Peter Tannenwald: Grant TV Stations More Spectrum Freedom

"There are also important structural dangers in the FCC’s relentless drive to truncate TV spectrum. The first TV stations to fall will be small businesses, minority owners and stations serving minority audiences. They will be tempted by incentive auction money or may be squeezed out by new regulatory fees and burdens intended to discourage survival. Broadcast ownership will become more concentrated, notwithstanding concerns repeatedly voiced by FCC commissioners about lack of diversity in today’s media marketplace.

TV will become an all-pay commodity, with prices that historically have risen far faster than inflation. Auctions will deliver spectrum to the largest wireless companies, which have the most money to bid, even though they have accelerated wireless ownership concentration during the past decade and have generated complaints from rural areas about poor service and lack of access to the newest handsets.

In other words, even though there is much professed concern about today’s ownership concentration levels, the real long-term legacy of the current FCC will be the greatest increase in concentration of ownership in both the media and wireless industries that the nation has ever seen.

The FCC says that it wants its decisions to be data-driven, yet it is influenced by major corporate lobbyists who camp out daily in the FCC building and drown out the voices of entrepreneurs with new ideas."



http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/2...ectrum-freedom

Agreed. At one time channels went from 2 thru 83; imagine the diversity of television we could have if the spectrum wasn't re-allocated? Over 100 digital channels, free. Pay TV would never stand a chance.

Every time spectrum has been re-allocated, it has been at the expense of those broadcasters that were unable to pay the price to move to another channel or upgrade their equipment for DTV. The only players left will be the major, big money players.

What would have been really cool is if the FCC had ditched low VHF in 1948 and given broadcast television one continuous block of spectrum from channel 7 up, and had moved the incumbents up into the unused "military surplus" UHF band. Then we wouldn't be having this conversation since most of the TV spectrum would be long wave and therefore not good for mobile devices. Also, you could use one yagi antenna for all channels. Oh, if we could jump back 63 years and undo the past.

Oh, if we could jump back 63 years and undo the past.

As soon as I perfect my time machine, I'll add that to my list. I've got a bunch of other stops first, though.

Know where I can find a Flux Capacitor?