James H. Quello, Ex-Member of F.C.C., Dies at 95
Matthew Kruk
James H. Quello, Ex-Member of F.C.C., Dies at 95 By DOUGLAS MARTIN
James H. Quello, who as a generally pro-business member of the Federal
Communications Commission from the 1970s to the 1990s helped propel the
drive to deregulate broadcasting, died on Jan. 24 at his home in
Alexandria, Va. He was 95.
The cause was heart and kidney failure, the National Association of
Broadcasters said.
President Richard M. Nixon appointed Mr. Quello, a former broadcaster,
to the commission in 1974. The president, a Republican, was required to
appoint a Democrat to the commission in order to maintain a required
one-vote majority for the incumbent party.
Mr. Quello was indeed a Democrat, but critics complained that he had
given $1,100 to Nixon's 1972 re-election campaign and that he was too
close to other Republican leaders, like Representative Gerald R. Ford of
Michigan, who later became president.
Ralph Nader and other consumer advocates called Mr. Quello a pawn of the
radio and television industry. Nicholas Johnson, an outspoken critic of
broadcasters whom Mr. Quello had replaced as commissioner, called his
appointment "abysmal and preposterous."
Mr. Quello did not disappoint his critics or his backers. David
Firestone, executive director of the communications and society program
at the Aspen Institute, said in an interview that "if there was an issue
that involved the broadcast industry," its supporters "could look to him
as the most likely champion of their cause."
In 1981, after the F.C.C. freed the nation's 8,900 radio stations from
several major regulations, including limits on commercials, Mr. Quello
said, "The marketplace does take care of it, and it's a different
ballgame out there now."
For years Mr. Quello supported the television networks in their battle
against programming requirements for children, arguing that such rules
infringe on First Amendment guarantees of free speech. He reversed this
position in 1996 after many congressmen and senators demanded it.
In 1993, while Mr. Quello was the F.C.C.'s acting chairman, the agency
issued regulations for the first auction of the nation's airwaves, wrote
rules to govern the quality of cable television service and vastly
expanded opportunities for new wireless phone services.
He later worked with commissioners to write many new rules after
Congress passed the landmark Telecommunications Act of 1996, which
fostered more competition in the marketplace and also led to a
concentration of media ownership.
Mr. Quello waged a long battle against Howard Stern's radio commentary.
Many reports cited him as the chief instigator of fines for indecency
against Mr. Stern in the 1990s. In 1995, the F.C.C. agreed to wipe the
slate clean if Mr. Stern's employer, Infinity Broadcasting, paid a
one-time fine of $1.7 million. It did.
Known for freewheeling talk, Mr. Quello disagreed when the F.C.C. ruled
that no employee could accept a free meal from a lobbyist. "I've always
had the attitude that if you can't eat their food, drink their booze and
still vote against them, then you don't belong in this job," he said.
James Henry Quello was born on April 21, 1914, in Laurium, Mich.,
graduated from Michigan State University and saw combat as an Army
officer in World War II in Europe, earning several decorations. After
the war, he worked for Detroit radio stations, becoming station manager
of WJR and vice president of Capital Cities Communications after it
acquired WJR.
In 1998, Michigan State started the James H. and Mary B. Quello Center
for Telecommunications Management and Law to honor Mr. Quello and his
wife, the former Mary Butler. Mrs. Quello, Mr. Quello's wife of 60
years, died in 1999. He is survived by his sons, James and Richard; two
granddaughters; and a great-granddaughter.
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