Jimmy Kimmel was canceled. Although only briefly “censored” by Disney (or allegedly by the President himself?), the late night host was taken off the air over factually incorrect, incendiary comments regarding Charlie Kirk’s assassination. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr was accused of “jawboning” Disney into cancelling Kimmel after his remarks on the Benny Johnson podcast, and since then, he’s been scrutinized by both left-wing defenders of the comedian and right-wing small government advocates alike.

Kimmel was only canceled for six days. The real story here is less about free speech than the complexity of America’s communications law, and the bureaucracy surrounding our 80-plus-year-old public national broadcast networks.

The federal government controls access to our broadcast TV airwaves. Since 1941, the FCC has licensed some of those airwaves to traditional broadcast networks. Unlike cable and streaming platforms, these networks are subject to federal law mandating they air content in the “public interest,” in addition to the corporate decisions of their parent companies — Disney for ABC, Paramount for CBS, and Comcast for NBC. (This “public interest” mandate was behind Carr’s comments.)

But public television is extremely outdated. Most Americans use social media, streaming platforms, and the internet to get their news now. It’s been 84 years since we launched government-controlled TV stations; technology has accelerated, and the world is different. We need something new.

On a recent episode of the All-In podcast, White House AI and Crypto Advisor David Sacks struck the perfect chord on reform. Reiterating a long-held idea, Sacks suggested that federally-owned broadcast spectrum — electromagnetic airwaves used by ABC and other major, virtually “free” (i.e. government subsidized) television channels — should be auctioned on the free market.

A similar policy was part of the One Big Beautiful Bill, which authorized the government to sell off unused broadband internet wavelengths for private use — though few reported on it, and the FCC is still implementing the policy (no wavelengths have yet been sold). The same logic could apply to broadcast frequencies: auctioning these airwaves could generate tax revenue for paying down our national debt. It would also align with the administration’s priorities of reducing government bloat (DOGE).

The PayPal mafia venture capitalist argues, correctly, that these channels no longer serve the “public interest” in our hyper-polarized media climate, as mainstream networks skew heavily left-biased. Even some efforts by major broadcast networks to shift back toward the center (like CBS’ reported plan to hire The Free Press’ Bari Weiss as, possibly, co-President) ignore the reality of AI and modern media. Traditionally shot nightly news and daily talk shows are losing viewers, advertisers, and revenue. Social media, newsletters, and podcasts shift public opinion in critical elections. Respectfully, TV is for Boomers.

So far, TV station owners like Nexstar Media Group and Allen Media (competitors to Sinclair) dominate discussions of who might buy these airwaves. But an auction would be open to nearly anyone — streaming platforms like Netflix, a collection of TikTok influencers, or a tech giant like Google. As Sacks asserted last year, current channels could also bid for their networks (and maybe they’d win them back). Either way, potentially opening up some of these valuable airwaves to AI and 5G companies would better serve modern innovators. In 2017, actually, the FCC auctioned off some of these airwaves; T-Mobile, AT&T, Comcast, and others spent billions acquiring them.

Some critics may worry about the loss of public broadcast for things like national emergency announcements or childhood education. But the Trump administration has already cut funding for PBS and NPR, and most Americans receive natural disaster alerts on their phones. And America’s next generation is probably better served by AI tutors, not hours of Bluey.

Auctioning broadcast spectrum would disrupt the industry at a time when TV viewership, particularly to late-night shows, is down 70-80 percent vs. a decade ago, and public perception of the mainstream media is starkly divided along ideological lines. The era of every household tuning into Walter Cronkite to deliver the Truth is over. The only path forward is through.

Our publicly subsidized system doesn’t align with consumer demand and is fundamentally anti-competitive — and fundamentally, if news and entertainment wants to succeed, it must serve the customer. America sits at a turning point not only in our politics, but in our media. Congress and the FCC can upend the entrenched giants of corporate news while empowering its people via the market.

Do I hear a number yet for Channel 7?

—Sam Raus

Sam Raus is the David Boaz Resident Writing Fellow at Young Voices, a political analyst, and a public relations professional. Follow him on X: @SamRaus1.