Broadcasters To FCC: Digital Age Increasing Competition, Ownership Rules Harmful

At the Federal Communications Commissions media ownership workshop on Wednesday, broadcasters said the digital age has produced a wealth of competition that ownership rules are preventing them from facing head on. David Barrett, president of Hearst Television, said that what was formerly the prospect of increased competition was now an "undisputed fact" that the FCC must take into account when deciding which of its rules were still necessary in the public interest. He said it was increasingly tough to finance the local news and public affairs programming and political coverage and provide emergency information -- information that cable and satellite did not provide -- and certainly not for free to anyone who wants or needs it. Barrett said the FCC should rightly be concerned about undue consolidation, but it must also be concerned about fostering and preserving local TV. He said broadcasters need to further consolidate to achieve economic efficiencies and compete more effectively with competitors like cable, satellite and the Internet, which are not subject to similar constraints. National Association of Broadcasters Executive VP Jane Mago said broadcasters were not looking to get rid of all ownership regulations, but that in light of the reality of competition, it must review the newspaper cross-ownership ban and local ownership rules. Mago's three main points were that the FCC recognize that allowing them to compete effectively was the best way to insure they are serving the public interest; that the FCC must base its review on the current level of competition and that the FCC base any judgment on evidence, not "unsupported claims." Representatives of minority broadcasters saw it rather differently.