NEW FCC CHAIR KEVIN MARTIN TALKS TOUGH Todd Shields – Mediaweek Kevin Martin, the new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, arrives on the job with a reputation as a brilliant regulator, an attentive listener and an advocate of even tougher stands against broadcast indecency than his predecessor Michael Powell.
A Republican member of the FCC since 2001, Martin, 38, took office on March 18 after being named by President Bush. Because he is already on the commission, his appointment does not need Senate confirmation.
Martin is on record as favoring quick resolution of indecency complaints that now may linger for years, and for heavier fines for broadcast indecency--a step Congress is considering. “We need to make the decision to air indecent or profane language a bad business decision,” Martin told Congress last year. He has called on broadcasters to make the first hour of prime time an oasis of viewing appropriate for families.
Some network officials and artists’ rights groups are uncomfortable with Martin’s indecency stance. TV station owners say the new chairman is genuinely concerned about retaining local control of broadcasting, and they welcomed his ascension.
The National Association of Broadcasters called Martin “the right person at the right time.” Its rival cable trade group, the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, came off more cautious, saying it “look[ed] forward to continuing to work closely with Chairman Martin to maintain a deregulatory environment.”
Yet in Martin’s view, pay TV, too, needs to address indecency concerns. He repeatedly has called for cable and satellite operators to devise family-friendly programming tiers. Otherwise, Martin told Congress, the government should consider applying to pay TV the indecency strictures that now apply only to broadcast.
“Parents could enjoy the excellent family-oriented channels available without being forced to subscribe [and pay for] the channels they believe have less appropriate programming,” Martin wrote in a December 2003 letter to L. Brent Bozell, the head of the Parents Television Council, which campaigns against racy programming.
Martin wants to relax the rule barring common ownership of a daily newspaper and a nearby broadcast station, and may bring that up soon as the first in a series of proceedings aimed at rewriting ownership rules rejected by a federal court. “I absolutely expect Chairman Martin to bring the rule forward,” said Shaun Sheehan, a lobbyist for Tribune Co., which like Gannett and Media General has newspaper-TV combinations that would end up dismantled unless the rule changes.
Martin alone among the five commissioners voted last month to require cable companies to carry multiple digital signals from TV broadcasters. It’s a stance that could give broadcasters running room to revive the must-carry issue before the commission.
With a series of blue-chip college degrees, culminating in a Harvard law degree, Martin seems to have the right credentials. “Whatever you find on his resume, I think you’d find in person he’s a lot brighter than that,” said Harold Furchtgott-Roth, a former FCC commissioner who hired Martin as an aide. |