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At one point, I started making a list of all the decisions politicians could make and change about the way governments were run. I came up with over 100 items,

At one point, I started making a list of all the decisions politicians could make and change about the way governments were run. I came up with over 100 items, very quickly. The Democrats and Republicans both didn't address and were in implicit agreement on some 95 of those 100 things, despite the fact that some of them are really ugly. For instance, the exclusive rights to the television broadcast spectrum are sold without auction for $100,000 per year to NBC, CBS, and ABC, and estimates have placed the worth of those rights over a billion dollars per year. This made me sad.

barry-cotter 17y ago
Blog it. Then submit it.
- davidw 17y ago
  To reddit...
cousin_it 17y ago
For instance, the exclusive rights to the television broadcast spectrum are sold without auction for $100,000 per year to NBC, CBS, and ABC Source please. I don't believe you.
jellicle 17y ago
> For instance, the exclusive rights to the television broadcast spectrum are sold without auction for $100,000 per year to NBC, CBS, and ABC, and estimates have placed the worth of those rights over a billion dollars per year. The "old" (VHF and UHF) broadcast frequencies were given to the various stations without any fees whatsoever, I believe. Each broadcast station has to pay a $170 (sic) license renewal fee every couple of years. Those frequency allocations are going away, being reclaimed by the government in the digital TV transition. Some of the old TV frequencies have already been auctioned: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/700_MHz_wireless_spectrum_auction http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/700_MHz_wireless_spectrum_aucti... Many of the digital TV frequencies (which are in the same area as the old VHF and lower UHF frequencies) have been given to the existing TV stations free of charge. These would have been worth a great deal of money if sold or leased, as you can see from the 700MHz auction above. So it's actually somewhat worse than the original poster says, in that there's no $100,000 collected.
- cousin_it 17y ago
  The "old" (VHF and UHF) broadcast frequencies were given to the various stations without any fees whatsoever, I believe. Each broadcast station has to pay a $170 (sic) license renewal fee every couple of years. Look, I'm really sorry for being such a boring no-fun dude, but... please source this statement.
  - jibiki 17y ago
    It's hard to find actual data on this. Here are the radio licensing fees, most seem to be in the $500 to $5000 range. http://www.fcc.gov/fees/am_fm_2008.pdf http://www.fcc.gov/fees/am_fm_2008.pdf This page suggests TV broadcast license fees up to ~$70,000, but it's not at all clear to me whether it applies to the major networks: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-284863A2.pdf http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-284863...
    - cousin_it 17y ago
      This page suggests TV broadcast license fees up to ~$70,000 Yeah, for each Nielsen Designated Market Area. The US is divided into 210 of those. Are we confused, or are "lionhearted" and "jellicle" liars? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_television_stations_in_North_America_by_media_market http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_television_stations_in_...

barry-cotter 17y ago

Blog it. Then submit it.

davidw 17y ago
To reddit...

cousin_it 17y ago

For instance, the exclusive rights to the television broadcast spectrum are sold without auction for $100,000 per year to NBC, CBS, and ABC Source please. I don't believe you.

jellicle 17y ago

> For instance, the exclusive rights to the television broadcast spectrum are sold without auction for $100,000 per year to NBC, CBS, and ABC, and estimates have placed the worth of those rights over a billion dollars per year. The "old" (VHF and UHF) broadcast frequencies were given to the various stations without any fees whatsoever, I believe. Each broadcast station has to pay a $170 (sic) license renewal fee every couple of years. Those frequency allocations are going away, being reclaimed by the government in the digital TV transition. Some of the old TV frequencies have already been auctioned: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/700_MHz_wireless_spectrum_auction http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/700_MHz_wireless_spectrum_aucti... Many of the digital TV frequencies (which are in the same area as the old VHF and lower UHF frequencies) have been given to the existing TV stations free of charge. These would have been worth a great deal of money if sold or leased, as you can see from the 700MHz auction above. So it's actually somewhat worse than the original poster says, in that there's no $100,000 collected.

cousin_it 17y ago
The "old" (VHF and UHF) broadcast frequencies were given to the various stations without any fees whatsoever, I believe. Each broadcast station has to pay a $170 (sic) license renewal fee every couple of years. Look, I'm really sorry for being such a boring no-fun dude, but... please source this statement.
- jibiki 17y ago
  It's hard to find actual data on this. Here are the radio licensing fees, most seem to be in the $500 to $5000 range. http://www.fcc.gov/fees/am_fm_2008.pdf http://www.fcc.gov/fees/am_fm_2008.pdf This page suggests TV broadcast license fees up to ~$70,000, but it's not at all clear to me whether it applies to the major networks: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-284863A2.pdf http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-284863...
  - cousin_it 17y ago
    This page suggests TV broadcast license fees up to ~$70,000 Yeah, for each Nielsen Designated Market Area. The US is divided into 210 of those. Are we confused, or are "lionhearted" and "jellicle" liars? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_television_stations_in_North_America_by_media_market http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_television_stations_in_...