FARGO (KFGO) – Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr joined U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer in North Dakota on Monday to meet with local broadcasters and tour the state’s growing drone technology sector.
The visit included a roundtable in Fargo with radio and television leaders. Station managers shared concerns about losing vital advertising dollars to digital platforms like Google and Facebook.
Carr said the FCC is reviewing decades-old ownership rules to give local broadcasters more flexibility to compete and invest in community news.
“It’s a very economically challenged time for broadcasting,” Carr said, describing the shift in ad dollars as a “break-glass moment” for the industry.
Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, warned that without regulatory updates, local broadcast stations could face the same steep decline seen in the newspaper business. He stressed that over-the-air stations carry a public interest obligation that online competitors do not share.
The leaders also backed federal efforts to keep AM radio in new car dashboards. Following a recent vote in the U.S. House to protect dashboard access, Carr emphasized that AM radio remains a vital piece of the nation’s Emergency Alert System. He added that automakers can use cost-effective shielding to prevent interference in electric vehicles rather than dropping the band altogether.
Earlier Monday, Cramer and Carr traveled to Grand Forks to review North Dakota’s uncrewed aerial systems industry. The tour included meetings at Grand Forks Air Force Base, visits with defense contractors Northrop Grumman and General Atomics, and a stop at Badlands Battery.
The FCC recently freed up spectrum in the 800 megahertz band to support drone operations. Cramer said building domestic components and secure communications networks is critical for national defense.
“We can’t be relying on 100% supply chain from places like China to build our military weapon systems,” Cramer said.
Carr said the agency will take feedback from Monday’s discussions back to Washington as commissioners weigh upcoming regulatory decisions.
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