, they eventually get another similar gig. Even Letterman — who seems like the sort of man who would retire — only managed to stay home for less than three years before popping back up on Netflix. There is, perhaps, something about the kind of person who is well suited for the late-night grind that is also the type of person who doesn't ever want to entirely walk away. You know who didn't come back, however? Johnny Carson. The Tonight Show host — generally considered greatest late-night host ever — retired in 1992 and never hosted again. As he told Esquire in 2002, 'You've got to know when to get the hell off the stage.' But if Spotify was around in the '90s and told Carson he could earn $30 million by working from home, interviewing whomever he wanted and could say whatever he wanted … the man might have been tempted. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 'The Studio': 30 Famous Faces Who Play (a Version of) Themselves in the Hollywood-Based Series 22 of the Most Shocking Character Deaths in Television History A 'Star Wars' Timeline: All the Movies and TV Shows in the Franchise Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
David Ellison Met With FCC Chairman in Push to Finalize Approval for Paramount Deal
Skydance chief David Ellison met with FCC Chairman Brendan Carr earlier this week as the entertainment executive seeks to complete FCC approval for his company's acquisition of Paramount Global, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. Ellison met with Carr, his chief of staff Greg Watson, and Ben Arden, special counsel in the Office of the Bureau Chief of the Media Bureau, on Tuesday, July 15. More from The Hollywood Reporter 'Late Show' Shocker: CBS Ending Late-Night Franchise in 2026 Inside the $3 Billion 'South Park' Fight That May Blow Up Its Future 'South Park' Global Fans Furious as Show Pulled From Paramount+ Amid Licensing Dispute As part of that meeting, Ellison also 'discussed Skydance's commitment to unbiased journalism and its embrace of diverse viewpoints, principles that will ensure CBS's editorial decision-making reflects the varied ideological perspectives of American viewers,' according to an ex parte filing Skydance submitted to the FCC. The meeting comes as the FCC appears to be nearing a decision on the transfer of CBS broadcast licenses, as organizations like the Teamsters and Center for American Rights plead their case for what concessions the FCC should seek. Last week, representatives for the CBS Television Network Affiliates Association met with the FCC to push for guarantees related to local resources. The commitment to local also came up in the meeting. 'With respect to the Transaction's significant public interest benefits, we explained the Ellison family and RedBird represent fresh leadership with the vision and experience needed to drive New Paramount's long-term growth in the face of the challenges presented by today's media landscape, all while preserving and enhancing the legacy and broad reach of both the national CBS television network and the company's 28 owned-and-operated local television stations,' the filing said. As THR previously noted, the question of DEI also appears to have come up in the meeting, with the FCC requiring any company seeking to get a deal done to agree to end any support for such programs. The filing noted Skydance's 'commitment to promoting non-discrimination and equal employment opportunity at New Paramount, ensuring the company is fully compliant with law,' suggesting that it is prepared to follow that precedent, which has been agreed to by T-Mobile, Verizon, and other companies under FCC review. And Ellison addressed concerns that some companies had made about a stake that the Chinese company Tencent has in the company, noting that it is a non-voting, passive stake that will be equal to less than 5 percent of the company's equity post-deal. 'We made clear that Mr. Ellison will lead New Paramount with a talented team of executives focused on American storytelling, and that RedBird's investment in New Paramount will not involve any participation by any Chinese entity or individual,' the filing says. Paramount has been among the most-closely watched media companies in the world over the past few weeks, following the company's $16 million settlement with President Trump. A shock decision to cancel the Late Show with Stephen Colbert made this week has only propelled that chatter. Ellison's meeting with the FCC suggests that the company's future, one way or the other, will be decided soon, and that he is preparing to make changes if and when he and his partners at RedBird take control. Best of The Hollywood Reporter How the Warner Brothers Got Their Film Business Started Meet the World Builders: Hollywood's Top Physical Production Executives of 2023 Men in Blazers, Hollywood's Favorite Soccer Podcast, Aims for a Global Empire Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Jon Stewart Is Unsure of ‘The Daily Show's Future Amid Paramount-Skydance Merger
Jon Stewart is uncertain about The Daily Show's future if the Skydance–Paramount merger goes through. The host of the Comedy Central program (which is owned by Paramount Global) was recently asked by a listener on his The Weekly Show With Jon Stewart podcast, 'Do you think Skydance would get rid of The Daily Show after the merger goes through?' Stewart's response came shortly before The Late Show With Stephen Colbert's shocking cancellation at CBS. More from The Hollywood Reporter David Ellison Met With FCC Chairman in Push to Finalize Approval for Paramount Deal 'Late Show' Shocker: CBS Ending Late-Night Franchise in 2026 Inside the $3 Billion 'South Park' Fight That May Blow Up Its Future 'Unfortunately, we haven't heard anything from them,' Stewart responded. 'They haven't called me and said, 'Don't get too comfortable in that office, Stewart.' But let me tell you something, I've been kicked out of shittier establishments than that. We'll land on our feet. I honestly don't know.' The host added that he 'likes to believe that without The Daily Show, Comedy Central's kind of muzak at this point.' 'I think we're the only sort of life that exists on a current basis other than South Park. But I'd like to think we bring enough value to the property, like if they're looking at it as purely a real estate transaction, I think we bring a lot of value,' Stewart continued. 'But that may not be their consideration. I don't know, they may sell the whole fucking place for parts. I just don't know. We'll deal with it when we do, but I'm so happy and proud of everybody that works there. Like they want to do that, knock themselves out.' 'We've all got a surmisal about who actually is owning it and what his ideology is. But ideology may not play a part,' he added, referencing Skydance Media CEO David Ellison, who has been praised by Trump. The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to Skydance for comment. Skydance is currently in the process of acquiring Paramount Global, which is the parent company of CBS and Comedy Central. However, the deal is still pending FCC approval, more than a year after the proposed merger was announced. Earlier this month, Paramount agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit from President Donald Trump, who sued over former Vice President Kamala Harris' 60 Minutes interview. Sources previously told The Hollywood Reporter that Paramount believes the lawsuit posed a threat to Skydance's deal to acquire the company, which requires regulatory approval, including the transfer of FCC licenses. Brendan Carr is the current chairman of the FCC after being nominated by Trump. Both Colbert and Stewart have been critical of the settlement, with the latter calling it 'shameful' earlier this month. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 'The Studio': 30 Famous Faces Who Play (a Version of) Themselves in the Hollywood-Based Series 22 of the Most Shocking Character Deaths in Television History A 'Star Wars' Timeline: All the Movies and TV Shows in the Franchise Solve the daily Crossword
