President-elect Trump FCC Point Man Jeffrey Eisenach Has Broadcasting Ties

The emergence of Jeffrey A. Eisenach, a long-time Washington telecommunications policy insider and economist who favors free markets, as head of President-elect Donald Trump’s Federal Communications Commission transition team — and as a leading candidate for the agency’s chairmanship — has raised broadcast industry hopes that the agency will shift onto a more deregulatory course.

Eisenach, 58, is well known in communications policy circles. He has served as a consultant to the National Association of Broadcasters and the Walt Disney Co., writing detailed economic reports supporting their positions on the incentive auction, retransmission consent and ownership deregulation. Eisenach has also been called in by NCTA–The Internet & Television Association on telephone issues, said Brian Dietz, an NCTA spokesman. “Over the past several years, NCTA occasionally engaged Jeffrey Eisenach’s firm for economic studies on different policy issues. He has deep experience on technology policy and competition issues and we’ve always welcomed his thoughts and analysis.” NAB President Gordon Smith calls him a "smart choice" for the Trump transition.