Countervailing power in network television

Behind all the fuss over such current topics of controversy as the FCC's “one‐to‐a‐customer” proposal, Congressional pressure for and against cross‐media ownership, and the criteria employed in selecting among competing applicants for a broadcast facility, are differing economic models and philosophies. In the following article, the traditional “competitive” model is explored in terms of the comparative criteria for selection of licensees and in light of the principle of “countervailing power,” which the author maintains is descriptive of the mechanics of American capitalism as now operative.

Mr. Patrick Flynn has earned a bachelor's degree in foreign service at Georgetown University, a master of science in journalism at Boston University, and served as a research assistant in economic behavior at Boston University's School of Public Communication. He presently is writing a novel in Camden, Maine.