Next FCC Meeting to be Held with Localism Hearing Oct. 31
All the FCC commissioners agreed to hold their next meeting Oct. 31 and combine it with a hearing on how well broadcasters serve their communities, agency officials said. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin had asked his colleagues to hold their monthly meeting the last day of the month after commissioners were unable to meet earlier because of schedule conflicts (CD Sept 27 p1), officials said.
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It’s less certain whether anything will be voted on, FCC officials said. No votes were taken at the previous two monthly commission meetings combined with field hearings on media issues, Feb. 23 in Harrisburg, Pa., and June 28 in Portland, Me. At first, Martin wanted to hold the broadcast localism hearing Oct. 11 and the monthly meeting at another time. He scrapped those plans after some commissioners balked at the Oct. 11 date, FCC officials said.
Martin got a head start on this year’s video competition report by circulating a notice of inquiry on the eighth floor early in September, FCC officials said. The notice is expected to ask pay-TV providers for data on the kinds of products they sell. A notice on the 2006 report was released last October, seeking data as of last June. Quick release of this year’s NOI doesn’t seem to be a high priority for Martin, and no other commissioners have voted on it, an FCC source said. The last video competition report approved by the commissioners covered 2005 and was voted on in February 2006 at an FCC meeting held near Dallas in connection with a field hearing on video franchising. The annual reports are sent to Congress.
Martin asked the other commissioners to hold the final media ownership field hearing Nov. 2 in Seattle, FCC officials said. It would fulfill the chairman’s promise to hold six public hearings on a comprehensive rewrite of media ownership rules before Martin circulates an order. With the public comment periods on 10 media studies that the FCC paid for also ending in November, Martin will be ready to circulate an order deregulating ownership limits by the end of the first quarter. He has told other offices he likes that timing, but Commissioner Michael Copps has said Martin may be rushing things. It’s unclear whether other commissioners support Martin’s plan for a November ownership hearing.
If commissioners cast votes Oct. 31, it probably will be on an order Martin circulated about a month ago to bar cable operators, Bells and other companies from making exclusive deals to sell pay-TV to apartment buildings and other residential developments, agency officials said. No one besides Martin has voted on the order, an official said. Commissioners won’t know for sure whether any items are set for an Oct. 31 vote until after our deadline Wednesday. Martin had until midnight Wednesday to “white copy” any items he wants approved at the gathering that hadn’t previously circulated.