NAB Slates Pai Q&A for Vegas Show

FCC chair Ajit Pai will be in Las Vegas for the NAB Show, according to the National Association of Broadcasters.

Pai will participate in a keynote Q&A with NAB president Gordon Smith April 20. Look for Smith to ask him about spectrum policy for one thing.

Currently broadcasters are looking to insure that the FCC's plans to free up C-Band spectrum don't interfere with their plans to continue receiving network programming via that satellite spectrum. It is also trying to make sure that as the FCC rushes to free up even more spectrum for broadband in the TV white spaces and 6 MHz bands, it does not interfere with TV station signals or remote field-to-studio ENG transmissions.

Also likely on the agenda are media ownership rules--the FCC's broadcast dereg was sent back to the commission for more work by a federal court--and the transition to ATSC 3.0.

NAB which generally shares Pai's deregulatory philosophy, describes it as "centered on ensuring that FCC rules reflect the realities of the current marketplace."

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.