FCC allows use of new frequencies despite concerns from theater industry

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Over objections from the theater world, including the Broadway League, the Federal Communications Commission today voted to open up unused ‘white spaces’ on the television airwaves.

If you’ve been to a musical in recent years, you know that the performers are typically equipped with small microphones that beam their voices through an amplification system and into the house. And sometimes their shoes can be similarly equipped -- such as the ones at left, with devices taped to the shoes of a performer to amplify tap-dancing rhythms in a 2003 production of ‘Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk’ at the Ahmanson Theatre. Theater producers are concerned that if other kinds of traffic were allowed on the same frequencies, it could play havoc with their shows. In its ruling, the FCC said that there are technological safeguards that can protect wireless microphones used in live sports and entertainment venues.

-- Mike Boehm