The National Association of Broadcasters had been pushing for President Joe Biden’s FCC nominee Gigi Sohn to recuse herself from several broadcast issues. The NAB was concerned about her time as a board member of Locast, a nonprofit which was ordered to shut down after illegally streaming programming.
In a letter to FCC general counsel Michele Ellison Sohn has now agreed to recuse herself from matters involving retransmission consent or television broadcast copyright for the first three years of her term. She has also agreed to recuse herself for four years from a docket concerning the rules governing retranmission consent.
While it’s still unclear if Sohn has the votes to be confirmed by The Senate, NAB CEO Curtis LeGeyt said that’s good enough for the NAB. “Ms. Sohn’s recusal agreement resolves the concerns NAB raised regarding her nomination. NAB appreciates Ms. Sohn’s willingness to seriously consider our issues regarding retransmission consent and broadcast copyright, and to address those concerns in her recusal. We look forward to the Senate moving forward with Ms. Sohn’s confirmation and are eager to work with her and the full complement of commissioners in the very near future.”
Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas has accused Sohn of supporting free speech only if it involves speech by liberals.
The Senate Commerce Committee will consider Sohn’s nomination next week.
If Sohn is approved, that would be, in no way, a victory for NAB.
It would be LeGeyt’s first “accomplishment”, right out of the chute: a tremendous loss for him and for our industry.
Sohn is a leftist radical.