Gary Shapiro Wants TV Shut Down. Is Radio Next?

Remember Gary Shapiro, the FM-chip attack dog for the Consumer Electronics Association? It turns out that he hates free television just as much as he hates free radio.

During the debate over a proposal to require an FM-chip in cellphones, he famously declared:

Rather than adapt to the digital marketplace, NAB and RIAA act like buggy-whip industries that refuse to innovate and seek to impose penalties on those that do.

Calls for an FM chip mandate are not about public safety but are instead about propping up a business which consumers are abandoning as they avail themselves of new, more consumer-friendly options.

Now we know this attack was part of a broader agenda to ultimately shut down broadcast.

The reason Shapiro doesn’t like radio or television is that when someone listens to free radio, or watches free TV, his CES members don’t get a cut.

His ultimate goal is make sure his members make money anytime people listen to radio or watch TV.

In a recent interview, he said as much. If it were up to him, he would confiscate the spectrum and turn it over to CES members.

Here’s a taste of the interview:

For decades (broadcasters) haven't been creative, and they've been resistant to changes in technology. And they get a phenomenal amount of money from what they do. For years, they've basically controlled Congress.

Broadcasters have faced a declining viewership for years. They have been left behind. And they're sitting on way too much spectrum.

Whether it's 8 percent of the population, as our research indicates, that now relies on over-the air TV or 15 percent as others claim, it's still a low percentage of people relying on broadcast TV compared to the demand for more spectrum to fuel growth in wireless broadband services.

The question comes down to whether every market needs seven to 12 broadcasters. There will always be some broadcasters in every market. But is this the best use of spectrum? There has got to be better uses of the public airwaves than watching 40-year-old episodes of "I Love Lucy.”

And Shapiro couldn’t resist taking another shot at radio:

Radio broadcasters are the only medium that doesn't have to pay copyright fees. That's a fight that has been going on with the music industry for years. But it hasn't changed because they are so powerful politically.

So according to Shapiro, it is only political muscle that keeps broadcast radio and television on the air.

According to him, broadcast radio and television are wastes of spectrum space that mobile providers need so that more people can play Angry Birds and pay for subscription radio and television.

At the risk of sounding a little like Glenn Beck, it really sounds like Shapiro dreams of a future when AT&T and Verizon control both radio and television.

We speculated some time ago that the NAB was using their music royalty proposal as a Congressional bargaining chip in the fight over television spectrum.

Now you know why.

Comments

[Gary Shapiro]

Actually I don't hate free TV or radio. I regularly listen to and enjoy radio and television.

Your blog comentary has no context for my comments. The bigger issue is that our nation is in trouble with the only options being to raise taxes, cut spending or grow the economy. Growth comes from innovation and huge innovation and jobs are coming from wireless spectrum (and the successful companies advertise on other media like radio and TV).

SO it is a fair question to ask whether reruns and infomercials are the best use of valuable spectrum. I doubt the voluntary incentive auctions will result in the most succesful broadcasters in each market selling spectrum; rather those who invest little in news and other programming will likely be seduced by an easy exit and the high return an auction may offer.

[Laurence Glavin]

I live near Boston, and on a few occasions, I've mentioned that Metro Boston has tweve full-power broadcast TV stations to friends who have only a tangential interest in the media. They find it hard to believe, because like so many typical viewers, they only use two or three themselves. (NOTE: two of the twelve are Spanish-language). At least one least-viewed outlet was sold AGAIN recently, and one out-of-market only seen because of must-carry rules was recently sold also. THERE ISN'T ENOUGH PROGRAMMING FOR SO MANY TV OUTLETS!