Geoffrey Starks

The Senate has confirmed the re-nominations of Democrat Geoffrey Starks and Republican Brendan Carr for new terms on the FCC, insuring there won’t be any more FCC nomination drama, at least in the near term following last week’s swearing in of Democrat Anna Gomez. The pair were confirmed by voice vote late Saturday (Sept. 30).

The Senate Commerce Committee has scheduled a vote next week on the nomination of Anna Gomez (left) for the open seat on the FCC, as well as the renominations of Democrat Geoffrey Starks (center) and Republican Brendan Carr (right) for their respective seats. The nomination markup will be July 12 at 10 a.m. If all goes well, the committee will favorably report the nominations to the full Senate for a vote, something that never happened for Gomez’s predecessor, Gigi Sohn, whose nomination was withdrawn after it was killed by Republicans, industry players and at least one Democrat who failed to support her.

FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said all Americans would benefit if broadcasters became a go-to streaming competitor to the Netflixes and Amazon Prime Videos of the world, using their new ATSC 3.0 advanced-TV transmission system, and perhaps the government should help subsidize that effort.

ATSC 3.0-enabled technology will make broadcasting more like the internet, but privacy protections need to be taken seriously, Geoffrey Starks said last week in a speech at the University Of Pennsylvania Carey Law School Center For Technology, Innovation & Competition.

The FCC has released its fifth report on broadcast ownership, according to FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, and there is some slight improvement in the number of women and minority-owned stations, but the emphasis is on the “slight.”

The head-scratching inside the Beltway continues as the wait for a fifth Democratic Federal Communications Commission member — and for whoever is to be named the agency’s permanent chair — continues. Initial delays were thought to involve a decision between acting chair Jessica Rosenworcel and current commissioner Geoffrey Starks. But the name of broadband backer and one-time Public Knowledge head Gigi Sohn has surfaced as a new possible alternative — and one for whom the buzz had been growing

FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said Tuesday that the digital divide has morphed during COVID-19 to a monstrous divide that leaves people of color disproportionately on the wrong side. “This cannot stand,” he said, adding that the country can no longer put off the hard work of digital equity. “This is the time. This is the moment.”

FCC commissioner Geoffrey Starks has weighed in on the current protests in response to the death of George Floyd in policy custody, signaling that increasing media diversity is one of the necessary responses to systemic racial inequality.

FCC commissioner Geoffrey Starks warned broadcasters that the new ATSC 3.0 transmission standard starting to be rolled out by TV stations across the country could bring with it the same kind of thorny issues that face tech companies — and have caused Washington to eye new regulations on the edge.

FCC Commissioners Michael O’Rielly, Brendan Carr and Geoffrey Starks weighed in on localization and local broadcasters’ coverage of crises during an NAB Show panel session.

The chairman and commissioners will appear at two different sessions at next month’s  Las Vegas gathering.

After holds from Democrats that were lifted late last year, the Senate has confirmed FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr to a full, five-year term and has confirmed Democrat Geoffrey Starks to the open seat. Both had already been approved by the Senate Commerce Committee, Starks in June and Carr a year ago this month for his current hitch filling out an unexpired term.