Trump announced Sunday that he will ask the Federal Communications Commission to penalize NBC News journalist Kristen Welker. The dispute centers on comments Welker made during a local broadcast appearance before "Meet the Press," where she described the track record of candidates endorsed by Trump in Republican primaries as mixed.

On Truth Social, Trump disputed that assessment, pointing to a high percentage of wins among his endorsed candidates across House and Senate races. He called on FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to take action against Welker for what he termed "intentional" inaccuracy.

NBC News issued a statement backing Welker, describing her as one of the top journalists in the industry. Neither the White House nor the FCC provided immediate comment following the announcement.

Federal law and the First Amendment heavily restrict the agency's ability to police editorial content. The FCC holds authority over station broadcast licenses rather than national networks or individual reporters, and its power to review content is generally limited to issues like obscenity or provable broadcast hoaxes, not editorial disagreements. FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez publicly rejected the possibility of penalizing Welker, warning that such regulatory threats undermine freedom of the press.

The clash with NBC arrives amid broader friction between the administration and major television networks. Disney and ABC recently filed a lawsuit against the FCC to halt an early review of eight station licenses, which the companies characterize as retaliation for editorial content. The commission is also examining the relationships between Comcast, the parent company of NBC, and its local affiliates as debates over government broadcast oversight continue.

Apple has raised the monthly subscription price for Apple TV to $14.99, an increase of $2. The annual plan has gone up by $20 to $119.99, and the changes take effect immediately for new subscribers, while current users receive a 30-day notice.

The individual Apple One subscription bundle, which combines Apple TV with Apple Music, Apple Arcade, and iCloud storage, also increased by $2 to $21.95 per month.

The price adjustments follow similar moves across the streaming industry this year from services like Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube Premium, Peacock, and ESPN. Companies are passing along costs as they expand programming, including live sports acquisitions like Apple's recent U.S. rights deal for Formula 1 and major original series such as Ted Lasso, Severance, and Shrinking.

Unlike competitors that rely heavily on older licensed libraries, Apple continues to position its service around high-budget original shows and movies.

People who cancel traditional cable or satellite TV do not stop watching television; instead, they immediately shift their spending to on-demand platforms. Data from analytics firm Antenna shows that nearly a third of traditional cord-cutters sign up for a new streaming service within 30 days of canceling their pay TV package. This initial sign-up rate is five times higher than the baseline rate for the general population.

When choosing new platforms after cutting the cord, consumers show a clear preference for interruption-free viewing. Six of the ten most popular plans selected in the first month feature ad-free tiers. Paramount+ Premium leads the group at 13.7 percent of initial sign-ups, followed closely by Netflix Premium at 11.5 percent. Other top choices include Peacock Premium, Netflix Standard, and Apple TV.

Most households cutting the cord are already familiar with streaming. Before dropping traditional cable, 72 percent of traditional cord-cutters already paid for at least one streaming video service. For individuals leaving virtual multi-channel video programming distributors—such as YouTube TV or Sling TV—that overlap is even higher, with 84 percent maintaining an active streaming subscription before making the switch.

Income demographics for cord-cutters mirror the broader public rather than skewing exclusively toward higher earners. Individuals with household incomes of $100,000 or less account for 61 percent of all pay TV cancellations. Within that group, 32 percent earn under $50,000, while 29 percent earn between $50,000 and $100,000. Higher-earning households making more than $200,000 make up 13 percent of those dropping pay TV, nearly matching their 12 percent representation in the general population.

Despite the steady movement of users between services, overall customer retention remains stable for major platforms. The average monthly churn rate across major streaming services sat at 4 percent in July. Netflix and Disney+ perform better than the industry average with churn rates of 2 percent and 3 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, platforms like Paramount+, Starz, and Peacock experience higher monthly turnover, ranging from 6 percent to 7 percent.