Smith: U.S. Needs A National Broadcast Plan

Instead of regulating broadcasting as if the world were stuck in the 1970s, the FCC ought to develop a National Broadcast Plan to strengthen broadcast TV and radio and preserve the irreplaceable services they provide, NAB President Gordon Smith said this morning in his keynote at the NAB Show.

“Why is there no focus to foster innovation and investment in broadcasting to ensure our business continues to be a world leader alongside our broadband industries?” he asked. “Where is the FCC’s gusto and determination to embrace broadcasting’s values and public service responsibilities?”

A National Broadcast Plan is needed to balance the federal government’s “increasingly singular focus” on broadband that became evident with the release of the FCC National Broadcast Plan in 2009, Smith said.

In its strengthen-broadcasting policy, Smith said, the FCC should take a “holistic” approach, starting with a thorough review of all regulations. “Instead of individually looking at the UHF discount, the sports broadcast rule or the use of sharing agreements, why not step back and assess whether, and if so, to what extent, those rules achieve our broadcast goals?”

In addition, Smith said, the National Broadcast Plan must ensure that the FCC’s incentive auction and the related repacking of the TV band does not harm broadcasting.

“Let’s face it, the incentive auction will affect the TV broadcast industry far more than any other industry. Ours is the only industry the auction can actually harm.”

Smith also said the FCC must also “ensure the continuation of the current free-market retransmission consent process” as part of its broadcast policy.

“The government should continue to encourage fair and market-based negotiations that result in the most compelling and popular programming for viewers. Government intervention would only tip the scales in favor of pay TV providers, whose end game is to drive free TV out of business and capitalize on new advertising dollars.”

Smith suggested that broadcasting is more worthy of the FCC’s attention and help than broadband is.

“There is no substitute for broadcasters’ dedication to localism … there is no other medium dedicated to serving the local communities throughout this great nation.

“And there is no denying broadcasting’s economic impact. The local broadcast radio and television industry contributes nearly $1.3 trillion of Gross Domestic Product and three million jobs to the American economy annually.

“Couple this with broadcast radio and television’s efficient one-to-many architecture; it’s no wonder other industries challenge us on all fronts. It’s hard to compete with free and local.”

While broadband is a “game changer” that has spawned many news ways of delivering content, it is ill-suited for distributing video to millions of people, Smith said.

“The wireless industry covets our spectrum, because they chew through their massive allocation of spectrum, attempting to deliver the video we deliver far more efficiently.

“And they continue to milk, bilk and bill by the bit.”