Allowing TV stations to innovate and compete in...
Allowing TV stations to innovate and compete in the multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD) and wireless broadband market segments can be achieved through comprehensive, market-based regulatory reform, said a Center for Boundless Innovation in Technology report. The report was led…
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by Fred Campbell, CBIT director and former FCC Wireless Bureau chief. Old regulations, like the free-television mandate, the prohibition on broadcasters offering cable channels and broadcast spectrum limitations, should be eliminated to allow TV networks and local affiliate stations to work together, it said (http://bit.ly/1paf7TF). Repealing only the regulations enabling TV stations to meet their public interest obligations would result in the forced abandonment or sale of TV stations at “fire-sale prices, thus destroying the legitimate, investment-backed expectations of TV stations through government action,” the report said. TV stations rightly fear they wouldn’t survive if policymakers adopted the MVPD proposal for video reform, it said. “Broadcasters thus argue that policymakers should maintain the status quo.” The ownership limits and localism policies applicable to TV stations “are antithetical to the criteria for success of ad-supported services in a free market,” it said. Deregulated TV stations would be well positioned to compete in the MVPD market segment, “either alone or in combination with other service providers,” it said. The wireless broadband capabilities of the broadcast TV band may be complementary to the video services offered by satellite TV operators, “who currently lack their own terrestrial broadband facilities,” it said.