Tom Steinert-Threlkeld

Cable, Broadcasters Face Uphill Battle On DTV Transition Awareness

Submitted by Benton Foundation on April 15, 2008 - 9:37am

Thirty-second spots, on-screen “crawls’’ and “snipes” aren't going to be enough to educate consumers about the fact that they could lose the reception of over-the-air television signals come Feb. 18, 2009.

Tim Robbins Decries Media 'Abyss' in NAB Keynote

Submitted by Benton Foundation on April 14, 2008 - 7:46pm
Last updated: April 15, 2008 - 10:49am

Actor Tim Robbins pre-empted a planned dialogue on new media at the National Association of Broadcasters' annual show and launched a humorous, profanity-laced attack on both the state of the country and the consolidation of viewpoints being carried by national media.

Martin Looks To Ease Small Ops' Burden

Submitted by Benton Foundation on April 14, 2008 - 7:34am

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin last fall got rules passed that effectively required nearly every US cable system to carry TV stations in both analog and digital formats starting next February, in cases where stations relied on mandatory carriage rights to get distributed on local cable systems.

Small Operators Balk At ‘Discriminatory’ Carriage Fees

Submitted by Benton Foundation on April 8, 2008 - 8:22pm

Negotiations between operators of small groups of cable systems and the suppliers of their local broadcast television signals this year will “leave bodies on the street,” according to Patrick Knorr, the head of a set of systems based in Kansas and the chairman of the American Cable Association.

Fee Would Make Digital Shift Less Taxing

Submitted by Benton Foundation on January 3, 2006 - 8:23am
Last updated: April 16, 2008 - 10:11am

How about a 3.5% fee on the sale of digital TV sets to subsidize the purchase of digital-to-analog converter boxes for low income households?