Few heeded Trump’s call to challenge TV licenses

Published October 19, 2017 5:00am ET



President Trump said last week that broadcast TV licenses “must be challenged and, if appropriate, revoked” in response to “partisan, distorted and fake” news coverage. But few people seem to have taken him seriously, even though complaints against broadcasters are easy to file.

Publicly available data from the Federal Communications Commission show there wasn’t a significant bump in consumer complaints against TV stations after a pair of Trump tweets Thursday, despite the fact that complaints are made using a simple online form or phone call.

Already a print subscriber? Click here to login/register your account

Trusted reporting.Unlimited access.

Subscribe for full access to Washington Examiner coverage, expert political analysis, and subscriber-only journalism.

Get Unlimited Access

Already a member? Log in

Cancel anytime.