Fox TV license renewal may be in jeopardy as FCC invites public response
Enlarge / A mobile billboard deployed by advocacy group Media Matters drives past a courthouse on April 17, 2023, in Wilmington, Delaware. (credit: Getty Images | Jemal Countess )
A Fox TV broadcast station license renewal is facing an uncommon level of scrutiny at the Federal Communications Commission, with the FCC taking the rare step of allowing broader public input on a petition to deny the station's renewal application.
The proceeding concerns WTXF-TV in Philadelphia, the only Fox-owned TV station that's currently up for renewal. An advocacy group called the Media and Democracy Project (MAD) petitioned the FCC to deny the renewal on July 3, arguing that Fox "has repeatedly aired false information about election fraud, sowing discord in the country and contributing to harmful and dangerous acts on January 6, 2021."
MAD says that Fox lacks the character required to maintain a license and hopes other Fox stations will lose their licenses, too. No other Fox stations are up for license renewal until 2028, according to a Bloomberg article.