President Donald Trump threatened ABC again Tuesday, the same night that host Jimmy Kimmel returned to the airwaves in most markets and two days after FCC Chairman Brendan Carr denied attempting to intimidate the network. “I think we’re going to test ABC out on this,” Trump said in a post Tuesday night on Truth Social. “Let’s see how we do. Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 Million Dollars. This one sounds even more lucrative.” Trump has threatened ABC and other networks repeatedly for years (see 2410100050).

FCC authority to change the national TV ownership cap remains unclear, and anything the agency does is likely to end up challenged in court, agency Chief of Staff Scott Delacourt said Wednesday at a Media Institute event. He also waved off the idea that the end of Chevron deference significantly changes how the FCC will defend its actions in court. The commissioners will vote on kicking off the 2022 quadrennial review of broadcast-ownership rules at its meeting next week (see 2509090060).

While Japan led the move to open radio access networks (ORAN), the action is shifting to North America, said Stephane Teral, chief analyst at Teral Research, during an RCR Wireless virtual conference Tuesday. Experts agreed that carriers have no choice but to move into an open network world if they want to meet the growing demands of their customers.

Nexstar said Tuesday it would join Sinclair in continuing to preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live!, despite the show's return to ABC's lineup starting Tuesday night, while FCC Chairman Brendan Carr continued to insist on social media that he didn't cause Kimmel’s suspension.

The FCC's arguments that its pole attachment regulatory authority extends to utility-owned light poles are legally dubious and practically untenable, utilities said in comments this week in docket 17-84. Commissioners adopted a pole attachments NPRM at the agency's July meeting (see 2507280053), and utilities, as expected, voiced their opposition to the light-pole proposal (see 2508290003). The proceeding also saw no clear consensus about requiring attachers to deploy within 120 days of pole make-ready work being done.

Telecom providers largely welcomed FCC proposals to streamline the agency’s slamming and truth-in-billing rules, according to their responses to an NPRM that commissioners approved in July (see 2507240055). Consumer and public interest groups disagreed, calling for some protections to remain in place. Comments were due Monday and mostly posted Tuesday in docket 17-169.

Iowa broadband officials and providers are facing pressure from NTIA to make additional cuts to BEAD program subgrants in the state's revised final plan. An email sent to some providers that preliminarily won funding directed them to renegotiate costs for certain projects that the agency deemed to be too costly, Community Broadband Action Network (CBAN) Executive Director Curtis Dean told us.

NTCA CEO Shirley Bloomfield warned that changes in the BEAD program could mean that many of the group’s members will sit it out though a good number are well positioned to participate. Departing next year after 25 years at NTCA's helm (see 2509170060), Bloomfield spoke with former FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly during a Free State Foundation webcast. “This is a tougher business than people think it is,” she said.

The FCC, which previously shot down SpaceX's plans to operate in the 2 GHz band, will likely think differently now, satellite spectrum experts said. The company applied Friday to launch and operate as many as 15,000 satellites to provide direct-to-device (D2D) service globally. The constellation would use spectrum that SpaceX is buying from EchoStar, including the 2 GHz band.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s comments pressuring ABC and broadcast companies to cease airing Jimmy Kimmel Live! were condemned by lawmakers and some conservative publications and groups over the weekend, including the Cato Institute, the National Review and the Free State Foundation. In a Concordia Summit Q&A on Monday, Carr said Kimmel’s show being taken off the air -- just hours after he publicly warned of possible FCC action against ABC and urged broadcasters to preempt it -- was “a business decision” and “not because of anything that’s happening at the federal level.”