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Tag: Julius Genachowski

  • Obama nominates Tom Wheeler as next FCC chairman

    Obama nominates Tom Wheeler as next FCC chairman

    MUMBAI: US President Barack Obama has nominated Tom Wheeler, a technology investor and former head of two major trade associations, as the next chairman of the media watchdog Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

     

    Obama announced Wheeler’s nomination at the White House and joked, “Wheeler is the only member of both the cable television and the wireless industry hall of fame. So he’s like the Jim Brown of telecom or the Bo Jackson of telecom”.

     

    If the US Senate approves Wheeler’s nomination, he will replace outgoing chairman Julius Genachowski, who had announced in March that he would step down from his post after four years. Until the Senate vote occurs, democratic commissioner Mignon Clyburn will serve as FCC interim chairwoman after Genachowski leaves in the middle of the month.

     

    National Association of Broadcasters (Nab) president and CEO Gordon Smith said, “Nab welcomes the nomination of Tom Wheeler as chairman of the FCC. He has the experience and temperament to serve the agency with distinction, and we look forward to working with him.”

     

    Meanwhile AT&T has called Wheeler an inspired pick, saying that his high intelligence, broad experience, and in-depth knowledge of the industry may, in fact, make him one of the most qualified people ever named to run the agency.

  • FCC rules TV channels to disclose political ads

    MUMBAI: US media and telecommunications regulator Federal Communications Commission has approved a controversial proposal requiring television stations to disclose details of political ads aired on their channels.

    The FCC pushed through the legislation 2-1 despite stiff opposition from broadcasters with the Democratic commissioners in favour and the lone Republican opposed to the measure.

    With the proposal through, local television stations like ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox need to publish detailed information about political advertising, including the cost of specific commercials on their websites. Starting 2014, all the TV stations will be brought under the ambit of the new rule.

    The move has come in from criticism from National Association of Broadcasters which believes the rule will jeopardize the competitive standing of stations.

    The broadcasters have criticised the FCC‘s proposal to include specific rates for individual advertisements contending that the disclose will hurt them financially and will put them at a disadvantage vis-a-vis their rivals. The broadcasters are also unhappy that the new rules won‘t apply to cable or other media platforms as well.

    The television broadcasters stand to rake in more than $3 billion in political ads this year, say media watchers.

    The commission staff spent 61 hours and incurred nearly $1,700 in copying costs to get the public file from eight stations in Baltimore, FCC chairman Julius Genachowski said before the vote.

    Earlier he had termed broadcasters who resisted the move as “against technology, against transparency and against journalism”.

  • FCC firm on political ad rate proposal

    FCC firm on political ad rate proposal

    MUMBAI: The Federal Communications Commission has defended its proposal that requires stations to post online the rates they charge politicians for commercials.

    The proposal has not gone down well with broadcasters who fear that disclosing commercial rates online would hurt them competitively.

    Speaking at the National Association of Broadcasters, FCC chairman Julius Genachowski said broadcasters who resist the move are “against technology, against transparency and against journalism.” He noted that estimates put broadcast political ad spending at $3 billion in 2012.

    Genachowski said the FCC will vote on the proposal later this month.

    Congress requires TV stations to make public information. However, the idea of moving from the file cabinet to the Internet is bothering the broadcasters.

    “Despite the proud history of broadcast journalism and the many innovative products broadcasters deploy today to harness digital technology to inform, explain as well as entertain, broadcasters and a few others have strongly resisted online disclosure,” Genachowski told the audience at a NAB event.

    “Congress explicitly requires broadcasters to maintain, and make available for public inspection, a complete record of a request to purchase broadcast time that is made by or on behalf of a legally qualified candidate,” he added.

    The new rule, if passed, would go into effect by late summer or early fall at the latest, still in time for the 2012 US general elections.