Thriller
Diller Drops
The Dreaded 'O' Word
Media visionary
Barry Diller startled the annual meeting of the National
Association of Broadcasters by decrying media "oligarchy"
in America. The FCC ignored him.
by Ken Freed,
"America Watch" columnist in
Euromedia.
American
media visionary Barry Diller shocked the TV industry at
the 2003 convention for the National Association of
Broadcasters in Las Vegas. Delivering the keynote address
on April 7, he said the "O" word.
Talking about
deregulation and America's latest media ownership rules,
Barry Diller warned against the dangers of media
"oligarchy".
Yes, that was word
he used, "oligarchy."
A hard-nosed
capitalist by any classic definition, a millionaire many
times over, Diller nevertheless worries about the
concentration of media ownership into fewer and fewer
hands. He's concerned about the lack of diversity in
content, the loss of differing points of view.
For the record,
Barry Diller has been the vice president of prime time
programming for ABC Television, chair and chief executive
of Paramount Pictures, chair and CEO of Fox, and he's
just finished a year as chair and CEO of Vivendi
Universal.
Diller took over
QVC in 1992, merging the television, telephone and
computer to create the moneymaking machine called "home
shopping". He proved convergence was both possible and
profitable.
Diller later formed
USA Interactive, based in Connecticut, where he's still
the chair and CEO. A major player in the worldwide
interactive media business, his flagship is the Home
Shopping Network with the divisions HSN.com, Home
Shopping Europe and Euvía in Germany. Other
ventures include Match.com, Expedia.com, Hotels.com, and
Ticketmaster.
Calling himself a
"contrarian" who questions everything, Diller said, "What
all my experiences have in common is a battle against the
prevailing expertise. The problem with expertise is that
it relies too heavily on conventional wisdom. If history
teaches us anything, it is that conventional wisdom is
more conventional than wise."
Now Diller made his
point.
"The
conventionalism throughout the whole media industry today
is that consolidation is the only economic model, and
that deregulation must lead or quickly follow, so these
giant businesses can freely function."
Diller cited the
1996 U.S. Telecommunications Act, which deregulated mass
media to increase competition and expand the diversity of
media voices. "The unintended consequence of deregulation
is that the government has inadvertently allowed to
happen the exact opposite of what it intended to
do.
"The big bad truth
that I don't think anyone really understands, or gives
enough importance, is that the big four networks (NBC,
CBS, ABC, Fox) have reconstituted themselves into the
oligopoly that the FCC originally set out to curb back in
the 1960s. The possibilities today of somebody launching
a new Fox network, a truly independent new network, are
nonexistent."
Diller stressed
that he's not calling conglomerates wrong or evil, "but I
sincerely and emphatically believe that with such growing
and unstoppable power, there must be fierce focus and
vigor for the appropriate safeguards. For that to happen,
there is probably only one group that can still help do
what's necessary &endash; you." He pointed at the
audience of broadcasters.
Terrestrial
broadcasting is "the last place where the independent
voice can still be heard. Local broadcasters should not
be simply the distribution arms of monolithic
enterprises."
Diller concluded,
"There are real dangers in complete concentration. The
conventional wisdom is wrong. We need more regulation.
"Specifically, I
believe that raising the 35 percent limit [on local
ownership] is not good for the industry or the
public.
"I believe that
having financial interest rules for these vertically
integrated businesses is good for the industry and the
public.
"I believe that
having tight programme ownership and financial interest
rules for the already completely concentrated cable and
satellite business is mandatory."
Broadcasting is no
longer the only engine of mass communication, he noted,
but "it's the only one free to all the public all the
time." Consequently, broadcasting has traditionally
carried special obligations and historic public interest
responsibilities that "many of you still understand and
in your bones know should not become a relic of this
modern age."
Since Diller's
provocative speech, has the influential NAB and the
voices of local broadcasters been raised in protest to
the U.S. government? Sadly, no. Diller's recent
appearance on Bill Moyer's "Now" on PBS also has not made
a real dent. There has not been any measurable outcry
from broadcasters or the public, at least, not enough to
matter.
By the time you
read this column, the FCC likely will have raised the
local media ownership cap to 45 percent with no
significant ban remaining on cross-media ownership.
Deregulation and consolidation continues despite the
warning of the visionary who made media convergence a
reality.
America and the
world suffers as a consequence. 
.
