[opendtv] Re: FCC on cable ownership caps

  • From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Sat, 29 Aug 2009 07:40:45 -0400

At 6:04 PM -0400 8/28/09, Manfredi, Albert E wrote:
Seems logical enough. The courts are saying there's plenty to
competition to cable anyway.

Oh, hey, then why is it that everyone gets so bent out of shape about TV
network national ownership caps of OTA stations? It's not hard to argue
that the national cap on TV OTA stations is even less of a concern,
since after all, multiple TV OTA networks already coexist in every OTA
household.

Sounds like a double standard to me.

It is a "different" standard.

Broadcasters get a valuable spectrum resource essentially for free. Early on the FCC decided that it was necessary to establish ownership caps, not just for the networks, but for ANYONE, to prevent a concentration of power in the broadcast industry. One need only look at what has happened to radio when ownership caps were removed - a significant loss of jobs and diversity of delivered product.

One could argue that the networks no longer yield enough power to distort the broadcast marketplace, especially now that most consumers have moved to subscription services. But you do not see the media conglomerates lobbying for increasing the caps as they view OTA as a mature technology that is going away. Makes sense, as they now have the kind of control over the multi-channel systems that the FCC was trying to prevent when broadcasting was the only game in town.

Regards
Craig


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