FCC Chair Brendan Carr Supports AM Radio Mandate, Calls It ‘Vital’ Technology.

FCC Chair Brendan Carr has lent his backing to efforts to require carmakers to keep AM radio in their dashboards. During testimony to Congress on Wednesday, Carr said the Federal Communications Commission believes relatively inexpensive shielding devices are sufficient for carmakers to resolve interference issues in electric vehicles.

Carr’s support came at the urging of Rep. Mark Alford (R-MO), a former television news anchor who is a cosponsor of the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act. “It’s very important, especially in rural areas,” said Alford, who also noted the Kansas City-built Ford F-150 truck still has AM.

Carr agreed that AM remains a “vital communications technology” and called himself a “big supporter” of the legislation. “I think it would be important to get that across the finish line and into law,” he said.

The AM Radio For Every Vehicle Act (H.R.979/S. 315) currently has the support of 177 House members and 61 Senators — with Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) adding his name to the list this week.

The long-term fate of AM radio came amid questions about Carr’s plans to modernize the FCC’s media ownership rules. Carr testified that his approach is to take some time to craft revisions that “empower” local broadcasters who embrace localism as the FCC takes on “outdated” rules.

“One thing that I’m very open-minded on — and would like to take on in my time as Chair — is reforming the FCC media ownership rules,” Carr said. He told lawmakers during a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing that local radio and TV have more trust than national media, which also means the FCC can’t wait too long.

“It makes sense to take a look at allowing local broadcasters to compete on the same scale and scope that their big tech competitors compete on, and that’s one of the issues that we’re looking at,” Carr said. He also reiterated concerns that national TV networks have too much power over local TV stations with affiliation agreements. “We need trusted sources of local news and information, and if we don’t get our regulatory structure right, there’s a chance that a significant portion of broadcasters could go the way of newspapers,” he warned.

Beyond reforming media ownership rules, Carr said other rules and regulations are likely to be scaled back as part of his massive deregulatory Delete, Delete, Delete initiative (GN Docket No. 25-133).

“The idea is from an engineering concept that the best part sometimes is no part,” Carr explained. “We’re looking at cutting back on the regulations that aren’t needed. And I think this is going to be significant.” He said it will not only save the FCC money administering the rules, but also make it easier for companies to compete.

NPR Underwriting Probe Continues

Carr also told lawmakers that the FCC’s investigation into the underwriting practices of NPR and PBS stations continues, as it looks into whether the noncommercial public media networks crossed the line into running commercials. He also acknowledged it does have implications for the debate in Congress over public media funding.

“If the FCC investigation turns up they’re running commercials, that does raise additional questions about funding from Congress,” Carr said. “But right now, we’re focused on the question about whether they’re running prohibited advertisements or not.”

Defending DEI Moves

The two-hour hearing was largely cordial, with Carr receiving little criticism from Committee members of either party despite having taken some moves viewed as controversial. One of the heated moments came when Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-MA) was critical of Carr for the FCC’s push to get companies it licenses to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

But Carr defended those efforts, and said considering diversity as part of transaction reviews isn’t new for the FCC since the previous Commission used the process to push companies to do more.

“We’re intentionally discriminating against people based on race, based on gender, and based on protected characteristics, and that’s a problem,” he said. Carr pointed out recent Supreme Court decisions have made FCC efforts pushing diversity even more troublesome. “If there are other non-discrimination practices that people are putting under umbrella terms, that’s fine. But what we’re focused on is intentional discrimination based on race, gender or protected characteristics,” he explained.

Ranking Democrat Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-NY) was also critical of the FCC for targeting broadcasters that are perceived unfavorably by President Trump. “The First Amendment is not intended to protect the President from the press. It is intended to protect the press against the government,” he said.

But Carr said he continues to view their reviews as part of the FCC’s job of ensuring broadcasters are operating it the public interest, something he thinks it has “walked away from” in recent years.