In recent days, the National Association of Broadcasters has mounted a vigorous campaign, getting broadcasters in every state to urge their Congressional representatives to kill the plan.
WiMax, which can deliver network connectivity over several miles, should be the broadband technology that gets broadcasters excited.
"They got broadcasters across the country to hammer like hell on the Congress and the FCC," says the ex-NABer.
What's the best way to get commercial broadcasters to yield needed spectrum — through incentive auctions proposed by the Obama administration?
"One way the F.C.C. has tried to bridge this divide is by trying to get the broadcasters to be sensitive to recruiting broadly.
The plan hinges on the F.C.C.'s ability to get television broadcasters to voluntarily give up some of their airwaves in exchange for receiving some portion of the sale proceeds, a process known as an incentive auction.
In 2012 Google spent $300m on launching its Original Channels initiative, as it aims to get traditional broadcasters (such as BBC and ITN) as well as celebrities (Jamie Oliver, Madonna) creating videos exclusively for YouTube.
And that's the problem with today's Social TV apps: It's difficult to get either broadcasters or advertisers to care about a couple million users here or there.
With the end of that broadcaster rights exclusivity in January this year, they can now sign distribution deals to help finance a production without having to get the broadcaster along: "You can have those conversations with people here knowing that you can put the deal together yourself.
And it's not only a look at the diseases: it's an examination of the health systems of the developing world, what impact aid has really made, pharmaceutical companies and their priorities... Again, it's one of those big, overarching themes that's very hard to get a broadcaster to say: OK, we're going to throw a team at this for nine months.
