Broadcast Regulation Reform: Manipulating Economics to Further the Public Interest

Commercial broadcasting seeks to maximize profit by developing a strong position in the marketplace and by attracting the audiences advertisers are likely to pay the most to reach. Broadcasting also serves many societal functions: it sells products, serves as educator and babysitter, and entertains and sedates. More people will be served by broadcasting where, as a system, it is diverse and supplies the audience with many choices. The structure of broadcasting in the United States is shaped by the regulatory environment in which it operates. Currently, this environment includes regular renewal hearings at which stations may be required to provide some indication that their operations are in the public interest. Some regulatory alternatives to current regulations now being considered would extend the terms of licenses for radio and television, loosen ownership limits, reduce content regulation, and raise license fees. An alternative proposal to use regulations and fees to increase diversity includes encouraging technology to make use of narrower bands, subsidizing socially desirable program categories, encouraging diversity in ownership, helping fund alternative program production sources, and providing guaranteed insulated funding for noncommercial broadcast stations and production centers. (TJ)