Does your broadcasting company continue to engage in diversity, equity and inclusion programs that are designed to broaden the multicultural roster of employees? Be warned: If you plan on seeking the FCC’s okay for any regulatory matter, you’re now under the strict scrutiny of the Carr Commission.
In an interview with Bloomberg distributed late Friday, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr warned, “Any businesses that are looking for FCC approval, I would encourage them to get busy ending any sort of their invidious forms of DEI discrimination.”
In the interview, the FCC head suggested the agency could block deals if companies continue to promote DEI programs that conflict with new federal directives set forth by the Trump administration. To be clear, initiatives designed to bring more non-white males to the fold aren’t prohibited. Rather, Carr said, “If there’s businesses out there that are still promoting invidious forms of DEI discrimination, I really don’t see a path forward where the FCC could reach the conclusion that approving the transaction is going to be in the public interest.”
This opens up the Commission to becoming the arbiter as to whether or not a radio or TV station owner is engaged in “invidious forms of DEI discrimination,” and as such potential legal challenges.
Yet, Carr was likely referencing high-profile transactions that await the Commission’s approval, such as the Paramount Global merger with Skydance Media that would put David Ellison in control of an entity that today is under the influence of Shari Redstone.
What, exactly, would the Commission review? Carr said the FCC may examine corporate DEI programs beyond hiring practices — including supplier diversity initiatives that have grown in commonality in recent years and select content decisions.
Carr noted the FCC is working with Robby Starbuck, who has claimed credit for DEI rollbacks at more than 15 companies. “If companies are telling us at the FCC, ‘We’ve ended this particular discriminatory program,’ and then he’s got a whistleblower that says, ‘Actually, they kept it and they just moved it down the hall or changed the name’ — I do think that relationship with Starbuck and his network is going to prove helpful,” Carr said.
Within hours of being sworn in as the 47th President, Donald Trump issued an Executive Order titled “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing.” In response, Chairman Carr announced the immediate end of the Commission’s DEI efforts, rolling back multiple initiatives from former FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel under the Biden administration.
In the context of Carr’s broader “Delete, Delete, Delete” initiative and potential relaxation of ownership caps, the message is clear: active DEI programming could become a liability.
