General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: FCC is launching process to strip FOX News in Philly of its broadcasting license for pushing big lie [View all]CaptainTruth
(6,710 posts)The broadcast (electromagnetic) spectrum used by "radio-waved signals" (over-the-air broadcast) is owned by the federal government & the use of specific frequencies is leased to broadcasters. As the owner & lessor of that spectrum the federal government has the right to set conditions for their use, including the now-defunct "fairness doctrine."
The federal government does not own electrons traveling down copper coaxial cable (traditional cable), nor do they own photons traveling through glass fiber optic cable, nor do they own the frequencies used by satellite TV services. Therefore, they don't have the legal right to impose the same kind of requirements they can when broadcasters are using frequencies that they (the federal government) own & are leasing to those broadcasters.
Another important point: "Fox News" is not a broadcaster, they are a cable content provider. They don't have an FCC license because they don't need an FCC license because... well... they're not a broadcaster.
The local Fox affiliates, however, are broadcasters & therefore they need (& have) FCC licenses.
I'm an electrical engineer with decades of experience with the broadcast industry so I'm sure I could bore you to tears with the details, but I hope that explanation was clear.