Old media sheds light on the new

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The FCC has been focusing strongly on broadband issues throughout the administration of Chairman Julius Genachowski. But when it comes to informing the public about pertinent issues, the use of “old” media including radio and television remains a key way to get the word out.


In the case we have in mind, Joel Gurin, Chief, Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau, wrote a piece for the FCC blog entitled, “Broadband Speed: FCC Data Is Improving the Market.”

Gurin noted that consumers are constantly forced to make key decisions relating to broadband service, but have to do so in the face of a lack of adequate information.

In fact, they may be making decisions in the face of deliberate disinformation, as when ISPs advertise data speeds that they do not in fact deliver.

The FCC decided to address this issue, and ended up producing the “Measuring Broadband America” report, which gave consumers at least one reliable source to control their own broadband experience.

But how are consumers expected to learn of this report? Some may have learned about it directly from the internet, but here’s what Gurin wrote when noting how the report began to make it out to consumers.

“As we had hoped, our results quickly began informing the marketplace. Our findings were reported not only on the news and on the websites of consumer groups, but also in television commercials, radio ads, and press releases from Internet service providers themselves. Those who had done well in our tests spread the news, and attempted to use their strong performance results to win customers in the marketplace.”

RBR-TVBR observation: Just a reminder that the internet isn’t the only thing out there, it does not do all things, and there is still a major role for mature media, even for the agency building support for the new kids.