Broadcasters get to use the airwave spectrum (and make money off of advertising) in return for allowing people free access to these broadcasts for their own personal use.
Oakley recently launched Airwave - ski goggles with built-in sensors which provide information on an in-built screen about an owner's speed, the size of their jumps and what music they are listening to.
Without providing a great deal of detail, in theory the FCC would force local TV stations to sell chunks of airwave spectrum rights to the U.S. government, which would then use them for public Wi-Fi networks.