Martin: Colleagues Caved on LPTV Vote

Saying that he was "disappointed" and "frustrated" that none of his four fellow commissioners would back his rulemaking to give must-carry rights to Class A stations, Martin suggested that some of them gave into the pressure from broadcast and cable lobbies that opposed the measure.
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TVNewsCheck,

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin told reporters today that he was "disappointed" and "frustrated" that the other four commissioners did not go along with his plan to extend must-carry rights to 500 Class A low-power stations.

Not able to muster a single additional vote for a low-power must-carry rulemaking that he strongly favored, Martin yesterday pulled the item from the agenda of a planned open meeting in Nashville today and canceled the meeting.

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Without naming names, he said he was particularly disappointed with the commissioners who say they favor diversity in broadcast programming, but who rejected a rulemaking that he said would have increased such diversity because "the major media companies -- the major cable operators and the broadcasters -- are opposed" to it.

Speaking at a press conference in Washington, Martin also said that commissioners who are saying that they did support action on low power are "not being straightforward."

Some of the commissioners said that they would support a notice of inquiry on upgrading low-power stations without the critical must-carry components, he said.

"Without the potential for carriage for low power and with it only being a notice of inquiry ... this provided nothing for low-power television," he said.

Class A stations deserve must-carry rights, which entitle them to carriage on local cable systems, Martin said.

"A significant number of Class A stations are serving their minority communities," he said. "They have additional public interest obligations that ... are not even placed upon full-power broadcasters."

Martin said he shares of the frustration of low-power broadcasters, some of whom traveled to Nashville yesterday in anticipation of the rulemaking vote. "I understand and I sympathize," he said.

Martin said he is also "frustrated from a policy perspective that we are not going to have this opportunity that I think we should be providing to help diversify the broadcast airwaves."

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