FCC's McDowell Touts Free Markets to Analysts

FCC'S MCDOWELL TOUTS FREE MARKETS TO ANALYSTS
[SOURCE: TVWeek, AUTHOR: Michele Greppi]
The "twin cornerstones" of democracy are free markets and free reign for ideas, Federal Communications Commission Commissioner Robert McDowell told Wall Street analysts attending the annual Credit Suisse Media and Telecom Week conference. When it comes to regulation of an industry, "rarely do we do as good a job as you do," he told the representatives of the private sector. The new wave of technologies delivering communication, information and entertainment "has become the new wave of democracy," and the delivery pipes "are getting fatter and faster," Mr. McDowell. "Never have consumers been so empowered." Commissioner McDowell said wireless technology "may be more disruptive than the Internet," and that companies have the choices of feeling threatened or changing and prospering. He cited the light regulatory hand that will apply to businesses using the analog spectrum or underutilized spectrum known as white space, which will be auctioned off as part of the TV industry's mandatory switch to digital in February 2009. Commissioner McDowell said that when confronted with evidence of marketplace failures, he favors remedies that "are narrowly tailored and sunsetted."
http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=11174
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* McDowell Cool to 'A La Carte' for Cable
Commissioner McDowell said he didn't see a compelling need for cable TV operators to sell channels individually. We're in an 'a la carte' world already," Commissioner McDowell said. Noting that his children were shocked at the idea of having to wait until 8 p.m. to watch a certain show, McDowell said that viewers are becoming increasingly accustomed to exercising greater choice over viewing shows. "There's a lot of pasta being thrown against the wall" by media companies as they experiment with offerings of video-on-demand, or VOD, services and other novel ways of distributing programming, he said. Broadcast networks now make shows available streaming over the Internet or through downloads on Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes service, and CBS Corp. is also releasing TV clips through the YouTube video-sharing service, which was recently acquired by Internet search leader Google. "For now, we can just watch," Commissioner McDowell said of the issue of cable operators offering channels individually.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/061205/fcc_cable_a_la_carte.html?.v=1