Thursday, December 15, 2016

FCC Chairman to Step Down on Inauguration Day

This may not seem like a big deal, but it is. The FCC Chairman is stepping down. The media giants hated outgoing FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler for two reasons. One--he wouldn't allow the rules to be changed to permit further consolidation. Two--he championed the cause of Net Neutrality. Both of those things are likely to change when a new Republican chairman is named.

Under the guise of being more pro-business, many businesses will be damaged (Black is white, up is down). The internet will cease to be an equal opportunity job creating force for businesses like mine, and will instead favor the huge corporations who will have to pony up big bucks to get an internet advantage.

And once the ownership limits are erased (this will happen almost immediately), there will be another debt-leveraged buying spree which will increase stock prices and short term gains for media investors (namely the bosses themselves) at the cost of constricting and constraining future budgets because of the inevitable debt. This will cost media jobs, decrease media quality, and drastically alter the media landscape.

Not trying to be a Debbie Downer. Just telling it like it is.