TV BROADCASTERS TO TESTIFY AT FCC HEARING

Commercial TV will be represented at the FCC’s media ownership hearing in Nashville next week by senior executives of the city’s Big Three affiliates.

On the bill for the second of six such hearings the FCC is holding around the country are Deborah McDermott, president of Young Broadcasting, the owner of ABC affiliate WKRN, and a Nashville resident; Elden Hale, general manager of WSMV, the Meredith-owned NBC affiliate; and Deborah Turner, general manager of WTVF, the Landmark-owned CBS affiliate.

The hearing is set for Massey Concert Hall at Belmont University at 1 p.m. Moderated by former FCC Commissioner Henry Rivera, it will run until 9 p.m. with a 20-minute dinner break and the last two hours set aside for public comment.

The commercial TV execs will appear on the second panel scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. along with:

• Gary W. Cunningham, publisher and president, GCA Publishing, and member, AFCP; Nashville Community Newspapers
• Bob D’Andrea, Founder and President, Christian Television Network
• Alex Jones, director of the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Business
• John Heidelberg, president of Heidelberg Broadcasting and owner of WVOL-AM
• Gene Kimmelman, VP, federal and international affairs, Consumer Union
• Ellen Leifeld, Publisher and President, The Tennessean
• Terry Pefanis, COO, Big Idea Inc.
• Wendell Rawls, investigative reporter and editor
• Ginny Welsch, co-founder and executive director of WRFN-LPFM Radio Free Nashville
• James Wolfe, former radio station and production and radio label executive

The afternoon panel, which is set to get underway at 1:30 p.m., will address how media ownership affects the recording industry. It includes:

• Harold Bradley, International Vice-President of American Federation of Musicians; Country Music Hall of Fame inductee
• Rick Carnes, songwriter and president of the Songwriters Guild of America
• Luke M. Froeb, William C. and Margaret W. Oehmig associate professor in entrepreneurship and free enterprise, Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University
• Dobie Gray, singer, songwriter
• George Jones, recording artist and member of AFTRA
• Naomi Judd, Grammy Award Winning singer and songwriter
• Sharon Kay, general manager, WFSK Nashville (Fisk University)
• Jenny Toomey, singer, songwriter and executive director of the Future of Music Coalition
• Porter Wagoner, singer, songwriter and Country Music Hall of Fame inductee
• Bud Walters, president, Cromwell Radio
• Craig Wiseman, songwriter and publisher, Big Loud Shirt Industries, and member, AFTRA and NSAI
• Christopher S. Yoo, professor of law and director, Program on Technology and Entertainment Law, Vanderbilt University Law School