Radio Multicasting: Will it be another broadcast industry giveaway?

THE FCC'S IMMINENT RADIO MULTICASTING VOTE: WILL IT BE ANOTHER BROADCAST INDUSTRY GIVEAWAY?
[AUTHOR: J.H. Snider]
On March 16, 2006 the Senate Commerce Committee unanimously endorsed Robert McDowell's nomination to fill a Republican seat on the five-member Federal Communications Commission. Full Senate confirmation is expected soon. This will give the Republicans a 3-2 majority at the Commission. Radio broadcast industry lobbyists have been patiently waiting for such a majority before bringing their radio multicasting proposal before the FCC for a vote. Currently, the Commission is deadlocked, 2-2 on the multicasting proposal. Last fall the two Democratic commissioners asked for public interest obligations in return for granting multicasting rights. With a 3-2 majority, the radio broadcast industry is expected to be able to get what it wants without having to compromise. Multicasting rights probably represent the last, best chance for the public to get something in return for the multibillion dollar spectrum rights windfall the radio broadcasters have so brilliantly maneuvered to get out of their digital transition. Unfortunately, at this late stage in the digital radio transition, the practical options for a digital dividend are far fewer than they were at the beginning of radio's digital transition. Snider offers a few ideas for a digital dividend that he thinks are still feasible. They would come under the conventional rubric of "public interest obligations." Some are unlike any public interest obligations radio broadcasters have ever had.
http://quixote.blogs.com/SpecialPosts/06-03-27--RadioMulticastingRights.doc

See comments on the PIOs of digital radio broadcasters at:
http://www.nfcb.org/services/PDF/testimony/DABComments.pdf