FCC Devaluing Local Broadcast TV, Which Could Go Way of AM Radio, Retired Covington & Burling Partner Says
Government regulation -- forced by pay TV -- is largely to blame for the growing "video divide" where once-free content, from broadcasts of sporting events to journalism, is increasingly rare, Jonathan Blake, retired partner at Covington & Burling, emailed us…
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in an essay. While program choices via pay TV are abounding, providers "did not live up to their promise of no or less advertising" or of effective public, entertainment and government channels -- a requirement pay-TV providers have actually tried to eliminate, Blake said. Broadcasters already are far more regulated than cable, and now the FCC is moving to "gut television stations' intellectual property rights" through its proposed repeal of exclusivity rules, he said. All this points to an FCC that is devaluing local broadcast TV, meaning it is "less worthy of preservation, less worthy of the freedom and flexibility to adapt to new technologies, changing consumer tastes and needs, and expanding business and service opportunities," Blake said. Considering that the FCC "is just now investigating the troubled plight of AM radio" -- a decline 40 years in the making -- "Congress and the FCC should avoid a similar outcome here," he said.