Languishing Radio Multicasting Vote Delayed, Sources Say
FCC Chmn. Martin put off a long-awaited vote on radio multicasting (CD Aug 11 p10) amid concern by Comrs. Adelstein and Copps that a current draft order is weak on public interest obligations, agency sources said. The delay could set the stage for 8th floor talks on obligating broadcasters to disclose how they use multiple channels, FCC sources and Benton Foundation Pres. Gloria Tristani said.
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Adelstein and Copps want the final order to include guidelines for boosting programming diversity in exchange for letting AM stations broadcast digitally at night and allowing FM multicasting, we're told. The vote tally was to have come late Thurs., with the 3 Republicans agreeing to vote for the item, FCC officials said. The vote, yanked from the Sept. meeting agenda, was delayed at least twice in the past month.
The latest delay aims “to accommodate further discussion” because Martin staffers didn’t respond to Democrats’ proposed order changes, said a source. Adelstein and Copps initially were poised to dissent on the order, said a source. The vote still could go 3-2, if at least some Democrat-suggested tweaks don’t make it into the final version, said Commission sources. An FCC spokesman declined comment.
Even so, there’s hope on the 8th floor and among media activists for a deal accommodating Democrats’ insistence that broadcasters should disclose what they multicast, as well as industry wariness over new public interest rules. NAB holds that program mandates aren’t needed, and Martin’s inclined to agree, sources said.
“There is [room for compromise] and I certainly think that other Commissioners aside from the Chairman would support” some obligations, former commissioner Tristani said: “I'm hoping that there will be a resolution that gives something, some sliver of hope to the public interest, and you start with getting good information through a reasonable reporting requirement.”
A coalition wants the Commission to make stations put an annual multicasting report in their public inspection files and post it online, a Media Access Project ex parte filing sent Thurs. to the FCC said. The coalition, Alliance for Better Campaigns, said the FCC has the authority to require disclosure of: (1) Number of multicast streams. (2) Whether listeners are charged for them. (3) Amount of local content. (4) Whether unaffiliated programmers and political candidates have access.
Radio, amid rising competition, could benefit from multicasting, Stanford Group’s Paul Gallant, a former 8th floor aide, said: “The iPod is about to follow XM and Sirius into the car, which is ground zero in the battle for listeners, so the clock is ticking for terrestrial radio… Down the road, multicasting should be a nice boost for station owners.”