Powell
Confident and even-keel, new FCC Chairman Michael Powell wasted no time Monday in ushering in an era of compassionate deregulation.
Washington politics and NATPE collided with President Bush naming Powell new FCC head just as Powell was in Las Vegas to speak before the Assn. of Local Television Stations (ALTV).
"No industry is harmed more by over-regulation than the broadcasting industry," Powell said.
Cameras rolled and the audience whooped it up as ALTV VP for legal and legislative affairs David Donovan announced the new chairman, who replaces Democratic chair William Kennard.
"I'm still getting used to that," Powell said, smiling widely.
The 37-year-old Powell - son of new Secretary of State Colin Powell - had been serving as one of the two Republican FCC Comissioners. Respected in virtually all telecom circles, Powell's appointment to the top post came as no surprise. Kennard resigned Jan. 19, on the eve of Bush's inaug.
Deliberate and prepared, Powell criticized the Democratic-controlled FCC of the past eight years, saying it pursued social policy agendas, versus trusting the marketplace referee. He said the FCC are the "eyes and ears" of Congress, not a random agency with a will entirely of its own making.
"The commission can do a lot to highlight problems. We don't know how to do business better. It's naive and a sign of hubris to think otherwise," Powell said.
Powell was joined on the panel by the other FCC Republican commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth, who also criticized Kennard's rule.
"There will now be a more humble approach to the rule of government," Furchtgott-Roth said.
The GOP facelift at the FCC is likely to bring substantial changes for the TV industry. Various ownership caps could be repealed or amendment, while the FCC is likely to play less of a role in approving mega-mergers, such as the recent AOL-Time Warner union.
Powell also offered up his opinion on the troubled transition to digital TV, saying the industry is to blame, right along with the FCC. He said various players - broadcasters, cablers, consumer electronics industry - want the FCC to intervene only when it suits their particular interests, and then complains about something else.
The transition to digital TV is unprecedented in scope, in terms of complexity and crowded playing field. Broadcasters complain that they can't meet the 2006 deadline to go all digital without FCC aid.
Powell and Furchtgott-Roth said it is entirely appropriate for the FCC to intervene when necessary.
"I am not a fan of the idea that we are somehow wizards of the digital TV transition," Powell said.
At the same time, Powell warned broadcasters that there is increasing pressure on broadcasters from Washington to use the digital spectrum they were given for free.
On the perennial cultural attack on Hollywood, Powell said he's a devout fan of the First Amendment, and that the FCC has no business meddling in programming. Of course, if Congress gave a mandate to the FCC, that would be a different story, he said.
Powell said he would shore up the strained relationship between the FCC and Congress. He also pledged to clean up FCC procedures, which often cause delays in issuing orders and other actions.
"I've come to believe the greatest enemy of regulation is uncertainty."
With Kennard's departure, the FCC is now split, with two Republicans and two Democrats. President Bush is expected to name a Republican to fill Kennard's seat in the next few months.
Powell was the favored pick of such heavyweights as telecom attorney and former FCC chair Dick Wiley and Rep. W.J. "Billy" Tauzin (R-La.), head of the powerful House Commerce Committee.
Contact Pamela McClintock at
pamela.mcclintock@variety.com