I Like Magnum P.I., But Not That Much

If you wanted to start your own TV station in Milwaukee, you’d have a tough time. But if you already had a station before, say June, and everyone had to buy a digital converter whose cost was subsidized by the government, well then you’d have two stations, or maybe three or six.

Since TV broadcasts switched to more efficient digital signals in June, broadcasters can “multicast”, fitting up to six streams of programming in the space that they used to fit one analog signal. And using broadcast frequencies more efficiently should be good for you and for me, because we own the broadcast spectrum.

WTMJ’s 4.2 subchannel features 24-hour local weather, and MPTV’s channel 36 has a range of multicast subchannels with food and music and world stuff. But aside from those, you’ll have a hard time finding anything new or local on these new local channels. So the digital conversion is also good for Tom Selleck and Ron Popeil, because there’s a lot more time and space for their shows.

But so what? I like Magnum P.I., right?

No. No I don’t, that was a joke.

But let’s pretend for a moment that someone likes Magnum P.I.. If they enjoy watching it every afternoon at 4:00 on 6.2, and WITI is able to sell advertising during it, what right do I have to complain?

Well. As the Federal Communications Commission explains, “In exchange for obtaining a valuable license to operate a broadcast station using the public airwaves, each radio and television licensee is required by law to operate its station in the ‘public interest, convenience and necessity.’ This means that it must air programming that is responsive to the needs and problems of its local community of license. “

If you were still thinking about Ron Popeil while reading that last part, go ahead and reread it, because it’s both ridiculous and true.

The airwaves are a public space, owned by the public, like a park or a beach or a highway. And while some companies pay the government to lease a range of broadcast frequencies for, say cell phones, television stations don’t pay anything to broadcast. Like taking over a public park or highway, the TV station gets to use the space for free, with the stipulation that their broadcasting serves the public interest.

That compromise was made when the government first began to grant licenses for the finite broadcast spectrum. The broad public interest requirement was designed to protect the free speech rights of broadcasters while protecting the free speech interests of our representative democracy, which depends on an open marketplace of ideas.

The Federal Radio Commission described the nature of broadcasters as trustee of the public airwaves this way: “the station itself must be operated as if owned by the public....It is as if people of a community should own a station and turn it over to the best man in sight with this injunction: ‘Manage this station in our interest.’”

Is that even remotely close to what is actually happening on television?

Imagine local news that was worth watching, with local stations competing to be the most thoughtful and insightful. And coverage of local music and culture. And time for political candidates to speak without having to raise millions of dollars.

The excuse that there is not enough time to devote to that kind of programming doesn’t work anymore. With digital multicasting, stations have two, three, or six times as many hours to fill. Time that is now being filled with infomercials and shows that were shitty before they were old.

With their increased presence on our televisions, local stations’ failure to serve the public has only multiplied.