More than 20,000 people descended on Las Vegas for the National Association of Television Program Executives convention this week (January 21-24). Some, including small and independent stations, have come to purchase programming. Others have come to sell it. Independent companies with just one or two programs to pitch are brushing shoulders with large conglomerates that provide dozens of programs. The bustling atmosphere is, on one hand, an example of the marketplace of ideas at work. Thousands of people want programming (I’d say good programming, but many are looking for the successor to Survivor) and thousands want to sell it. But the marketplace is hardly a "free" marketplace with a level playing field, and the climate is likely to get worse for small and independent producers and broadcasters if the FCC has its way.

Secretary of State Colin Powell’s 37-year old son, Michael Powell, has just been nominated by President Bush to head the Federal Communications Commission. By law, the commission is bipartisan, and Powell has served on the commission since 1997. As chairman, he is likely to take positions quite opposite to those of outgoing chairman William Kennard. In his tenure on the commission he has supported mega mergers, such as that of America Online and Time Warner, and he has challenged the government role in wiring schools for the Internet or providing low-power FM radio stations for nonprofit groups. Too, Powell takes a different position than his father does on affirmative action, questioning rules that make it easier for minorities to own television and radio stations.

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 changed the rules of ownership in the broadcasting industry. Before that legislation was passed, owners were limited in the number of stations they could own in any one market. With many restrictions lifted, there has been a consolidation in the broadcasting industry, which makes it easier for a large syndicate to get a program air nationally. At the same time, consolidation makes it more difficult for a small, less influential producer to get a program distributed. Under Michael Powell, though, the push for deregulation is likely to continue, and when the FCC makes discretionary rulings, they are likely to err on the part of consolidation. Already, broadcasters have challenged FCC rules on minority ownership, and a district court has sided with the broadcasters. Kenner might have appealed the FCC ruling to a higher court; Powell will not.

Does broadcasting deregulation provide more or fewer options for viewers? Small, after all, does not necessarily mean good. Still, consolidation in the broadcasting industry seems to provide fewer opportunities for small entities to develop and distribute programming widely, and if such is the case, then the viewers are losers. When large distributors have the power to push programming ("We’ll give you Judge Judy if you take Judge Joe Brown") there are fewer slots available for others.

Of course, there is a difference between network television and cable television, and the new technology has also created new media. One panelist at the NATPE conference, Hot Pop Tv.com’s President Jacqueline Kong says she plans to develop content exclusively for the web. Web streaming provides opportunities to broaden a programming base, but the digital divide means that there are many who won’t have access to web-streamed programs.

Issues of minority programming in an era of consolidation have been so frustrating for NAACP President Kweisi Mfume that he says the civil rights organization may call for a boycott of one of the four major networks (Fox, ABC, NBC, and CBS) and its advertisers protest the under representation of people of color in broadcasting. The paucity of minority programming is partly a function of consolidation, and partly the result of lingering biases in broadcasting. And while Michael Powell has made the point that diversity in ownership does not necessarily mean diversity in programming, the fact that so few people of color own broadcast entities may be one of the reasons there is so little minority programming.

Former California State Senator Art Torres heads the Walter Kaitz Foundation, an organization designed to improve diversity in the cable industry. Torres offered Mfume fiery support, suggesting that viewers are like "beggars sitting on a bag of gold" if they won’t support boycotts that will help them shape their programming. Since African Americans, Latinos, Asians, and Native Americans have combined spending power of more than a trillion dollars, an effective boycott could bruise both the boycotted network and its advertisers.

Increased deregulation in the broadcasting industry puts more power over programming into fewer hands. Small and independent stations, as well as underrepresented minorities, lose both clout and opportunity as a result of deregulation.

Business and Economics 
January 24, 2001