The top Republican in the House overseeing communications policy Thursday blasted a plan to allow thousands of new low-powered radio stations.
Representative Billy Tauzin of Louisiana said the Federal Communications Commission plan for so-called microradio would reduce the audience and advertising revenue of current stations and possibly create severe interference.
The FCC "is an agency out of control that demands congressional action to straighten it out," Tauzin said at a luncheon meeting of the National Association of Broadcaster's group of top radio executives.
Tauzin chairs the House Commerce Committee's communications subcommittee. The luncheon meeting, in a private dining room of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Arlington, Virgina, included billionaire Lowry Mays, co-founder of Clear Channel Communications.
Tauzin argued that new Internet and satellite radio broadcasters were adding new voices to the airwaves, while current radio and television stations were being underutilized, possibly providing outlets for unheard viewpoints.
"Are the stations we have now enough? Are they utilized properly?" Tauzin asked. In some television markets, the children's program Barney was shown on public television 15 times a day, Tauzin said.
But FCC chairman William Kennard urged Tauzin to talk to educational, religious, and community groups that support the microradio plan before opposing the idea.
"There is enough room for the voices of churches, schools, and neighborhood groups, as well as established radio companies," Kennard said in a statement released after Tauzin spoke.
"I'm sure that Chairman Tauzin does not want to limit Americans' choices to whom or what they can hear on the radio. I hope that when he speaks with the church and community leaders who I have spoken with, he will see the benefits of low-power FM."
