This paper outlines policies that Congress should adopt for the principal electronic media-broadcasting, cable television, and telephone company (telco) provision of video programming-from approximately 1995 to 2005. Although the exact time frame cannot be predicted, the next decade represents a unique opportunity for legislative reform before the sweeping transformation of television, including the conversion from analog to digital transmission, renders the present regulatory system obsolete. The need for regulatory action during this period is obvious: broadcasting and cable television will continue to be strong, and in all likelihood will be the dominant forces during this period, but our policies governing them, as set forth in the Communications Act, are seriously flawed. Unless these policies are corrected now, the nation will be short-changed for years to come in significant areas of public service that contribute to an educated and informed electorate. Although eventually both the present media structure and its governing policies will be overwhelmed, we will incur a substantial cost if we continue to rely on the current flawed approaches for the next decade.

Congress, however, seems inclined to do nothing. Although it has recognized that the 1934 Communications Act is outmoded as it applies to the common carrier area (Title II), Congress has failed to acknowledge that the same is true for the broadcasting provisions (Title III), which date back to 1927. Thus, the purpose of this paper is twofold: to call attention to this apparent failure to perceive the need for action, and to forestall the possibility that the government's actions in the near term will preclude a sensible solution to these pressing policy problems.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Reed Hundt has indicated that he intends to confront this issue, stating in an interview with Broadcasting and Cable that "the time has come to reexamine, redefine, restate and renew the social compact between the public and the broadcasting industry. . . . This new compact would . . . apply . . . to only those media that have been given free spectrum in return for their obligation to serve as public trustees. . . . I've never met a broadcaster who didn't want to be a public trustee, who didn't want to be different from anyone else. . . . If they don't want the distinction, they should tell us." 1 The Chairman also noted that if the compact is broken, the broadcasters face a spectrum usage fee. 2

This paper will note trends in television and the principles that should govern congressional policy during the next 10 years. It will focus mainly on how those policies affect broadcasting but will also examine, to a lesser extent, their application to cable television and telco provision of video programming.