2015 Golden Globe Awards Illustrate the Continuing Decline of Over-the-Air TV

12 01, 15 08:46 Filed in: broadcasting | incentive Auction

Notice something spectrum-related in last night’s Golden Globe awards? All the commercial over-the-air (OTA) TV broadcasters got skunked! The only OTA channel/network that got an award was PBS for Downton Abbey .

PRIME-TIME TELEVISION

Drama
The Winner: The Affair - Showtime

Actor, drama series
Winner: Kevin Spacey, House of Cards - Netflix

Actress, drama series
Winner: Ruth Wilson, The Affair - Showtime

Comedy
Winner: Transparent - Amazon

Actor, comedy series
Winner: Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent - Amazon

Actress, comedy series
Winner: Gina Rodriguez, Jane the Virgin - The CW

Miniseries or TV movie
Winner: Fargo - FX

Actor, miniseries or TV movie
Winner: Billy Bob Thornton, Fargo - FX

Supporting actor, series, miniseries or TV movie
Winner: Matt Bomer, The Normal Heart - HBO

Actress, miniseries or TV movie
Winner: Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Honorable Woman - SundanceTV

Supporting actress, series, miniseries or TV movie
Winner: Joanne Froggatt, Downton Abbey - PBS

So as the TV broadcast establishment thinks the solution to their problems is giving away free TV antennas to wean people from nonspectrum alternatives, maybe when they gather in Las Vegas in April for the annual NAB Show, which all FCC commissioners must attend (just like for CTIA) and genuflect at, they should discuss if they really have a product that the public wants to view? Or perhaps in this day and age they should consider the Incentive Auction as a positive option? Maybe they should heed the advice of Justice Alito -- who has life tenure and doesn’t have to be as obsequious as FCC commissioners and members of Congress: