FCC Broadband Plan: Clyburn Warns of Potential Diversity Harm from Spectrum Reclamation

Commissioner concerned over potential loss of minority, women voices

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/16/2010 3:52:00 PM

Broadcasters' concerns about spectrum reclamation were echoed by a bipartisan duo at the FCC's public meeting announcing its national broadband plan March 16, with Democrat Mignon Clyburn warning that "a plan that would further decimate the prospects for women and minority owners is untenable."

In public statements at the meeting, FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell detailed a number of ways to free up more spectrum short of moving broadcasters off the band. Those included 1) more efficient use of spectrum by both wireless broadcasters and users of the so-called "white spaces" between TV channels; 2) bringing more underused or unused government spectrum to auction; and 3) encouraging broadcasters to lease some of their spectrum, which they are already allowed to do under FCC rules.  "Focusing on this statutorily permissible and voluntary mechanism for leasing parts of the airwaves may be an easier path to accelerating deployment of advanced wireless services than more coercive means," he suggested.

The FCC is looking to encourage, or some would argue coerce, broadcasters into giving up between a third and a half of their remaining spectrum holdings for wireless broadband.  While the plan is billed as voluntary, it might also include an involuntary re-packing of broadcasters now using channels 2-51 to channels 2-45 to get back 36 MHz of space at the outset. 

Democratic Commissioner Mignon Clyburn sounded a more direct warning about taking broadcast spectrum without first understanding the impact of that move on news and information and minority and smaller-market broadcasters.

While Clyburn agreed that if broadcasters didn't need some spectrum, it could be used for other purposes, she was not shy about her reservations regarding the FCC's proposal.

"While the plan acknowledges the current public interest mandates and goals of broadcast spectrum, it does not contain a rigorous analysis of the practical implications of its proposed actions on the public interest," she said. "This is a serious concern given that the broadcast spectrum is the lone spectrum through which our nation's public interest goals are effectuated."

"Likewise, the plan does not study the impact that a spectrum sell-off would have on women and minority-owned broadcast television stations. It is certainly possible, if not likely, that the stations most amenable to accept the buyout would be those few owners. It is no mystery how poorly these groups are represented among the media ownership ranks...In my view, we may be doing the country a disservice if our actions left Americans relying on over-the-air television with only the major networks at the expense of smaller stations serving niche audiences who rely on them for their news and information."

The FCC's top broadband advisor, Blair Levin, has said that he did not expect the top five or six stations doing news and public affairs programming in larger markets would be giving up spectrum, but that there were other, smaller, stations that would be. His point was that the FCC could free up spectrum while still preserving the public interest value of broadcasting.

But Clyburn was looking for more assurances that broadcasting was not being overlooked in a rush to load the latest app. "I am very concerned about sacrificing an essential service to our communities in favor of new apps that have nothing to do with ensuring that we can have meaningful access to the news and information critical to our daily lives," she said. "It is unclear at this point whether the Internet can currently replace these trusted sources."