Martin Promotes A La Carte, Urges DTV Funding at Hearing
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is still “enthusiastic” about an a la carte approach for choosing cable channels, he told House appropriators at a budget hearing Tuesday. The policy would give consumers a way to cope with the industry’s “high prices” and to opt out of programming they don’t like, Martin said. He made similar comments to the Senate Commerce Committee Tuesday.
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“There is no control on rates,” Martin told Financial Services Subcommittee Chairman Jose Serrano, D-N.Y., saying a per channel selection system would allow consumers to have more control. But he also told lawmakers that managing the digital transition is a top priority for the agency, which has requested $20 million in extra funding for consumer education efforts.
“Is your request coming too late?” Serrano asked, noting that the money wouldn’t be available until the last few months of the year. “It’s critical we get the money,” Martin said. If appropriators don’t include the funds, it’s possible the commission could ask Congress for permission to use unspent revenue from previous years toward the education effort. The agency is using FY 2008’s $2.5 million DTV education funding on a series of outreach efforts, including a display of DTV posters in all 34,000 post offices in July.
Martin said industry DTV education efforts are an important supplement to the commission’s activities. The commission also is seeking an additional $7 million to be spent on four other programs: $1 million for a public safety outreach program; $2 million for the Inspector General to root out waste in the Universal Service Fund; and $4 million to buy 10 vehicles that are used to “investigate and resolve harmful interference” with public safety communications systems and to update information technology and accounting systems.
Several members criticized the FCC’s broadcast ownership rules and told Martin the policy change would further concentrate control of the nation’s airwaves in the hands of a few media interests. “That was a very big mistake,” said Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y. “These rules… will undermine the independence and diversity of journalism in our country.” Martin said the rules were carefully crafted to affect only the top 20 large markets, and were designed to help alleviate the stress on the newspaper industry by giving them additional distribution channels.
Martin assured lawmakers concerned about the impending XM-Sirius merger that the commission will examine the deal carefully, including how the companies would deal with consumer ownership of existing equipment that might be defunct in a merged company.
The FCC has no plans to revisit a rulemaking to allow cellphone usage on airplanes, Martin said in response to a question from Rep. Rodney Alexander, D-La. The European Union recently decided to allow consumer cellphone use on planes. “I don’t think the FAA has plans” to change their rules either, Martin said. The commission is still concerned about potential interference on the ground if passengers were allowed to use them, he said.