How U.S. broadcasters are reaping the rewards of a strong lobby

American cablecos are lamenting their poor lobbying record these days, saying more needs to be done to tell their "good news stories" to various levels of government. It’s a criticism that’s been heard at many a cable convention in this country as well. The president/CEO of the National Cable Television Association recently challenged industry executives to change the way policymakers and consumers view their industry, by better promoting initiatives such as Cable in the Classroom, providing free high-speed Internet to schools, or media literacy programs. Below is an edited excerpt of Robert Sachs’ Sept. 28 presentation to the Great Lakes Cable Expo in Chicago.When we talk about community service, its interesting to note the changing roles of the cable and broadcast industries. The broadcast industry was founded on the concepts of public interest and localism. And because of their role in serving community needs, broadcasters were deemed "special," granted free use of the public airwaves and given preferential treatment over cable networks. But what’s the reality today? The evidence shows that it’s cable, not broadcasting, that is playing an increasingly prominent role in providing local programming, particularly news and public affairs, and in serving the needs and interests of children. For example: • Local and regional cable news channels like Chicagoland Television News are providing their communities with up-to-the-minute news and information 24 hours a day. • Cable news and public affairs networks are the place to turn for in-depth coverage of local and national elections. CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, FOX News and C-SPAN are (where) more Americans turn for campaign news. • The evidence is undeniable that broadcasters are retreating from serving the local and public interest. As former New York Times executive editor Max Frankel reports in the current issue of The Columbia Journalism Review, commercial broadcast network coverage of each national political convention was only about 12 hours this year compared with nearly 30 hours in 1996 and almost 50 hours in 1976. In addition to filling the political news hole left by the broadcast networks, cable also provides more than three times as much children’s programming as all other programming sources combined. (Cable-owned channels) Nickelodeon, Disney, Noggin and Discovery Networks are but a few of the places that consumers today turn for quality children’s programming. So, while broadcasters continue to enjoy free use of the public spectrum, it is the cable industry, without government protection or favors, that is fulfilling the public interest obligations that broadcasters have abdicated.To be clear, I’m not an advocate of imposing additional requirements on the broadcast industry. But why should broadcasters continue to get preferential carriage over cable networks? And isn’t it ironic that at the very same time broadcasters are asking for further deregulation of their industry, they’re also seeking increased government favors for themselves? As you know, in 1992 Congress required that cable operators carry virtually all local TV stations, most of which cable operators already carried voluntarily. These were the so-called "must carry" rules. In a current FCC proceeding, broadcasters are asking the FCC to increase regulatory burdens on the cable industry by requiring cable carriage of not just their original analog broadcast channel but also of a digital duplicate of every broadcast channel. In essence, broadcasters are saying to the government, "deregulate us where we want to be deregulated, protect us where we want to be protected… and, oh, by the way, place more regulatory burdens on our competitors, the cable industry." (This) serves as a reminder that we, as cable operators, must continually be educating policy makers about our business and about how regulatory favors sought by competitors will adversely affect our customers.

How U.S. broadcasters are reaping the rewards of a strong lobby

News | 10/26/2000 4:00 am EDT

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