Hearing on Payola Unlikely

[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Don't hold your breath for a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on payola. A committee statement reads, "Currently 164 bills have been referred to the Commerce Committee, with 92 of those introduced by Committee Members. Unfortunately due to the prolific number of bills referred to the Committee, we can not schedule a hearing for each bill, and we give priority to Committee Members' legislation. In addition, the Commerce Committee already has a series of telecom hearings scheduled through mid-March at the request of various Committee Members. It is the Committee's intention to concentrate on those 10 upcoming telecom hearings (six have already been conducted in 2006) as the Committee prepares to address telecom reform legislation." Sen Russ Feingold (D-WI) has requested a payola hearing because he has introduced legislation to crackdown on it. He's not a member of the Commerce Committee, however.
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