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FCC chair Brendan Carr announced the Pledge America Campaign on Friday.
The campaign “urges broadcasters to air patriotic, pro-America programming in support of America’s 250th Birthday.”
Among Carr’s suggestions: “starting each broadcast day with the ‘Star Spangled Banner’ or Pledge of Allegiance.”
Oh say, can you see?
Brendan Carr, the chairman of the FCC who was appointed by President Trump, announced the Pledge America Campaign on Friday, which “urges broadcasters to air patriotic, pro-America programming in support of America’s 250th Birthday.”
In a statement, Carr said he is “inviting broadcasters to pledge to air programming in their local markets in support of this historic national, non-partisan celebration.”
One of Carr’s suggestions: beginning every morning with a piping hot cup of patriotism by “starting each broadcast day with the ‘Star Spangled Banner’ or Pledge of Allegiance.”
American networks once ended every day with a broadcast of “The Star Spangled Banner,” but the practice was phased out upon the advent of 24-hour broadcasting.
Brendan Carr in Washington, D.C., in 2025
John McDonnell/Getty
Carr also suggested “running PSAs, short segments, or full specials specifically promoting civic education, inspiring local stories, and American history,” as well as “including segments during regular news programming that highlight local sites that are significant to American and regional history, such as National Park Service sites” and “airing music by America’s greatest composers, such as John Philip Sousa, Aaron Copland, Duke Ellington, or George Gershwin.”
The chair further urged broadcasters to begin “providing daily ‘Today in American History’ announcements highlighting significant events that took place on that day in history” and suggested “partnering with community organizations and other groups that are already working hard to bring America’s stories of unity, perseverance, and triumph to light.”
Carr added, “I believe in the greatness of our country. And I look forward to broadcasters showcasing its inspiring history by taking the Pledge and fulfilling their public interest mandate to serve the needs and interests of their local communities as America’s 250th birthday celebration marches on.”
The announcement noted that participation in the Pledge America Campaign is not required, but “broadcasters can voluntarily choose to indicate their commitment to the Pledge America Campaign and highlight their ongoing and relevant programming to their viewing and listening audiences.”
Carr and the FCC have repeatedly clashed with network programming in recent months. The chair called on ABC affiliate stations to preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live in September, prompting ABC to suspend the show for six days before it returned to air. Carr also praised affiliate groups like Sinclair and Nexstar for refusing to air the talk show after ABC ended the suspension.
More recently, the FCC released new guidance last month that would effectively force talk shows to provide equal time to all political candidates running for the same office, ending the decades-old exemption that framed talk shows as bona fide news programs that were not subject to the equal time rule. Jimmy Kimmel criticized the move as “sneaky little way of keeping viewpoints that aren’t [Carr’s] off the air,” adding, “It’s his latest attack on free speech.”
Under that new guidance, Carr said that the FCC was investigating The View for running an interview with James Talarico a Democratic candidate running to represent Texas in the U.S. Senate.
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The guidance also led The Late Show With Stephen Colbert to nix its interview with Talarico from a broadcast this week under guidance from parent network CBS, though the show still posted the conversation on YouTube. “Corporate media executives are selling out the First Amendment to curry favor with corrupt politicians and a threat to any of our First Amendment rights is a threat to all our First Amendment rights,” Talarico said in the interview.
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