House Energy & Commerce Committee Postpones FCC Oversight Hearing

The House Energy & Commerce Committee has postponed its FCC oversight hearing, which had been scheduled for Thursday.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski had been set to testify along with commissioners Robert McDowell and Michael Copps before Rep. Rick Boucher's Communications Subcommittee. But the Commerce schedule was cleared of subcommittee hearings to make way for markup of the health reform bill in the full committee.

No new date has been set, but a committee spokeswoman said it will likely be after the August recess.

By that time, the committee will also likely be able to talk to five commissioners rather than three.

The nominations of Mignon Clyburn and Meredith Attwell Baker were back on the Senate calendar Thursday along with a host of nominees that the majority leader is trying to do either as a package of unanimous consent approvals or by a vote.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.