Former FCC, NTIA Official Henry Geller

Henry Geller, who as the general counsel of the Federal Communications Commission during the Johnson administration and activist head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration in the Carter years played a large role in the development of broadcasting, cable and telecommunications over the last quarter of the 20th century, died in Washington (DC) April 7 after a long battle with cancer. He was 96.

At the FCC in the 1960s, under Chairman Rosel Hyde, he provided the legal rationale for the eventual banning of cigarette advertising on broadcasting, the regulation of cable and rules prohibiting broadcasters from discriminating in employment on the basis of race. A decade later at NTIA, he advocated for increased funding of public television and modified his strict regulatory approach to broadcasting, arguing for a 2% spectrum fee in place of content regulations.