Harry Jessell

Former FCC, NTIA Official Henry Geller

Henry Geller, who as the general counsel of the Federal Communications Commission during the Johnson administration and activist head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration in the Carter years played a large role in the development of broadcasting, cable and telecommunications over the last quarter of the 20th century, died in Washington (DC) April 7 after a long battle with cancer. He was 96.

Satellite TV’s Orbit Is Failing Fast

Both DirecTV and long-time rival Dish Network have recently reported fourth quarter 2018 operating results and the numbers are not good. DirecTV lost 403,000 subscribers in the quarter, compared to 147,000 in the same quarter of 2017. The service is now shedding subscribers at a rate of 6.1% per quarter. The satellite operators are suffering from the same problem as cable operators are — the proliferation of broadband over-the-top (OTT) services.

End of Repack? Would You Believe 2025?

The 957 stations moving to new channels in the Federal Communications Commission repack of the TV band might get up and running on those channels in two years as the agency has mandated, but many may have to settle for temporary side-mount antennas and loss of coverage for three to five years because there aren't enough tower rigging crews to go around. What can be done?

Suddenly, Time Is Of Essence for Sinclair/Tribune

[Commentary] It makes sense for Sinclair to keep things rolling at the Federal Communications Commission and close on the Tribune merger before a possible adverse court ruling on the FCC's UHF discount, which could come in August or September. I think that Sinclair now understands the urgency. The regulatory and legal picture is complicated. But under all the scenarios, its chances improve the quicker it moves with the Fox deal, the FCC process and the closing.

Chairman Pai Should Finish the Job On Local TV Caps

[Commentary] The FCC chairman has done much to advance his deregulation agenda but there’s one conspicuous exception — the local TV ownership rule that prevents ownership of two top-four stations in a market. To put such combos together, you have to get what amounts to a waiver and that can be costly and time consuming.

Ownership Cap Shouldn't Be Used As Shield

[Commentary] The affiliates want the Federal Communications Commission to impose a 39 percent ownership cap on the networks to keep the networks’ power in check. But that’s not what regulations are for — they should protect the public, not one business from another. 

I hope that individually or collectively affiliates find a way to bring back a balance of power so that their relationship with the networks becomes a true partnership. But the FCC should not be that way.

Sinclair Creating Bad Optics For FCC Chairman Pai

[Commentary] Sinclair’s behavior in trying to merge with Tribune is doing it — and the entire broadcasting industry — no favors. By dragging out this process, and by pressing for every advantage, Sinclair is making life difficult for Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai, who has been broadcasters’ best friend in that job in decades.

End Discriminatory Regulations Against Broadcast

[Commentary] The Federal Communications Commission's tentative $13.4 million fine against Sinclair for allegedly airing news programming that was paid for by a sponsor is just one more example of antiquated rules targeting broadcasting alone. The FCC needs to rid itself of discriminatory rules and the sponsor-disclosure regime would be a fine place to start.

Sinclair + Tribune = Transformative Force

With Tribune, Sinclair goes from a large collection of TV stations to a national broadcasting platform with ambitions that go far beyond those of the Big Four networks. And that larger footprint, Sinclair figures, will allow it to roll out game-changing innovations including ATSC 3.0, mobile datacasting and targeted interactive advertising. These all have the potential to remake the entire television broadcasting business into a force that can vigorously compete with online and mobile.

Lessons Learned from the Trump Campaign

[Commentary] There is unlikely to be another presidential campaign like the one that made Donald Trump our 45th president last year. But there are lasting lessons for local broadcasters to be derived from it: 1) their lock on the presidential spend may not be as strong as they might think; and 2) as sellers they have to get as smart about Big Data and targeted advertising as the buyers.

Is TV News ‘The Enemy?’ Don’t Ask FCC Chairman Pai

[Commentary] Well, that was a disappointment. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai, who has set himself up as a champion of the First Amendment, failed to stand up for TV news at the Senate Commerce Committee hearing. Sen Tom Udall (D-NM) asked him if he agreed with President Trump's tweet that CNN, ABC, CBS and NBC are "the enemy of the American people." Chairman Pai evaded the question. First, he said, he didn't "want to wade into the larger political debates" and, then, when pressed, said weakly that everybody is entitled to First Amendment protections. Pai's answer should have been simple: "No, Senator, I don't." He did not have to elaborate. Not only would that have assured us that Pai is a thinking man and the free press advocate we believe him to be, it would also have assured us that the Pai FCC will be independent of the White House. Chairman Pai also refused to disclose what was discussed in his meetings with President Trump before his elevation to chairman in January and his re-nomination to another term this week.

Rally Round The First Amendment

[Commentary] President Trump's attacks on the mainstream news media have not only energized them, but have prompted them to work together to plot a common strategy to preserve and expand their First Amendment rights and protections. National and local broadcasters should support this effort, providing money and speaking out.

Sinclair May Be On The Wrong News Path

[Commentary] Sinclair is building a national TV news organization and there is a lot to like about that. Unfortunately, what's emerging is one with a conservative bent. If Sinclair wants to give its stations a push to the right that is certainly its prerogative, but I would hope it would not go that route. There is a better way. ABC, CBS and NBC are fine models — clear, concise, polished newscasts with minimal bias and NO commentary.

Wheeler's Auction: Promises Undelivered

[Commentary] Outgoing Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler said the other day that the auction “delivered on its ambitious promise.” That’s quite a stretch by any measure. The final numbers of $18.3 billion for 70 MHz of spectrum is miles away from the commission’s talk when this all started back in 2010.

Trump Deregulatory Fever Is Gripping the FCC

[Commentary] Whoever President-elect Donald Trump appoints to head the Federal Communications Commission, broadcasters figure they should be in much better shape than they have been with the outgoing Chairman Tom Wheeler, who provided no relief on the out-of-date ownership restrictions. With Wheeler's departure, the Republicans will suddenly have a 2-1 majority, a three-person quorum necessary to do business and the power to set the agenda that comes with the chairmanship.

Jessell Alert: Spectrum Auction Terribly Sick

[Commentary] Can you believe this? A year ago, the Federal Communications Commission teased broadcasters with prospective incentive auction opening bids for TV stations ranging from $900 million to $1.2 million. Now, going into Stage 4, with the money broadcasters want and what wireless carriers are willing to pay far, far apart, there's a possibility the whole enterprise may come to naught. If so, the wireless industry should be made to reimburse the FCC for the millions (tens of millions?) of dollars that the agency has spent creating, designing and executing the auction over the past seven years.

The FCC's A Good Place To Size Up Trump

[Commentary] There may be no better way to get a handle on how Donald John Trump will govern than to see who he appoints to replace Tom Wheeler as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Will he appoint a chairman that will eschew new regulations and cut down existing ones? Or will he choose someone who will make good on Candidate Trump's oft-stated desire to bring "mainstream media" to heel?

Trump's Media Enmity Threatens a Free Press

[Commentary] As president, [Donald Trump] would be in position to use government agencies to constrain media and to harass and punish individual media companies that offended him during his campaign or that too aggressively cover his administration. Broadcasting and cable are especially vulnerable because their businesses are directly and heavily regulated by the Federal Communications Commission. One of the things we have learned from the Obama Administration is that the notion that the FCC is independent of the White House is a joke. See network neutrality.

Trump wouldn't be the first to abuse the office in such a way. Lyndon Johnson and especially Richard Nixon were adept at using government power to pressure the networks and their affiliates. During the height of Watergate, Nixon threatened the Washington Post's TV licenses. There are a lot of reasons to support or not support a candidate for president. For broadcasters, I think, this is a big one. They have an obligation to preserve and protect the First Amendment as it preserves and protects them.

No Matter How You Slice It, Pai Is Right

[Commentary] As one of two Republican commissioners who voted to end the Federal Communications Commission's ban on television-newspaper crossownership only to come up short, FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai summed up his — and the industry's — frustration: "We end[ed] up keeping a rule on the books that almost no one at the FCC actually believes make sense any longer. This is a shame because our regulations should always be shaped only by the facts and law — not crass political considerations."

Papers: A Medium You Don’t Want to Follow

[Commentary] In the minds of many folks, newspapers and over-the-air TV broadcasting are "old media" that will suffer the same fate: an ever-increasing slide to extinction. However, there is evidence, that their paths are diverging and broadcasting is in much better shape. And with ATSC 3.0 on the horizon, the prospects for stations to compete successfully with digital media grow even brighter.

FCC Chairman Wheeler Proves To Be No Cable Shill

[Commentary] When Tom Wheeler took the reins at the Federal Communications Commission, the thought was that he would side with the cable operators he used to represent. Well, Chairman Wheeler didn't on retransmission, opting not to put in place regulations that would have hobbled broadcasters' ability to negotiate for fees. Yes, Chairman Wheeler was chief spokesman for cable in the 1980s, but he has proven to be no cable guy.

Next-Gen TV Tops New NAB Tech's Agenda

A Q&A with Sam Matheny, new executive vice president and chief technology officer of National Association of Broadcasters.

Matheny said he’s trying to identify the major trends and threats so broadcasters can stay competitive. Among items on his plate: working with ATSC and broadcasters on the development of a next-generation TV that has to be robust enough -- and flexible enough -- to serve the needs of any broadcast business plan.

“Part of my job is really going to work with all broadcasters and have them feed into the NAB TV technology committee as well as the ATSC so that we can move together as an entire industry, not just parts and pieces,” Matheny said.

Local Choice Sure Isn't the Logical Choice

[Commentary] The latest retransmission reform plan advocating an a la carte system of payment by cable subscribers for broadcast channels – Local Choice -- would harm broadcasters and I'm not sure it benefits anybody other than some small cable operators.

A better solution is for Congress to pass a law saying that if pay TV operators and broadcasters cannot agree on a retransmission fee, the matter would be settled by so-called pendulum arbitration -- just like in baseball.

Copyright Office Rebuffs Aereo Cable Play

The Copyright Office has shot down Aereo's attempt to recast itself as a cable system that may retransmit broadcast signals to paying online subscribers with the benefit of the cable compulsory license.

"[T]he Office does not believe Aereo qualifies for the Section 111 statutory license and will not process Aereo's filings at this time," says Copyright Office General Counsel Jacqueline Charlesworth in a July 16 letter to Aereo. However, because the copyright status of Aereo is still being litigated, the letter says that the Copyright Office will accept the Aereo filings on a "provisional basis" and withhold final judgment on processing them.