Make Broadcasters Air Independent TV Shows, Unions Tell FCC
LOS ANGELES - The FCC should make broadcast networks air more independently-made TV shows, union officials representing artists and producers told an FCC media ownership hearing here late Tues. The FCC should mandate at least 25% of primetime programs be by firms not owned by networks or Hollywood studios, said Screen Actors Guild’s Anne-Marie Johnson and Taylor Hackford, vp-Directors Guild of America.
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The FCC must ensure non-network shows get airtime if it allows more consolidation, said the union leaders, who oppose such deregulation. FCC Chmn. Martin knows there are worries about media ownership, he said (CD Oct 4 p2). Martin urged citizens to comment on the FCC broadcast rulemaking in what he termed “a very controversial issue.” Commissioners including Copps, McDowell and Tate also urged public comment. Comments could hit the million-plus mark, a panelist told the hearing.
The FCC also should revisit rules on financial interest and syndication, whose late 1995 lifting hobbled independent producers, said union officials. “The robust independent production community that existed a decade ago has been destroyed,” Hackford said: “The pool of entities producing content today, a diversity of source, is almost nonexistent.” The director’s comments were echoed by Writers Guild of America West Pres. Patric Verrone. “Existing consolidation establishes a compelling argument for requiring that these few paths to the public must carry independent programming for a significant portion of their airtime,” he said. The FCC also should set minimum levels of local music that radio stations must air, said REM bassist Mike Mills.
After lamenting the paucity of independently-made shows amid a sea of “homogenized programming,” at the first part of the hearing at U. of Southern Cal.-L.A. (USC), Comr. Adelstein quipped at a later hearing at El Segundo High School: “Homogenization may be good for milk, but it’s not good for media.”
Americans don’t want more consolidation, if the USC audience is a guide, Adelstein said: “About 99 (speakers) felt media consolidation was a bad idea, and one felt it was a good idea, which is pretty representative.” Speakers in El Segundo voiced many concerns, blaming consolidation for loss of broadcast jobs and lack of diversity in aired opinion. Some played radio and TV clips they said were biased, promoted criminal behavior including pedophilia or were racist.
The paramount is “Can that creativity get access to the public airwaves?” Copps said: “And I want to emphasize those two words, public airwaves.” That remark drew sustained applause from the standing-room-only university crowd, who frequently cheered the 2 Democrat commissioners.
McDowell and Tate said little on media ownership, telling the crowd their aim was to listen, since they had no hand in a broadcast rule remanded to the Commission in 2004 by 3rd U.S. Appeals Court, Philadelphia. “This is the first opportunity that I'll have to review this proceeding,” said Tate. “I am looking at this issue with fresh eyes,” said McDowell.
Religious panelists complained about consolidation, with Parents TV Council Pres.-Elect Tim Winter touting a la carte. Mergers “dealt a devastating blow” to family-friendly content, he said. Among nearly 50 expanded-basic channels L.A. cable subscribers get, many are too racy for many tastes, he said. Owners of stations that violate FCC decency rules should be barred from expansion, National Religious Bcstrs. Pres. Frank Wright said: “Responsibly limiting media ownership… assures access to the media.”
A call to get govt. out of broadcasting by Stanford U. Economics Prof. Bruce Owen drew boos so loud moderator and former commissioner Henry Rivera asked the crowd to stop such disruptions. Speaking for ABC, CBS and NBC, Owen said: “Media competition today is far more intense than at any other time in history.” Broadcast economics “is a fact issue,” he said: “It is not a matter of emotion or doctrine.”
L.A. TV stations need FCC help to stay competitive amid competition from cable, DBS and the Web, KNBC Gen. Mgr. Paula Madison and KTLA’s Vincent Malcolm said. Since 1976, KTLA audience share has shrunk 60%, Malcolm said, requesting “a period of loosening… ownership restrictions.” Collaboration by the L.A. Times and KTLA, both owned by Tribune, improved their journalism, they said. “It’s very expensive to produce and broadcast local news, particularly in a market as large as L.A.,” Malcolm said, noting that the area is 4 times larger than the D.C. market.