Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., several Senate Democrats and the Writers Guild of America are questioning whether CBS’ Thursday announcement that it’s canceling The Late Show, hosted by Stephen Colbert, stemmed from Trump administration pressure related to the federal review of Skydance’s $8 billion purchase of network owner Paramount Global. That company recently reached a $16 million settlement in President Donald Trump's lawsuit over CBS’ editing of a 60 Minutes interview last October with former Vice President Kamala Harris. Some attorneys see that settlement as aimed at easing the path to FCC approval of Skydance's deal, but Paramount has denied those claims (see 2507020053).

Despite pressure from tribal and public interest groups, the FCC appears unlikely to change rules for the AWS-3 auction to allow a tribal window, industry officials and observers said Friday. With Olivia Trusty, a second Republican, joining the commission, Chairman Brendan Carr probably has the votes to approve auction rules regardless of opposition from Democratic Commissioner Anna Gomez, officials said. The agency is scheduled to vote on the order Thursday.

An FCC draft order on the July 24 open meeting agenda that would give the bureaus authority to delete FCC rules without seeking notice and comment is drawing warnings from public interest groups, but communications industry officials told us they aren’t concerned. The agency has also recently skipped notice and comment while shifting the language of existing rules.

FCC Media Bureau Video Division Chief Barbara Kreisman retires Aug. 1, after 50 years … Nexstar promotes Dan Lanzano to president of national advertising sales, a newly created position … Digital infrastructure firm Equinix names Shane Paladin, ex-Siteimprove, executive vice president and chief customer and revenue officer.

The FCC posted on Thursday the drafts for all the items teed up for votes at the commission’s Aug. 7 open meeting. Most have a deregulatory bent.

Iowa began accepting applications on Wednesday for its $400,000 Empower Rural Iowa broadband grant program funded by the BEAD program (see 2507140059). Applications are due by July 30 at 5 p.m. CDT. The Iowa Department of Management released its notice of funding availability last week, highlighting several notable changes. The previous "fiber-first" preference was eliminated and replaced with a technology-neutral approach. The funding notice requires broadband speeds of at least 100/20 Mbps for noncommunity anchor institutions and at least 1 Gbps symmetrical for community anchor institutions. Scoring for subgrantees was also revised to "focus exclusively on the qualifying broadband offering at each eligible location that can be provided with the smallest outlay of federal funds." Unlicensed fixed wireless providers will be given an opportunity to prove that locations within their networks are currently served to be removed from BEAD eligibility. The state anticipates grant agreements being executed in early December.

The FCC's move to consider an NPRM on copper retirements at the July 24 open meeting (see 2507030049) is part of a global trend, experts said Tuesday during a World Broadband Association webinar. Operators worldwide have the same concerns as those in the U.S. about the cost of maintaining legacy networks as fiber is deployed, panelists said.

AT&T called on California lawmakers Tuesday to grant it and other carriers relief from carrier of last resort (COLR) obligations. A state bill, AB-470, is "only focused on COLR relief in those well-served areas or areas with no population," said Terri Nikole Baca, AT&T vice president of legislative affairs, during a California Senate, Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee hearing. The "idea of a COLR obligation is outdated," she argued. Meanwhile, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and The Utility Reform Network (TURN) urged the committee to maintain its nearly 30-year-old rules.

Charter Communications' proposed $34.5 billion purchase of Cox Communications, announced in May (see 2505160060), isn't expected to raise anticompetitive concerns at the FCC. If it faces headwinds from the agency, they are more likely to come from the companies' diversity, equity and inclusion policies, cable executives, agency watchers and others tell us. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has repeatedly said the agency won't approve acquisitions involving companies practicing "invidious forms of DEI discrimination" (see 2503210049), which Carr has defined as cases "where people are discriminating based on race and gender."

NPR’s lawsuit challenging the White House executive order against it and PBS (see 2505270047) should be dismissed because CPB hasn’t cut off funding, the Trump administration said in filings Saturday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.