Adelstein gets FCC nod, not spotlight
By BroadCasting & Cable Staff -- Broadcasting & Cable, 11/18/2002 6:15:00 AM
Jonathan Adelstein was confirmed last week to fill the fifth and final open Federal Communications Commission seat, but the spotlight may move quickly to potential swing vote Kevin Martin.
Adelstein's nomination will provide a deadlock-breaking vote on several key telecommunications issues, including revisions to cable-carriage rules for digital-TV stations, which have been stalled at the commission since August.
Although Adelstein has followed protocol for pending nominees by declining to comment on specific industry issues, his close ties to Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) suggest to many that he will be a close ally of fellow commission Democrat Michael Copps.
If the two cooperate to oppose chairman Michael Powell's deregulatory moves, attention may soon turn to Kevin Martin, an independent-minded GOP member of the panel.
Martin has not been shy about dissenting from Powell on key decisions, and he may use the threat of an alliance with the Democrats to move things his way.
"Martin is in the position of swing vote if Copps and Adelstein team up," one industry source said.
Media Access Project president Andrew Schwartzman said Martin's potential influence is overestimated.
Although Republican Kathleen Abernathy has typically voted with Powell, he added, she is showing more independence on several of the more complex issues stalled by the lack of a three-vote majority. "We may well see a situation where, on a particular issue, any commissioner could be the swing vote," Schwartzman said.
Schwartzman also predicted that Adelstein, like Copps, will successfully temper commission decisions he doesn't like, rather than simply dissenting. "Both come out of the legislative arena and have found ways to get things done," he added.
Public advocates predicted that Adelstein and Copps together will be a stronger voice of resistance to additional industry deregulation. "The public now has an opportunity to see the real differences between the market approach of FCC chairman Powell and those who believe the electronic media should be required to serve as well as it can sell," said Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy.
While Adelstein's views are still an open book, the industry groups that will soon be lobbying him were full of praise last week. "We're delighted that he has been confirmed," National Association of Broadcasters president Eddie Fritts said.
Adelstein's confirmation had been held up in a fight between Daschle and Republican leader Trent Lott over judicial nominations blocked or rejected by Democrats. A particular sore spot was the defeat of Judge Charles Pickering from Lott's home state of Mississippi.
Adelstein is confirmed to serve the balance of former commissioner Gloria Tristani's term, which expires June 30. Industry sources speculated, however, that he will win a new full, five-year term before his current tenure expires.
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