Simington Sees No Media Diversity 'in a World of Collapse'

door" for stations, and the commission "can get out of the way" as they try to find new sustainable business models when faced with advertising dollar competition from tech giants like Google, he said at a Media Institute talk. He said diversity of ownership is important, but there won't be such diversity "in a world of collapse." Concerns about consolidation can be misguided, as modern broadcast group owners look to maximize the value of individual stations, "not turn each ... into a mouthpiece," Simington said: They seem to see strong local journalism as an asset and aren't prone to acquiring an outlet "only to gut it and make it a clone," because that would be against the group's business interests. "I want finality" from the Supreme Court in its awaited Prometheus decision, he said. Then, the FCC likely will be "eager to take up" the 2018 quadrennial review, Simington said. He said there needs to be a discussion about media ownership reflecting that some parties the agency had hoped to see invest are opting to put their money elsewhere. He said "sensible, slimmed-down regulation" will promote investment in the broadcast industry. Asked about politics at the FCC, Simington said the agency so far in his tenure has "engaged in .... strongly bipartisan and thoroughly reasoned policy. I’m very happy with the spirit of compromise ... among current leadership," and he expects it will continue once there's a 3-2 Democratic majority. A spokesperson for acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel emailed she "values collaborating with her colleagues in support of carrying out the mission of the FCC and appreciates the unique perspective they each bring to the agency.” Simington called President Joe Biden administration's infrastructure plan, with its 5G and broadband components, "very ambitious," and some aspects are worth study. He's concerned about any infrastructure plan that determines where infrastructure should be allocated. He said a 100/100 Mbps standard for broadband makes sense in much of the country but also flies in the face of digital divide issues such as markets that have never been able to attract a provider and urban areas where infrastructure isn't the chief problem.