Monday, April 6, 1998 | 10:28 a.m.
The chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce wants the marketplace -- not government policymakers -- to dictate the diverse frontiers of digital broadcasting.
While Sen. John McCain's remarks were well received by the National Association of Broadcasters on Sunday, they represent a future confrontation with the Clinton administration and the Federal Communications Commission, which view the advent of digital broadcasting later this year as an opportunity to set new policies in the industry.
McCain, R-Ariz., kicked off a two-part seminar detailing the future of digital television -- known as DTV by the 90,000 broadcasters assembled in Las Vegas this week for the industry's largest convention.
"Development of the next generation of digital television consistent with market demands should provide consumers with an array of diverse new services over a single home receiving device," McCain said. "In the new digital environment, broadcasters will experiment with different digital formats suited to different types of programming and services. Their audiences will signal their acceptance of new programming the way they always have, tuning in what they want and tuning out what they don't."
But McCain said the FCC and a commission headed by Vice President Al Gore have turned the responsibility of making sure the transition to DTV is smooth into an opportunity to become involved with programming decisions.
"Unfortunately, a majority on the FCC appears to agree with the Gore commission that the road to digital TV is paved with 'good' programming -- or, to be more precise, what they think is 'good' programming," McCain said.
"So eager are the two commissions to fasten added programming-related requirements on these new digital channels that they're engaged in a curious footrace with one another. The Gore commission was ostensibly convened to ruminate about new programming obligations and make recommendations to the FCC. But the FCC, apparently unable to contain its enthusiasm, is proceeding apace on the same issues."
Among the programming requirements the commissions are pitching are plans that make broadcasters bristle. FCC Chairman William Kennard has proposed that commercial broadcasters be forced to provide free time to political candidates. The Gore commission has discussed the adoption of a rating system drawn by special interest groups.
The proposal for free time for political candidates is similar to the Fairness Doctrine -- which was struck down by the FCC in 1987 because it violated First Amendment rights of broadcasters.
"Do you think things like ascertainment of and specialized programming obligations went out with flower power and love beads?" McCain asked. "Think again. Like 'The Brady Bunch' and 'Lost in Space,' their aging fans are back, staging a revival."
The FCC and Congress also are at odds over whether the agency can order the free political ads. Congress says it would take legislation to force the order, while the FCC contends it can do it as a broadcast policy matter.
"However generous the FCC's views of its authority in the past, the simple fact is this: The tremendous increase in available sources of information and entertainment programming makes any such new obligations suspect on both legal and practical grounds," said McCain. "That, in turn, demands that the determination to impose any new programming-related requirements be made by Congress, not by three unelected bureaucrats."
Although McCain came down in favor of the market dictating broadcast policy, he suggested television station operators come up with some kind of rating system on programming -- or else other outside forces will demand it and get it from lawmakers. He expressed disappointment in NBC's failure to sign on to a new television rating system.
Kennard is scheduled to address broadcasters at the convention Tuesday. The other commissioners are on a panel and will address legal aspects of DTV during the show, which runs through Sunday.
archive
