Spectrum scarcity? Broadcasters have been hearing the echo of that phrase for years. More recently, those words have been driving the current FCC effort to move broadcasters off a third of their remaining spectrum so that wireless companies can have more room. The future broadband-connected world depends on it, they are told at almost every turn. And the broadcast network beef remains: If they are going to be left with less spectrum to compete against all those new digital services, at least they should be able to compete with the same kind of programming the competition-cable, satellite, the Internet-is delivering to the vast majority of households, and yes, households with little kids and grandparents, without any FCC thumb on the scale. Spectrum scarcity has been one of the keys to the FCC's justification of broadcast content regulation in general, and more recently its crackdown on Janet Jackson's breast, Charlotte Ross' butt and Cher and Nicole Richie's mouths as part of its pursuit of fleeting nudity and profanity.
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