Disappointment All Around at Scuttling of FCC DTV Item, Meeting

Martin said his four colleagues waited until Monday to propose drastic changes to the notice, circulated since February. Their proposal to split off part of the rulemaking into a notice of inquiry on low-power stations was a deal breaker for him, Martin told reporters gathered next to his office to hear about items set for a Nov. 4 vote, including two others on DTV. He pulled the rulemaking and all other items from the Wednesday monthly meeting in Nashville. After changing that event less than 24 hours before into a hearing on childhood obesity, Martin didn’t attend. (See separate report in this issue.)

The changes all other FCC members proposed would have gutted the item because “they also wanted to remove the potential for carriage to be provided to low power” stations, Martin said. “This provided nothing for low-power television stations,” he added. Those broadcasters agreed with him, he said, a claim they later confirmed. “I am particularly disappointed that some of my colleagues who have talked in the past about the importance of having diverse communities” didn’t approve the item, added Martin. “To the extent that the low power community is frustrated … I understand. I am frustrated.”

Commissioner Robert McDowell, among three FCC members who traveled to Nashville, also was let down, he said. “I am disappointed that representatives from the LPTV community were led to believe that their item would be on today’s agenda,” he told the en banc hearing, at Vanderbilt University’s medical center. “As evidenced by the crowd today, they traveled from all over the country to Nashville only to find out that their item had been removed without the benefit of notification.” Other commissioners were irked at Martin for canceling the agenda meeting and pulling the item, several FCC officials said. Two officials said that the changes commissioners proposed Monday were the same as those proposed in February, when Martin first circulated the low- power item. They said commissioners remain ready to vote for a split item if Martin were to circulate one on the issue, which would deal with carriage issues via an NOI and other issues in an NPRM.

Martin’s tactics mean the FCC is “in exactly the same position we were in in February,” when the low-power item first circulated, because the agency hasn’t acted on the issue, said Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein. “He’s done nothing to build consensus since then except for threaten to disrupt our meeting on childhood obesity,” Adelstein said in an interview late Wednesday. “He apparently had time to hold a press conference to attack those of us who bothered to show up and were away in Nashville unable to respond,” he added, saying “working late isn’t a very good excuse” for the chairman not to travel there. Two other FCC officials said all the members besides Martin had voted for a modified item.

Martin responded that the other commissioners, not he, were being two-faced in not approving the item. “I'm very upset that the other commissioners had months to consider the item and decided to submit edits Monday night,” he told reporters. “I'm frustrated as well that the other commissioners did not want to move forward with the item” and wouldn’t even vote on it, he said, voice rising. In addition to some cable operators, he said some full-power broadcasters also opposed the item, adding that he heard opposition to it when he went to NAB. An NAB spokesman repeated that the group never took a position on the low-power item.

Low-power broadcasters said all FCC members should meet publicly to consider the rulemaking notice and hear testimony from executives. “People were coming in from all over the United States, 20 of us still managed to get here anyway, because we couldn’t turn around,” said Greg Herman, vice president for technology of the Community Broadcasters Association, representing the industry. Of Martin, he said “it’s most disappointing that he wasn’t able to make it, but we're not in control of his schedule, either.”

Penny Nance, an aide to Martin, conveyed a message from him to the low-power broadcasters in Nashville, said Amy Brown, executive director of the trade group. Nance said the chairman apologized that the meeting was off and said that he appreciated broadcasters’ attendance, said Brown. An FCC spokesman said Martin “hoped to go, but was unable to do so” because he worked past midnight on items he white-copied for the Election Day agency meeting. “We couldn’t plan on going since he was here so late,” said the spokesman. Another factor in Martin’s absence was his pulling of the low-power item, he added.

Brown and Herman said the 20 broadcasters in Nashville spoke with Adelstein, McDowell and Tate about the item, meeting with them during a break at the obesity meeting. They came away “encouraged” because commissioners “can vote on this issue anytime,” said Herman. Martin confirmed that the item remains on circulation. “The chairman’s proposal needs to move forward to the NPRM process and we are not going to stop until we see a real airing of the issues, not some vacant NOI process,” added Herman.

Martin seeks a vote by the Nov. 4 meeting on an order letting broadcasters scatter lower-power antennas throughout their coverage area to ensure all people in a market can view the digital signals. The item approves the use of distributed transmission systems, Martin told reporters. He said a second order he’s seeking a vote on would “clarify” that TV stations must pass along closed captioning in digital broadcasts.