Commissioners Have Multiple Media Priorities, Aides Say
From ensuring localism to redefining media markets amid shifting industry dynamics, the FCC's eighth floor has a variety of media priorities, media aides to the five commissioners said at a FCBA panel Tuesday. Mike O'Rielly aide Brooke Ericson said with…
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the 2018 quadrennial review of ownership rules this year (see 1801080059), her boss hopes for a redefinition of media markets that better reflects the market. Chairman Ajit Pai aide Alison Nemeth said he has been clear about his goals of either modernizing or eliminating regulations, especially given how media rules often have gone long without any review. Mignon Clyburn aide David Grossman said she continues to push her independent programming NPRM, though the issue hasn't moved since its 3-2 approval in 2016 (see 1609290036). She also remains focused on localism and diversity, he said. While the media market has changed, that doesn't necessarily translate into greater accessibility, since many over-the-top services are out of reach to some consumers due to broadband unavailability or finances, he added. Asked about the effect of publicly releasing items in advance of monthly meetings, Jessica Rosenworcel aide Kate Black said it gives more time for finding compromise on items. Aides said it also reduces the amount of guesswork in ex parte meetings on what's in items, making for more-focused meetings. Nemeth said along with front loading bureaus' work, leaving less time for last-minute tweaks, it resulted in people increasingly skipping meetings with bureaus and trying to set up meetings with the eighth floor, "a bad move." Commissioner Brendan Carr aide Evan Swarztrauber said parties shouldn't skip meeting offices they think will disagree with then, since eighth-floor offices want to hear an array of viewpoints. Asked about the broadcast TV repacking time frame and financing, Nemeth said Pai's office has no reason to think it will go beyond 39 months, but the $1.75 billion fund is likely insufficient. She and Ericson said neither commissioner is interested in revisiting the OTT-as-MVPD proceeding. Asked about last month's false missile alert in Hawaii, Ericson said O'Rielly was happy with how the emergency alert system worked in distribution, and problems came in the alert generation.