Fox Knows What FCC’s Genachowski Should

[Commentary] Fox executives visited the Federal Communications Commission to tell officials all about MundoFox, a Spanish-language broadcasting network, and ask for a needed waiver. (The Fox executives were seeking a waiver of the so-called network rep rules, which prohibit networks from selling national advertising on behalf of their affiliates. The long-standing rule is intended to protect affiliates from being coerced into rep deals with the networks.) That a company with the indisputable media acumen of Fox was investing millions of dollars into a broadcasting network makes hash out of FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski's contention that broadcasting is an obsolete medium and that its continued use of spectrum is of a waste — or at least the underutilization — of a precious natural resource. The rise of MundoFox also undermines the FCC's incentive auction for moving spectrum from TV to wireless broadband, a service that Chairman Genachowski sees as deserving of every hertz of spectrum it can get.