WASHINGTON, D.C. – October 2, 2023 – America’s Public Television Stations (APTS) today praised the reconfirmations of Brendan Carr and Geoffrey Starks to serve as commissioners of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC):
“America’s Public Television Stations congratulate Commissioner Carr and Commissioner Starks on their reconfirmation to continue serving on the FCC,” said APTS president and CEO Patrick Butler.
“Commissioner Carr has demonstrated a strong commitment to ensuring that every American, including the millions living in rural America, has access to modern communications services – a commitment public television shares as we serve nearly 97 percent of the American people, including in areas where broadcasting and broadband services are not economical for our commercial colleagues,” Butler said.
“He has also been a major supporter of NEXTGEN TV as Broadcast Internet, promoting innovation, experimentation and the more creative use of broadcast television spectrum.
“Commissioner Starks has built a sterling reputation on the FCC as a firm believer in the power of communications technology to enhance equality and opportunity in American society,” Butler said.
“He is a champion of free, over-the-air television and the extraordinary potential of ATSC 3.0 to expand the public service mission of public television. We are grateful for his support for our work, especially as we transition to NEXTGEN TV broadcasting.
“We look forward to working with Commissioners Carr and Starks, and the entire Commission,” Butler said, “to advance public television’s missions of education, public safety and civic leadership — and in particular, to demonstrating how public television datacasting and the NEXTGEN TV ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard can help bridge the digital divide and close the homework gap, revolutionize remote learning, and enable a host of new services for the American people."
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About APTS
America’s Public Television Stations (APTS) is a nonprofit membership organization ensuring a strong and financially sound public television system and helping member stations provide essential public services in education, public safety and civic leadership to the American people. For more information, visit www.apts.org.
Contact:
Stacey Karp
202-654-4222
skarp@apts.org