Public radio split on offer of satellite channels
Is Legislative Forum the place for the field to debate its position?

Originally published in Current, May 31, 1993

By John Wilner

The public radio system remains divided over how to handle its entry into the emerging field of digital audio broadcasting (DAB)--particularly the satellite variety--which promises to fundamentally alter the public radio landscape and threatens the primacy of individual stations.

The split in turn has sparked a debate within the industry about whether public radio's Legislative Forum--created last year to resolve arguments over reauthorization strategy--should play the same role in regard to the satellite issue.

Some proponents believe the Forum (or a similarly constituted body) might ultimately evolve into a kind of public radio parliament, where stations, producers and related organizations could discuss and reach consensus on important decisions.

These interrelated issues were brought to a head after Primosphere--one of six private media companies that applied to the FCC last December to develop and run a 30-channel satellite radio service--offered public radio complete control of two of those channels.

After Primosphere's offer was conveyed to the system in a DACS message and through the Legislative Forum, several regional and affinity organizations suggested that public radio consider accepting the offer, since the FCC seemed to be moving quickly on DAB matters.

But NPR, which has been filing comments about DAB with the FCC in its traditional role as public radio's representative in regulatory matters, said consideration of Primosphere's offer was premature. Accepting it now could hamper efforts to convince the FCC (and/or Congress) to set aside spectrum for public radio, NPR said, which could leave the field with less space than it ultimately may need.

The forum has put DAB on the back burner for the time being, as it focuses on completing a legislative strategy position paper that is currently being circulated in draft form for comment. But all sides agree that public radio increasingly faces equally important issues in the near future, and that it risks falling behind in the increasingly competitive communications market if it does not develop some mechanism for collective decision-making.

The threat from above

At one of several DAB panels at the Public Radio Conference (PRC) earlier this month, FCC Commissioner Ervin Duggan [later named president of PBS] gave the first public indication that some commission members may want to slow the process down a bit. Every new technology carries with it "the danger of unsettling and destabilizing present ways of doing things that may have much value of their own," Duggan said.

"We need to manage the introduction of [DAB] with care and deliberation," he continued, and recognize "the implications it has for one of the bedrock public-interest values that the FCC is supposed to guard, protect and nourish: localism."

With this in mind, he concluded, "the FCC should consider coordinating the deployment of satellite and terrestrial DAB so that each segment of the industry can start...from the same point on the racetrack." Duggan added, however, that he was not sure to what degree "managed competition" of DAB would work.

Duggan's words were welcomed by participants at the PRC, who are concerned that satellite DAB could overwhelm its terrestrial cousin. NPR has urged the FCC to develop the two concurrently, and to delay approval of satellite DAB applications until it has set up a regulatory structure to evaluate and manage the systems being proposed.

It has further requested that 25 percent of any spectrum designated for DAB be reserved for public radio, and that the FCC create an industry advisory group similar to that guiding the development of high-definition TV.

They don't take reservations

NPR Director of National Affairs Mary Lou Joseph said there is not guarantee that the FCC will grant a set-aside, but she is cautiously optimistic that public radio's concerns will get a fair hearing. She stressed that NPR and others are not relying solely on the FCC, and are pressing their case with public broadcasting's traditional supporters on Capitol Hill.

She cited a somewhat similar set-aside for direct satellite TV in last year's cable bill as a recent precedent, and NPR Assistant General Counsel Karen Christensen noted that various congressional bills, such as the annual FCC appropriation, contain report language that supports the idea of ensuring that the public interest is represented in new broadcast services.

Although one Hill staffer was quoted in Radio & Records as saying that Congress will place public-interest obligations on satellite radio, Christensen pointed out that this does not necessarily mean spectrum reservation: such requirements could be satisfied by private carriers offering reduced rates to public broadcasters, or offering a certain percentage of loosely defined educational programming.

Still, she doesn't expect any "blockbuster" FCC policy decisions until Clinton appointees to the commission are confirmed and at work. Christensen described estimates that satellite DAB could be in place and operating by 1997 as "wildly optimistic," and said it will most likely won't happen until 2000. Primosphere attorney Gerry Stevens-Kittner agreed that 1997 is "not unrealistic, but probably unlikely."

An offer you can refuse

In addition to the political considerations, Christensen said NPR has "serious reservations" about technical aspects of the Primosphere proposal, and that these concerns were echoed in comments filed with the FCC by the other applicants. The four remaining satellite DAB contenders (two have already bowed out) were afforded an opportunity to file replies to those comments last Friday, and there is one more round of comments currently scheduled.

She said questions had been raised about Primosphere's service area and inefficient use of spectrum, and that it would be unwise for public radio to ally itself with an applicant that could end up being rejected by the FCC.

NPR and other advocates of a go-slow approach are also concerned that any offers the satellite companies make during the application process could be withdrawn after the FCC awards them a franchise. Digital satellite broadcasting is an expensive, high-risk venture, they note, and these companies are not inclined to devote a significant part of their capacity to public radio for free for very long.

A public radio parliament?

"Nobody is suggesting that the fight for spectrum is over" just because of the Primoshpere offer, said one forum participant who spoke on condition of anonymity. Everyone agrees that NPR must continue to push for set-aside, they explained, but many were angry at "being treated like a bunch of snot-nosed kids who don't know what they're talking about."

The debate over satellite radio "is just a manifestation of the decision-making problem" caused by the rapid growth and diversification of the public radio system, said National Federation of Community Broadcasters President Lynn Chadwick, who favors using the forum to discuss system-wide issues because it includes representatives of rural and minority stations and organizations who often complain that their views aren't always heard in many policy discussions.

"It's the first time I ever sat at a table with all of the voices that have a stake in public radio financing and policy," said California Public Radio President Wally Smith. But Smith said satellite DAB is still probably not an "appropriate" issue for the forum. "The focus should be on legislation," he said, and the DAB controversy would be "a distraction from work on reathorization."

Association of Independents in Radio Director Kevin Singer said forum members had "pretty much agreed not to touch" the satellite DAB issue, and he doesn't expect that to change, "even though it might be the most representative body public radio has going." If nothing else, Singer said, the forum could serve as prototype for a some type of decisionmaking apparatus.

According to one forum member, NPR agreed to participate in the forum as long as it did not get involved in regulatory affairs, and was perturbed by the introduction of the satellite issue. Moreover, they are wary of a few forum members who are quite open about their desire to replace NPR as the voice of public radio.

 

To Current's home page

Later news: Primosphere among the bidders for satellite radio frequencies, 1997, as radio begins the digital transition.

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