Re: [Fwd: WQEW make your move])

[Dib9@aol.com]

In a message dated 12/28/98 11:18:30 AM EST, rkirk@VideoServer.com writes:

<< I submit that the Government should tax the licenses and allow 
 station owners to pay for the "limited' resources they are using 
 to make money.  After all, shouldn't the Government give me,
 the taxpayer, the best possible financial return on my share of
 the public's collectively-owned resources >>

I agree entirely.  The FCC has begun auctioning parts of the spectrum in non-
broadcast applications.  Why not bring the same concept to radio & TV?  When
new licenses are available they should simply be auctioned to the highest
bidder.  I would also not object to a very small percentage tax on station
sales.  Then the taxpayers would benefit from increases in station values.

As for public service, my view is that the more members of the public that
listen to your station, the more public service you are providing.  I don't
see how the government can determine what is in the "public interest."  A
station with a 10 rating is serving the public ten times more than a station
with a 1 share.  What good is it to provide programming that the public
"needs" if hardly anyone listens to it?  I know my view is not consistent with
FCC regulations.

As for the case of WQEW, I don't think "public service" applies.  They simply
replaced one type of entertainment with another.  People are free to make
value judgements about the relative value of the different formats, but it is
not a matter that can be judges under "public service" regulations.

Dan Billings
Bowdoinham, Maine

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End of boston-radio-interest-digest V2 #269
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