NewsNovo
Broadcast networks have a documented legal reason to apply editorial caution before carrying unverified election claims live. The problem is that exercising that caution now carries its own regulatory price.
President Trump renewed his threat on Thursday to revoke the licenses of ABC and NBC after both networks declined to air his election integrity address on linear television, and the Federal Communications Commission has spent months building the regulatory groundwork to give that threat reach.
What aired Thursday night, and what did not CBS and Fox were the only major broadcasters to preempt primetime programming. Fox and Fox News Channel aired the address in full.
CBS carried portions live as part of a special news broadcast. ABC, NBC, and CNN declined to broadcast the speech on their linear channels, though ABC and NBC both aired coverage through their streaming platforms.
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