FCC Will Look at Lots of Regulations for Overhaul, From Broadband to Media, Pai Says

The FCC will cut regulations that stand in the way of consumers getting better, faster broadband, Chairman Ajit Pai said Thursday in an interview on Fox Business News. But Pai didn’t discuss specifics in an interview with host Trish Regan, which lasted about six minutes. Much of the focus was on media issues.

“We want to cut those regulations, which are standing the way of innovation and investment,” Pai said. “When I travel around the country, what I’ve heard from Michigan to Mississippi, Washington State to Washington, D.C., is that there are a lot of rules that are on the books that are keeping companies from investing and innovating in high-speed internet access. The FCC needs to take a hard look at those regulations and try to figure out the way forward.”

Pai declined comment on AT&T buying Time Warner. Regan played a clip in which then President-elect Donald Trump slammed the deal for concentrating too much power in the hands of one company. Pai said he couldn’t comment on any pending transactions. “My understanding is that the companies have agreed to structure the transaction in such a way that it won’t require FCC review,” he said. “I’m afraid I can’t opine.”

Regan said the deal raises questions on the size of media companies. “Generally speaking, we want to make sure that there’s a competitive marketplace,” Pai responded. “Any transaction that is presented to me, I will apply the test that the FCC has long applied -- is the consummation of this deal in the public interest and will consumers be better off.” Pai said the FCC will “take the appropriate action” if it finds evidence of competitive harm.

Pai said “without question” some of media rules are decades old and need to change. Some of the regulations “have been outpaced by the realities of the marketplace,” he said. With the “advent of the internet” and people getting news from Facebook and Google and other online sources, “it has become a very competitive marketplace,” he said. Pai said the question becomes does it now make sense for the commission to have the same media cross-ownership rules it has had for decades. “That’s something the FCC needs to take a serious look at because it disadvantages some of those newspapers and broadcast owners from doing what they do best, which is competing in a fair marketplace,” he said.

Regan replayed recent use of the “F-bomb” by singer Adele at the Grammys, which aired on CBS, and by actress Kristen Stewart on NBC's Saturday Night Live. Adele's comments were bleeped, but not Stewart's in the live broadcast, according to media accounts. Regan asked Pai, “Come on, seriously, is there nothin’ you can’t say on TV anymore?” If the FCC gets complaints, “we are duty-bound to enforce the law and the law that is on the books today requires broadcast TV to keep it clean, so to speak,” he said. “We take that obligation seriously.” Pai said he has special concerns as a parent. The FCC can issue a fine, admonish a broadcaster or take no steps at all, Pai said. “It really is highly fact intensive,” he said.