Satellite Radio Said Unable to Replace Local Radio News
PHILADELPHIA -- Local radio broadcasters shouldn’t worry about competition from satellite radio, FCC Comrs. Adelstein and Abernathy said at the NAB Radio Show here. “There is a place for satellite radio, but I don’t think they will ever be able to replicate what local broadcasters do,” Abernathy said. “I think we have the right rules in place.”
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Meeting participants griped that satellite oversteps when it provides local content, something Congress never intended, they said. And satellite should be regulated for indecent material just as they are broadcasters said. “While this does appear to be a double standard, I think it does increase local competition,” Adelstein said. Assessment of indecent content is “difficult” to navigate, Abernathy said: “We can’t minimize the First Amendment. But we need to protect our children.”
Regulating indecent content on cable TV would be just as hard, Adelstein said. “It would be highly suspect in courts” were FCC to apply indecency rules to cable, he said. Congress might succeed, but it would be an uphill battle, he added.
On media ownership, Adelstein said the FCC should draft new rules now: “We need to move as quickly as we can. It’s such an enormous task. We need to let everyone know what it is we are going to do before we do it. We didn’t do that the last time around.” Multiple court opinions make it gnarly to draft new rules, Abernathy said: “We have gotten different guidance from different directions.” The complexity rises as the effort extends to devising an accurate market-measuring regime that the courts will accept, Abernathy said.
Commissioners praised the radio industry’s local coverage of Katrina. “They fulfilled their duty as the lifeline,” said Adelstein. As Hurricane Rita neared land, Commissioners said broadcast communications will keep improving. “The governor of Texas was already talking about stockpiling phones because he expects the power to go out,” Adelstein said. The storms drive home the importance of emergency drills and emergency alert system (EAS) evaluations, Abernathy said. In reviewing Katrina’s significance, the FCC likely will discuss how to address EAS, she said. -- Tania Panczyk-Collins
NAB Radio Show Notebook…
As expected, NAB Pres. Edward Fritts praised local broadcasters for their coverage of Hurricane Katrina, in a speech opening the NAB Radio Show. Fritts said “nowhere has the power of radio been more apparent than the response of our stations to Hurricane Katrina.” In a world of iPods, satellite radio, blackberries and cell phones, it sometimes “takes an act of God” to remind people of the importance of local broadcasters. Gulf Coast broadcasters stayed on the air despite treacherous conditions, Fritts said. “I consider our response to Katrina to be local broadcasting’s finest hour.”
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The market for radio acquisitions is strong, and the landscape of those involved in those deals is changing, First Bcstg. Pres. Gary Lawrence said at the show. Many new entries have emerged, but many of them are being formed by radio veterans looking to reenter the business. Lawrence does see the market for larger deals. ABC Radio could garner $3 billion, if ABC has its way. About 131 deals for clusters of 6 stations or more have been announced this year. Regarding “quality” signals in large markets, Lawrence predicted more will emerge. There is also a growing trend of deals among Spanish-language broadcasters, he said.