Departing Federal Communications Commission commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate was saluted today by fellow commissioners at her final FCC meeting before she departs the agency.
Ms. Tate, who got a recess appointment to the commission by President George Bush, was never confirmed by the U.S. Senate and her tenure expires with the arrival of the new Congress. Her departure leaves the commission with two Democrats and two Republicans.
FCC chairman Kevin Martin today praised Ms. Tate, noting especially her concern for children’s issues.
Commissioner Michael Copps said Ms. Tate “led a charge for broadcasters and advertisers to cut back on advertising of unhealthy foods that contribute so measurably to our country's crisis of childhood obesity.”
Ms. Tate, a former Tennessee utility commissioner, said she was pleased to serve during a revolutionary time at the FCC and speak out for story tellers and inventors. She urged the commission to continue on market-driven deregulatory path and look at ways to correct problems that benefit consumers instead of exacting fines on media companies.
The meeting wasn’t free of policy considerations, with Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein raising alarms about the state of preparations for the switch to all-digital broadcast television signals.
During the meeting, which was conducted by phone, Mr. Adelstein said the proceedings heightened his concern about preparations for the DTV switch. He called in from Phoenix, where he was attending a digital TV informational meeting.
“I’m afraid the DTV transition isn’t ready for prime time yet,” he said. “I’m afraid it’s going to be messy.”
Mr. Adelstein said a number of people at the meeting weren’t aware they needed to apply for coupons to help them purchase converter boxes. He also expressed concern that consumers in fringe areas don’t yet realize the signal area for the DTV signals will be slightly different than analog signals and that some could lose signals.
Commissioner Robert McDowell said that while the transition could be messy for some viewers, the signal will be better for “the vast majority of people.”
(Editor: Baumann)
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Tue, Dec 30 2008 11:44 AM
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