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    FCC Chairman Wheeler to resign on Inauguration Day 

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments1387 Views
    In this March 17, 2015, file photo, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler testifies before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on net neutrality on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke, File)

    By Tali Arbel, Technology Writer

    NEW YORK (AP) --

    The head of the Federal Communications Commission, which regulates broadcasters, phone and cable companies, says he will step down in January as President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

    That will leave a 2-1 Republican majority at the commission, which next year is likely to start paring back or overturning the measures that Chairman Tom Wheeler pushed through in his three years at the FCC.

    The former cable- and wireless-industry lobbyist championed policies that were intended to protect consumers and that rankled the phone and cable industries, including new "net neutrality" rules that prevent internet service providers from favoring their own sites and consumer online-privacy rules.

    It's typical for the FCC chairman to leave with a new administration, but there had been speculation that Wheeler might stay on. The agency is led by four commissioners and a chairman, and Wheeler could have stepped down as chairman and stayed as a commissioner. Trump will choose a new chairman.

    "Serving as FCC Chairman during this period of historic technological change has been the greatest honor of my professional life," Wheeler said in a statement Thursday.

    Tags:FCCTom Wheeler



    Trump taps “Apprentice” producer, Mark Burnett, as special envoy to the U.K.

    Saturday, December 21, 2024
    Television producer Mark Burnett, left, looks on as President Donald Trump arrives for the National Prayer Breakfast, Feb. 2, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

    Mark Burnett, the power producer who helped reintroduce Donald Trump to a national television audience with "The Apprentice," is being tapped by the president-elect as special envoy to the United Kingdom in his upcoming administration.

    "With a distinguished career in television production and business, Mark brings a unique blend of diplomatic acumen and international recognition to this important role," Trump announced Saturday.

    Burnett, who was born in London, helped produce hits like "Survivor" and "The Voice," but is perhaps best known for teaming up with Trump for "The Apprentice," which first aired on NBC in 2004.

    Trump had been well-known in real estate and pop culture circles for decades. But the show helped again make him a household name — though Trump severed ties with NBC in 2015, the same year he launched his first White House run.

    The selection of Burnett continues Trump's trend of filling out his incoming administration with people who have high-profile backgrounds in television or politics, or both — including his choice to be defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, a former co-host of "Fox & Friends Weekend," and ex-television doctor and unsuccessful Senate candidate in Pennsylvania, Mehmet Oz.

    Trump's first campaign in 2016 was rocked by allegations about his conduct on "The Apprentice" and other appearances during his association with NBC, notably in footage in which he said he could sexually assault women and get away with it because he was a "star."

    Almost a decade after he left his reality TV role, Trump's television career remains central to his biography and political rise. The show presented Trump Tower to tens of millions of people as a symbol of power and success before Trump launched his first... Read More

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