This rant on the DirecTV purchase by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp comes from DCRTV’s Dave Hughes:
Smile. You’ve just been screwed. Big time. So, the FCC decided to give its big prize – DirectTV – to King Rupert Murdoch late on a Friday. Why? Because of the slow “news cycle” over the pre-holiday weekend. Duh! The story’s sure to be “old news” by Monday. And, interesting to see how little “play” the story’s gotten on Murdoch’s own media outlets. Obviously, “papa Rupy” and “adopted son Mikey” are hoping the huge “give away” just “goes away,” at least in the court of public opinion. Look, in any case, you have to admit that Murdoch is brilliant. Using one’s media outlets to run PR for the president and his party does indeed result in a windfall of riches. Let’s all hope, at the very least, that Michael Powell goes down as the most spineless FCC chairman in the history of the “regulatory” body. His FCC has become impotent – a joke. It, like many other fed reg bodies, is run by the suits it regulates. In cases where radio gets really raunchy, the Commission slaps the wrists of the corporate giants that own the stations. And then those corporate giants just turn around and “respectfully decline” to pay the fines, which could easily be covered by running a few extra ads. And both sides get a good laugh. If the FCC was serious, it would strip station licenses. If the Commission was serious about “fair and balanced” competition in the US media industry, it would not allow one “player” to own the entire “chain of command” – from the local stations, to the networks (including a major broadcast network and an array of cable nets), to program production, to the home delivery arena (a la DirecTV). Now, who’s to stop cable giant Comcast from buying Disney/ABC? Or Viacom/CBS from nabbing up Time Warner? You and me will soon be paying for “Powell’s folly” with skyrocking cable and satellite bills. And there will be far fewer “voices.” But, by then, Powell will be out of the public limelight, with some cushy job on the board of some big media corporation. Maybe one owned by Murdoch…..
