April 3, 2023 Fox files for license renewal
On Apr. 3, 2023, Fox Television Stations, LLC (FTS) filed an application to renew the broadcast license for one of the local TV stations it owns — WTXF-TV, in Philadelphia.
WTXF is one of 29 broadcast television stations owned by Fox Corp sister company FTS, the ultimate control of which lies with Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch. FTS owns and operates in 18 local U.S. markets, including 14 of the 15 largest.. (Though the word “broadcast” is now commonly used to refer to TV or radio programs transmitted by any means, such as streaming or cable, under the relevant law here, “broadcast station” refers only to one that transmits an over-air signal picked up by antennas.)
Alongside Fox Business, Fox News and other operations, FTS is one of the major assets of the Fox Corporation, in which Rupert Murdoch and the Murdoch family trust own controlling interests.
Unlike other U.S. media, broadcast radio- or TV-station owners must apply for operating licenses from and pass muster with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). These licenses are renewed every eight years. During the renewal process, there is a brief window for members of the public to petition the FCC to deny the renewal.
Broadcast station owners do not own the spectrum used to broadcast and are instead granted the privilege to use these precious airways. These airwaves are owned by the American people and licensees are expected to serve the public interest. And with limited transmission spectrum available, if too many broadcasters crowd the airwaves all transmissions are degraded by interference. For these reasons, U.S. communications law has always subjected broadcast media to this additional regulatory layer of licensing.
Under U.S. law, broadcast owners have a statutory obligation to operate stations for the “public interest, convenience and necessity,” as determined by the FCC.
To decide whether an owner is fit to operate a station in the public interest, the Commission seeks evidence that “demonstrate[s] the [applicant’s] proclivity…to deal truthfully with the Commission and to comply with [its] rules and policies” or, on the other hand, evidence that “the applicant lacks the traits of reliability and/or truthfulness necessary to be a licensee.”
According to the Commission, applications are analyzed on a case-by-case basis; there is no set hierarchy of which types of misconduct matter most, and mitigating factors are considered.
Evidence proving unfitness may include violations of the Communications Act or FCC rules and policies; adjudicated court cases involving fraudulent representations to government agencies; criminal false statements or dishonesty; or violations of broadcast-related laws on antitrust and market competition.
Misconduct outside the realm of broadcast law or government-agency rules may also indicate unfitness if it is “so egregious as to shock the conscience and evoke almost universal disapprobation,” the FCC said in a 1986 policy statement.
In a 1990 policy statement, the FCC further noted that “a propensity to comply with the law generally is relevant to the Commission's public-interest analysis, and that an applicant's or licensee's willingness to violate other laws, and, in particular, to commit felonies, also bears on our confidence that an applicant or licensee will conform to FCC rules and policies․”
FCC filing may be found here