She Sells Sanctuary, FCC Sells Spectrum
The buzz/panic/hysteria mode in the pro audio and production biz is the (now old, really old) news that the FCC has been and will continue to auction off portions of the spectrum currently used by TV and wireless devices such as ear mons, mics, comm, etc. Some rather poorly informed souls attribute this to powerful lobbies of the electronics industry. It’s a bit deeper than that. In 1993 Congress passed the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act which gave the FCC the power to allocate portions of the spectrum, thus creating a competitive environment for the “product” (the public airwaves) and therefore driving up the price that the private sector was willing to pay, creating if you will, a market value for something that had previously been allocated via such methods as lotteries and comparitive hearings. As any noob with an eBay account can tell you, the best way to get a feel for the worth (or in some cases the perceived worth) of a good or service is to put it on eBay. In 1997 Congress extended and expanded the FFC’s authority over the matter. And that brings us to where we are today and are heading in the next few years.
Anyone that’s done any touring in the last few years or is working in a harsh radio environment, for example NYC is well familiar with the ever crowded spectrum. With the advent of DTV, space we used freely for the last several decades has been displaced by the new format TV channels. Over the next couple of years, the analog UHF channels will go dark. Some of this spectrum is already taken. For example when the DTV legislation was being hashed out, it was agreed that UHF band would be sold to the highest bidder. All other uses be damned. No one thought what that would do to unlicensed users of that particular spectrum. So, what the fuck dude? What’s going to happen? Well hell if I know for sure, or that anybody knows. In fact I started writing this episode about 10 months ago after attending a private meeting held for my pals at the Sirkus of the Sun, who are kind enough to invite someone that works for the Redheaded Stepchild of that genre of show to informal technical gatherings, not including the Drinking Club with an Audio Problem. The Dark Menis is good like that.
Here’s the deal, most everything but much of 700 mHz is gone, sold to the highest bidder. While it might look like we are fucked harder than Doogie Howser in prison, it’s not quite that bad, yet. I mean the wireless spectrum deal, not prison sex. There have been some proposals to allow us to coexist in the spectrum, but we’ve been skirting the law for as long as there have been wireless mics and ears. Truth be told we been scofflaws the whole time. Now I’m not going to get all sanctamonious like my pal Jimmy B did on the Theater Sound list, because A) that’s not reality, and B), because unlike JImmy, I push faders for a living and not pencils and I know what it takes to gig in the biz. Big difference between designing a rig, and doing a gig. Easy to write on the Interweb about how things should be (hey Dave, aren’t you doing that now?) and how things really are (hey Dave, don’t you always tell us how “things really are”, or at least how you think they are in your world, Dave?). Well yes, yes I do.
Well, what should we do? OK, cool, for starters, either A) get off your young disenfranchised asses, or B) get off your cynical, jaded old asses and make sure you are informed on the subject. Start at the FCC Auctions page. Lot’s of skinny on what The Gov(tm) is planning to do, or at least what they think they are planning to do. Remember, this government is the same one that can’t get water to thirsty disaster victims much less get them off their roofs during a flood or provide the troops that proudly and bravely (my balls certainly aren’t that big) serve us with the proper gear for such a dangerous job. If the gov can find a way to fuck it up, they will. And we’ll all end up paying for it. Don’t matter if you’re Red State or Blue State, you gotta agree that we haven’t been exactly Varsity over the last several years when it comes to this shit. Bet none of you could shoot a guy in the face and get away with it.
The kats that build this wireless shit have a stake in what happens, but unfortunately don’t have the bankroll that those supporting it do. Shure has a page with Whitespace information on what’s happening. Now most of you should know this already. All the lobbying that the wireless manufacturers is going to pale in comparison to what will really be the driving factor in how this will sort out. Bigtime sports. Imagine a Superbowl without wireless mics, comm or IFB. These days, it couldn’t happen. Do what you want, but don’t fuck with a guy’s Superbowl. Personally, I could give a shit about pro football or the Superbowl, but if it saves us some spectrum for radio mics, I’m all for it. The reality is (at least Dave’s reality) that in the last minute we’ll be granted space in which to operate our devices legally (unlike now) because in the end, money and power always wins. While we have really neither, broadcast has both as does high end political TV and corporate and doing events of the scale to which we have become accustomed is going to require some space to facilitate radio devices. It’s ironic to me that the same event that caused so much uproar showing Janet’s titty as a sign of “indecency” is likely to be the same one that saves us some spectrum so we can use our shit. I suppose indecency is in the ey of the beholder and I find it more offensive than showing the beauty of a human body that to report yet another human body mangled or destroyed. But that’s just me…