TV Awaits New FCC Approach

While technology issues may sit at the top of the to-do list for Julius Genachowski, President Obama's nominee to lead the Federal Communications Commission, he may be compelled to delve into the world of television before the ink on his business cards dries. Several people who know Mr. Genachowski say that once the new chairman is confirmed, it will be Internet issues—both the broadband rollout anticipated in the president's stimulus plan and the debate over whether all Web users should have an equally speedy Internet (so-called Network Neutrality) that will likely get the chairman's attention first. "I would imagine his top priority will be broadband deployment," said Andy Schwartzman, executive director of the Media Access Project, a public-interest law firm. Broadcast lobbyists and their lawyers may not be sanguine at the prospect of having their issues deferred for now, but they point out that new developments -- legal decisions on indecency and media ownership in the Supreme Court and an appellate court -- could push their agenda to the front burner.