I don't think it should be up to the FCC to decide whether or not TV should/shouldn't be free. It should be up to the provider of the station if they want to air their content free, for pay, or for free with added pay content (like pay per view, or the difference between watching YouTube videos, vs. YouTube Premium).
It might be useful if the FCC required specific newscasts to be made available for free (and paid for that, because the newscasters should get paid). Things like CSPAN2, the NOAA weather forecasts, the EBS announcements, and any time a major network has *sincerely* breaking news. So not yesterday's rehash of something someone said that was outrageous and can get better ratings after it stews overnight. But things like - the Prime Minister of a country was shot 10 minutes ago and the shooter is on the loose. Or A plane just went down 20 minutes from the White House and they think it was an attacker with bad aim. Or a bridge collapsed in New Jersey, leaving 50 people dead and 200 trapped at the bottom, or a tornado is heading to your house and you need to get out now.
Those kinds of "breaking" news need to be made free and available to anyone with a TV or radio. Everything else - should be up to the provider.
|