Satellite Radio Said Unable to Replace Local Radio News
PHILADELPHIA -- Local radio broadcasters shouldn’t worry about competition from satellite radio, FCC Comrs. Adelstein and Abernathy said at the NAB Radio Show here. “There is a place for satellite radio, but I don’t think they will ever be able to replicate what local broadcasters do,” Abernathy said. “I think we have the right rules in place.”
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Meeting participants griped that satellite oversteps when it provides local content, something Congress never intended, they said. And satellite should be regulated for indecent material just as they are broadcasters said. “While this does appear to be a double standard, I think it does increase local competition,” Adelstein said. Assessment of indecent content is “difficult” to navigate, Abernathy said: “We can’t minimize the First Amendment. But we need to protect our children.”
Regulating indecent content on cable TV would be just as hard, Adelstein said. “It would be highly suspect in courts” were FCC to apply indecency rules to cable, he said. Congress might succeed, but it would be an uphill battle, he added.
On media ownership, Adelstein said the FCC should draft new rules now: “We need to move as quickly as we can. It’s such an enormous task. We need to let everyone know what it is we are going to do before we do it. We didn’t do that the last time around.” Multiple court opinions make it gnarly to draft new rules, Abernathy said: “We have gotten different guidance from different directions.” The complexity rises as the effort extends to devising an accurate market-measuring regime that the courts will accept, Abernathy said.
Commissioners praised the radio industry’s local coverage of Katrina. “They fulfilled their duty as the lifeline,” said Adelstein. As Hurricane Rita neared land, Commissioners said broadcast communications will keep improving. “The governor of Texas was already talking about stockpiling phones because he expects the power to go out,” Adelstein said. The storms drive home the importance of emergency drills and emergency alert system (EAS) evaluations, Abernathy said. In reviewing Katrina’s significance, the FCC likely will discuss how to address EAS, she said.