FCC opens probe into whether NPR, PBS stations are breaking law by 'airing commercials'

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has ordered an investigation into National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service over concerns about promoting sponsors, a probe that may influence the debate over taxpayer funding of public media.

Mr. Carr told the presidents of NPR and PBS that he has asked the agency’s enforcement bureau to look into “the underwriting announcements and related policies of NPR, PBS, and their broadcast members stations.”

“I am concerned that NPR and PBS broadcasts could be violating federal law by airing commercials,” he said in a letter dated Wednesday but released Thursday. “In particular, it is possible that NPR and PBS member stations are broadcasting underwriting announcements that cross the line into prohibited commercial advertisements.”

He said it was important that noncommercial educational broadcast stations “remain true to their important missions and refrain from operating as noncommercial in name only,” but that their member stations may have gone too far.

“For-profit entities that contribute funds to NCE stations may receive on-air acknowledgments, but the FCC has long held that these underwriting announcements are for identification purposes only,” he said in the two-page letter.

Mr. Carr, who was named chairman by President Trump after serving on the commission since 2017, made it clear that he believes the investigation “may prove relevant to the ongoing legislative debate.”

“In particular, Congress is considering whether to stop requiring taxpayers to subsidize NPR and PBS programming,” he said in the two-page letter. “For my own part, I do not see a reason why Congress should continue sending taxpayer dollars to NPR and PBS given the changes in the media marketplace since the passing of the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967.”

Republicans have long chafed over what they describe as the left-wing and pro-Democrat bias of PBS and NPR, while supporters argue that the outlets play a valuable role in informing the public.

New: Trump FCC appointee and Project 2025 contributor @BrendanCarrFCC orders agency to investigate @npr and @pbs underwriting (ie., sponsor announcements/commercials), with eye to defunding public broadcasting. pic.twitter.com/SgeTthk15s

— Paul Farhi (@farhip) January 30, 2025

NPR President and CEO Katherine Maher and PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger insisted that their sponsorship credits follow federal regulations.

“We are confident any review of our programming and underwriting practices will confirm NPR’s adherence to these rules,” Ms. Maher said in a statement. “We have worked for decades with the FCC in support of noncommercial educational broadcasters who provide essential information, educational programming, and emergency alerts to local communities across the United States.”

Jenna Leventoff, senior policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union, slammed Mr. Carr’s decision to investigate the stations.

“The Commission should not bring frivolous investigations into media outlets simply because they do not like their coverage,” she said. “Investigations like this can chill coverage and threaten the independence of the press, making it harder to hold the government accountable and keep us all informed.”

Sen. Edward Markey, Massachusetts Democrat, decried the investigation in an X post as “baseless” and a “dangerous attack on public media and local journalism.”

On the other side was the conservative Media Research Center, which declared on X: “Defund NPR and PBS!”

NPR and PBS disseminate their programming through a network of about 1,500 member broadcast stations, which are licensed to operate by the FCC.