From Scott Fybush, NERW Blog:
 |
| Scott Fybush |
NAB leaders say they can’t remember the last time a sitting
FCC commissioner moderated a panel, but there was commissioner Ajit Pai on
Monday afternoon, speaking to a jam-packed room about the prospects for
revitalizing AM radio in the face of trends that strongly favor FM and drawing
big rounds of applause every time he spoke of his own love of AM radio and his
hope to save the medium, not to mention a standing ovation at the end.
Can this medium be saved? There’s plenty of enthusiasm on
display, but rather less agreement about how to go about the task.
“Usually you guys say stuff that is predictable.”
That’s prominent DC lawyer John Garziglia, explaining why he
wasn’t initially paying much attention last fall when Pai addressed the NAB
Radio Show. But Pai wasn’t predictable, calling for an intense focus on
eliminating regulations that hinder the future of AM radio and investigating
ways the FCC might help bolster the revitalization of the senior medium.
Staking out one flank, unsurprisingly, is CBS Radio director
of engineering Glynn Walden, who argues that the inherent inefficiency of
analog AM radio makes an all-digital world the only future for AM. While Pai
publicly broached the prospect of moving AM stations to FM operations on the
76-88 MHz spectrum now occupied by TV channels 5 and 6 (the first time we can
recall an FCC commissioner openly discussing the prospect), Walden says that’s
a non-starter: “The FCC doesn’t give away spectrum, they auction it.”
Read More Here (subscription required)
Commissioner Pai's opening remarks follow:
No comments:
Post a Comment