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dereg falls from grace
FCC chief now worries over media consolidation
By Jeff Bercovici
Anyone familiar with the track record of Michael Powell, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, may well have wondered whether it was really he appearing before Congress yesterday, and not some impostor bent on opposing his aims.
Speaking to the Senate Commerce Committee, Powell, who in the past has consistently presented himself as a champion of media ownership deregulation, sounded what was, for him, a rather new note.
"I think we have to start looking at the marketplace through the eyes of consumers," he said. "I'm concerned about the concentration, particularly in radio."
Speculation that the FCC, under his direction, is vigorously attempting to roll back market-share caps and bans on cross-media ownership is off target, says Powell.
"I am skeptical that some of the more melodramatic versions of what's likely to come out of the commission are actually an accurate reflection of what the majority of the commission thinks," he said. "I don't believe anything coming out of the commission's decision will result in one person owning everything."
The day's most surprising moment came when Powell told committee members, "We will be guided exclusively by the public interest."
In the past, the FCC chairman has been openly dismissive of the very idea of the public interest, at one point remarking, "I'm not sure I know what that is." In March, after Powell mockingly complained that he had waited in vain to be visited by the "angel of the public interest," a choir of activists dressed as angels assembled outside FCC headquarters to serenade him with protest songs.
Powell's apparent change of tune comes as the issue of media consolidation has begun to draw serious attention from politicians and the press.
Legislators from both parties express their concerns over deregulation directly to Powell yesterday.
"I want to hear how sky-is-the-limit [ownership] policy will help consumers," demanded Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said, "I hope that you will carefully weigh the first effect of relaxing these rules."
Within the entertainment industry, groups including the Screen Actors Guild, the Directors Guild of America and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists have banded together to defend limits on media ownership. These groups helped organize a public forum on media ownership rules that will take place tomorrow night at Columbia University in New York. Powell and other FCC commissioners are expected to attend.
Meanwhile, voices within the business world are increasingly questioning whether the giant media conglomerate is an effective business model. Examples such as AOL Time Warner seem to suggest that it may not be. If media companies lose their taste for consolidation, it will undercut support for ownership deregulation.
At any rate, the Michael Powell who appeared on Capitol Hill yesterday wasn't wholly unfamiliar. He reiterated his beliefs that existing media ownership rules are outdated in the era of cable and satellite TV and the internet, and that corporate parentage can help keep struggling news operations alive.
"Today, a lot of consumers have more media content than any time in history," said Powell. "I don't think combination is a complete good or bad."
January 15, 2003© 2003 Media Life
-Jeff Bercovici is a staff writer for Media Life
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