FCC DTV Consumer Education Order Has Three Votes
An order requiring broadcasters to air public service ads on the digital transition (CD Dec 4 p6) has long had three votes and may pick up the next two within weeks, said agency officials. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin voted for it Oct. 16 when he circulated the order, which would also require cable and satellite operators to insert information on DTV in customer bills. Commissioners Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps have also voted for the order, said many sources. They said Martin has granted two extensions to give Commissioners Robert McDowell and Deborah Tate more time to consider the rulemaking.
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McDowell and Tate are studying the order and deem it a high priority, despite not voting yet, said agency officials. Although the two Republicans haven’t shared their opinion on the order with all other colleagues, at least one of them has held “informal talks” on possible changes to the requirements, said an official. The agency’s Democrats recently proposed additional tweaks, which won’t radically alter the draft language from Martin’s version, said commission sources. A Democratic proposal envisions an internal FCC task force to focus on the transition, said agency sources. But the Democrats likely still would support the order even if Martin doesn’t agree to start such a committee, said one source.
The order is likely to be adopted on circulation before the DTV oversight hearings on Capitol Hill, said agency sources. The House Commerce Committee has scheduled a hearing Feb. 13, with one slated for the next day by the Senate Commerce Committee. The current vote extension runs out this week, said sources. McDowell and Tate could both vote on the order by month’s end, said an official.
The order could be changed to reflect a proposal from NAB that the commission remove a requirement for broadcasters to air a minimum number of PSAs on the transition, said an agency official. Under NAB’s plan filed with the commission, broadcasters who sign on to the group’s ongoing public education campaign, whose value it pegs at $1 billion, would get “safe harbor” from such PSA requirements. They'd still run PSA spots and report to the commission quarterly on their education efforts. Almost 1,500 commercial and non-profit stations have joined NAB’s education effort, representing 84 percent of all U.S. full-power stations, said a Jan. 18 filing. NAB President David Rehr discussed the plan Jan. 17 with Tate and Jan. 14 with Adelstein, according to ex partes.
Broadcasters are better suited to determine the details of DTV education than regulators, said an NAB handout given to those two commissioners. “The FCC should establish a ’safe harbor’ recognizing that stations that participate in the broadcaster plan are meeting the needs of their communities,” it said. “Because it was developed by experts drawing upon the extensive marketing experience of our industry, the broadcaster plan will be more effective than any government-mandated plan.” Progress & Freedom Foundation President Ken Ferree agreed. “It seems like as a practical matter all of the industries concerned have a vested interest in making sure people aren’t left out in the cold come February of 2009,” said Ferree, Media Bureau chief under Michael Powell. “Those industries also know how to best do it.”
Benton Foundation founder Charles Benton, on an FCC DTV committee, said it’s past time the order be issued and the rulemaking should require broadcasters air PSAs and that they report to the FCC on their outreach efforts. “It’s absolutely unconscionable that the [draft order] has been languishing since last fall,” he said. The Consumer Advisory Committee on which he sits recommended the FCC require PSAs and broadcaster reporting and is waiting for the order to make further recommendations, Benton said. “There is no overall plan or set or policy priorities. I think this is really a shame. The FCC could be doing this, but it is not, it has just been pushed in the background by other struggles such as the media ownership struggle and other priorities.”