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Trump rigged the FCC to broadcast Trump TV into nearly every American home [View all]
The leader of the FCC installed by Donald Trump exploited a loophole to give a pro-Trump propaganda outlet access to millions of American homes they were banned from under ObamaTrump rigged the FCC to broadcast Trump TV into nearly every American home
By Oliver Willis |
AUGUST 7, 2017
The leader of the FCC installed by Donald Trump exploited a loophole to give a pro-Trump propaganda outlet access to millions of American homes they were banned from under Obama.
Sinclair Broadcast Group, the network of local TV stations that has operated as a pro-Donald Trump propaganda system, had a major expansion of its power enabled by the Trump administration’s stooges at the Federal Communications Commission.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, a Republican appointed by Trump, used a loophole called the “UHF discount” to let Sinclair increase its portfolio of over 170 stations with 42 stations from Tribune Media. Many of the new stations, which will now be forced to air the “must-run” pro-Trump propaganda segments other Sinclair stations now broadcast, are located in major cities like New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.
Before the Trump assist, Sinclair was not in as many large cities, with the power to target millions more Americans in states that didn’t vote for Trump in 2016.
Politico reports that “the Tribune deal would not have been viable if not for Pai’s intervention.” Without the use of the loophole, Sinclair would be constrained to the congressionally mandated cap of 39 percent reach for local station owners. In exchange for backing Trump during the campaign, Sinclair now has access to 72 percent of U.S. households for its propaganda broadcasts.
Former FCC chairman Tom Wheeler slammed the move, noting, “There was funny math created to allow the count to come up to still be below 39 percent, wink wink.”
The loophole had been closed during the Obama administration, but was revived by Pai and the other Republican members of the FCC, who after the election, have the numbers to impose rules changes.
Sinclair Broadcast Group, the network of local TV stations that has operated as a pro-Donald Trump propaganda system, had a major expansion of its power enabled by the Trump administration’s stooges at the Federal Communications Commission.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, a Republican appointed by Trump, used a loophole called the “UHF discount” to let Sinclair increase its portfolio of over 170 stations with 42 stations from Tribune Media. Many of the new stations, which will now be forced to air the “must-run” pro-Trump propaganda segments other Sinclair stations now broadcast, are located in major cities like New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.
Before the Trump assist, Sinclair was not in as many large cities, with the power to target millions more Americans in states that didn’t vote for Trump in 2016.
Politico reports that “the Tribune deal would not have been viable if not for Pai’s intervention.” Without the use of the loophole, Sinclair would be constrained to the congressionally mandated cap of 39 percent reach for local station owners. In exchange for backing Trump during the campaign, Sinclair now has access to 72 percent of U.S. households for its propaganda broadcasts.
Former FCC chairman Tom Wheeler slammed the move, noting, “There was funny math created to allow the count to come up to still be below 39 percent, wink wink.”
The loophole had been closed during the Obama administration, but was revived by Pai and the other Republican members of the FCC, who after the election, have the numbers to impose rules changes.
http://shareblue.com/trump-rigged-the-fcc-to-broadcast-trump-tv-into-nearly-every-american-home/
31 replies
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