Local Angle

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Over at Slate, Tom Hazlett has an interesting piece about the FCC rules that prevent satellite radio from competing with broadcasters by offering local news, weather, sports, and traffic information. A good illustration of how protectionism masquerades as regulation in "the public interest."

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Jacob Sullum is a senior editor at Reason.

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  1. Matthew Cromer

    More of the commentary that Reason should be offering up, instead of taking sides with John Kerry in returning to a pre-9/11 foreign policy, wishing away the very real problem of WMD in terrorist states like North Korea and believing that our freedom can be secure in a world with 11th century nuclear powers like North Korea and its mad monarch.

  2. kevrob

    Making “local programming” available nationally would seem like a good thing to the millions of Americans who do not live, either temporarily or permanently, in the community where they were raised, or educated, or otherwise still have a connection. I use internet radio to keep track of certain local events Back East, where much of my family lives, and where my favorite sports teams still play. Having a convenient portable source might be worth signing-up with XM or Sirius.

    In the city I reside in, one locally-owned company owns the only daily newspaper, the most popular AM station, an FM’er, a chain of weekly shoppers/community newspapers and the top-rated station for TV news. They could stand a little more competition than the Clear Channel AM outlets on radio, which have relocated their on-air news staff to another city!

    Kevin

  3. Ed from Boca Raton

    I agree with the regulators, and I’d take it a step further: force TV networks to alter programming to fit each local market. Thus, the “Friends” beamed to my area would feature Rachel as a stripper, Joey as a cocaine importer,
    Ross as Mercedes-driving Boca-brat and Chandler as, well, a wise-ass dork.

  4. More of the commentary that Reason should be offering up

    I wrote about it last October, Matthew.

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