Trump says networks may need to have their licenses taken away - MSNBC Reports

[MrWowWow]

4. DumbFuck tr💩mp STILL Doesn't Understand Radio and TV Broadcast Law!!!

In the U.S., the FCC licenses individual broadcast stations (TV and radio). Each station must have a license to operate on its assigned frequency.

The networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, etc.) are not licensed by the FCC in the same way. They are content providers/distributors that affiliate with local, FCC-licensed stations.


So:

FCC license → station

No FCC license → network (as a whole)


The FCC can regulate content standards and rules (like indecency, political advertising, EAS alerts) that apply through the stations, but it doesn’t hand out a “network license.”

Here’s how it works:

Networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, etc.) are corporations. They produce and distribute programming. They aren’t “licensees” of the airwaves.

To reach the public, they sign affiliation agreements with individual FCC-licensed stations. Those stations agree to carry the network’s programming at certain times.

The FCC regulates the stations’ licenses, not the network’s existence. The network just operates as a business entity under ordinary corporate law.

The FCC does, however, review mergers, acquisitions, and ownership structures involving networks and stations (e.g., when NBC is owned by Comcast, or if a network tries to own too many stations in a single market). That oversight is through its media ownership and competition rules, not through issuing a “network license.”


So a network doesn’t apply for or hold an “operating permit” from the FCC — it relies on its affiliated or owned stations, which are licensed individually.