Tauzin Tete A Tete
FCC eyes foreign rules as Murdoch, solon lunch
It was an opportune time for Murdoch to break bread with Tauzin, since earlier in the day the Federal Communications Commission voted to take a look at adopting rules which could spell trouble for Murdoch's plan to sell a DBS license to cabler-controlled PrimeStar Partners.
Important vote
In a 3-2 vote Thursday morning, the FCC said it wanted to review foreign ownership rules and cable/DBS cross-ownership rules. Since Murdoch's News Corp. is incorporated in Australia, a change in the rules could affect its ability to own an interest in a U.S. satcasting license. Also, the FCC said it would consider a change in its rules that would ban cablers from owning a DBS license. PrimeStar is jointly owned by several cable companies including Time Warner, Cox, Comcast and MediaOne.
Tauzin spokesman Ken Johnson, who interrupted lunch with Murdoch to answer questions about the FCC action, said the agency has better things to do than to raise questions about ownership concentration in the DBS industry. "Of all the issues that are on its plate, this is not one that is a problem," said Johnson. The spokesman suggested that the FCC should be working on ways to develop competition to cable, rather than creating additional regulatory hurdles for the fledgling DBS industry.
Critical blast
Opponents of the Murdoch's proposed deal say PrimeStar's cable industry owners want control of the license to stave off competition to their core business.
But Johnson noted Thursday that "In order to be viable to cable, (DBS) is going to need assets." Presumably those assets could come from PrimeStar's deep-pocketed partners. "It's not the number of competitors, it's the quality of competitors," said Johnson, who also said the very same issues were being discussed between Tauzin and Murdoch as they ate lunch.
