The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) launched an investigation into media outlets PBS and National Public Radio (NPR) over member stations potentially airing “prohibited commercial advertisements,” according to a letter obtained by The New York Times.
“I am concerned that NPR and PBS broadcasts could be violating federal law by airing commercials,” FCC chair Brendan Carr wrote, according to the Times. “In particular, it is possible that NPR and PBS member stations are broadcasting underwriting announcements that cross the line into prohibited commercial advertisements.”
The FCC allows businesses to support noncommercial radio and television stations — such as NPR, PBS or college radio stations — via on-air announcements known as underwriting sponsorships. The sponsorships, though similar to advertisements, face different FCC rules than typical TV or radio ads.
Carr sent the letters Wednesday to NPR CEO Katherine Maher and PBS CEO Paula Kerger, according to the Times. He has been a member of the FCC since 2017, and was appointed by President Donald Trump to serve as the commission’s chair under his second administration.
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Brendan Carr was appointed by President Donald Trump to serve as the Federal Communications Commission chair Trump’s second administration. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Carr continued in his letter that he will alert Congress to the investigation, noting that lawmakers already are weighing whether NPR and PBS should receive taxpayer funds.
“In particular, Congress is actively considering whether to stop requiring taxpayers to subsidize NPR and PBS programming,” he wrote, according to the Times.
“To the extent that these taxpayer dollars are being used to support a for profit endeavor or an entity that is airing commercial advertisements, then that would further undermine any case for continuing to fund NPR and PBS with taxpayer dollars,” he continued.
Fox News Digital reached out to the FCC regarding the letter and the Times’ report, but did not immediately receive a response.
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NPR chief Maher said in response to the letter that NPR’s sponsorship practices “complies with federal regulations.”
“NPR programming and underwriting messaging complies with federal regulations, including the FCC guidelines on underwriting messages for noncommercial educational broadcasters, and Member stations are expected to be in compliance as well,” Maher said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital on Thursday.
“I am concerned that NPR and PBS broadcasts could be violating federal law by airing commercials,” FCC chair Brendan Carr recently wrote, according to The New York Times. (Getty Images)
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“We are confident any review of our programming and underwriting practices will confirm NPR’s adherence to these rules,” Maher said. “We have worked for decades with the FCC in support of noncommercial educational broadcasters who provide essential information, educational programming, and emergency alerts to local communities across the United States.”
PBS told Times it is proud of its “noncommercial educational programming,” and worked “diligently to comply with the F.C.C.’s underwriting regulations.”
NPR and PBS are both public broadcasting organizations, and both are bracing to potentially lose public funding under the Trump administration.
“NO MORE FUNDING FOR NPR, A TOTAL SCAM!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social in April 2024, potentially previewing their fate under his second administration. “THEY ARE A LIBERAL DISINFORMATION MACHINE. NOT ONE DOLLAR!!!”
Republican members of Congress also have introduced bills that would defund the public broadcasting organizations, such as Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy and Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry introducing the No Propaganda Act in December 2024.
“The American Taxpayer is footing the bill for a woke media corporation that pretends to be impartial while pushing Chinese propaganda,” Perry said when introducing the legislation. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting “cannot be allowed to keep using your hard-earned tax dollars to push a biased and political agenda that goes against what’s best for Americans.”
NPR and PBS are both public broadcasting organizations, and both are bracing to potentially lose public funding under the Trump administration. (Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Carr’s name recognition grew large right ahead of the Nov. 5, 2024, election, when he lambasted NBC’s decision to host former Vice President Kamala Harris on “Saturday Night Live” in the final episode ahead of Election Day, but did not offer equal time to Trump or other candidates in the presidential cycle.
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The FCC’s equal-time rule was established in 1934, and requires radio and television broadcast stations to provide the same amount of time for competing political candidates. There are exceptions to the rule, such as newscasts, documentaries and political debates.
Brendan Carr wrote that he will alert Congress to the investigation, noting that lawmakers already are weighing whether NPR and PBS should receive taxpayer funds. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“NBC has structured this in a way that’s plainly designed to evade the FCC’s rules. We’re talking 50 hours before Election Day starts, without any notice to other candidates, as far as I can tell,” Carr told Fox News Digital at the time. “And after previously coming out and saying they weren’t going to do this precisely because they did not believe that they could do this consistent with election laws and the FCC’s equal time rule.”
NBC ultimately filed an equal time notice amid outrage over Harris’ appearance.
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President Donald Trump, pictured here, appointed Brendan Carr to lead the FCC shortly after his November 2024 election win, with Carr taking the helm of the commission in January. (Evan Vucci/The Associated Press)
Trump appointed Carr to lead the FCC shortly after his November 2024 election win, with Carr taking the helm of the commission in January. Carr was first nominated to the commission by Trump during his first administration, and served as the senior Republican member of the FCC until his appointment as chair.
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“Commissioner Carr is a warrior for Free Speech, and has fought against the regulatory Lawfare that has stifled Americans’ Freedoms, and held back our Economy,” Trump said in a statement about the appointment. “He will end the regulatory onslaught that has been crippling America’s Job Creators and Innovators, and ensure that the FCC delivers for rural America.”
