FCC chairman Ajit Pai has pledged to roll back regulations he believes are wasteful or will cause unnecessary hardship, including rules that keep broadcasters from competing more aggressively in a world of media choice. Pai, a Republican FCC commissioner since 2012 who was named chairman by President Donald Trump in January, has been accused of being on a mission to dismantle Democratic predecessor Tom Wheeler’s legacy. Pai, though, says that his goal is to deliver value for the American people and that community-centric broadcasters are central to his consumer-service mission.
The 44-year-old Pai has already generated some heat in the broadband world by rolling back regulations governing privacy and the Internet. In broadcasting, he has already restored the so-called “UHF discount,” which gave UHF stations an ad vantage in tallying reach, and is eyeing other media-ownership rules, including the 39% national ownership cap. » Read More