June 2009

Senators ask FCC to review mobile handset deals

Several Senators urged the Federal Communications Commission on Monday to review exclusive arrangements regarding mobile handset technology between wireless carriers and cell phone makers and how they affect competition and choice in the marketplace. In a letter to FCC Chairman Michael Copps, the senators said they were concerned about exclusivity. "We ask that you examine this issue carefully and act expeditiously should you find that exclusivity agreements unfairly restrict consumer choice or adversely impact competition in the commercial wireless marketplace," they wrote. Democrats John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet; Byron Dorgan of North Dakota; Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican, signed the June 15 letter. Some exclusive agreements include the iPhone by Apple and AT&T and the deal between Verizon Wireless and LG Voyager. The FCC was asked in the letter if such agreements were becoming prevalent, limiting consumers' ability to take full advantage of handset technologies, manipulating the competitive marketplace between commercial wireless carriers, and playing a role in discouraging innovation.

FCC Pushing 'Double Re-scan'

The Federal Communications Commission says some stations in Chicago and Philadelphia may have to apply for power boosts and are in discussions with stations there about their various technical issues, but that it is currently focused on consumer-based fixes for reception problems, including promoting what it is calling the "double-rescan." That is having consumers clear out their boxes' memories before re-scanning, a process the commission says is having success, particularly in Chicago. The FCC's call center volume continues to drop as viewers settle in to the DTV transition. According to an FCC spokeswoman, the DTV helpline took just under 63,000 calls on Sunday. That was after recording a one-day record of 317,000-plus on Friday, June 12, as stations were pulling the plug on analog. Saturday saw a drop-off to just north of 145,000 calls.

FCC Lifts Conditions on News Corp.'s Purchase of Major Stake in DirecTV

The Federal Communications Commission has removed the last conditions on News Corp's purchase of a major stake in DirecTV from Hughes Corp. The remaining conditions required News Corp. to participate in arbitration disputes over carriage of regional sports nets and participate in arbitration over retransmission consent negotiations with multichannel video providers. Some public interest groups and competitors -- including Dish and the American Cable Association -- had opposed lifting the conditions on the company, but it seemed all but a foregone conclusion after News Corp. dealt off that 41% stake to Liberty in 2008, or what the FCC described as a "material change in circumstance."

Panel To Unveil 'Meaningful Use' Report

High-tech and healthcare stakeholders monitoring the implementation of economic stimulus package provisions intended to spur a nationwide network of electronic health records will have their first look Tuesday at what might constitute "meaningful use" of health IT products. A subgroup of the Health and Human Services Department's health IT policy committee will unveil a report on the topic and the full panel will deliberate. The paper will also be released for a formal public comment period and recommendations will ultimately be sent to David Blumenthal, the Obama administration's health IT coordinator. Final HHS guidance will let healthcare providers know how they can qualify for incentives included in the $19 billion section of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

MMTC Endorses Clyburn for FCC

The Minority Media & Telecommunications Council has endorsed South Carolina utility regulator Mignon Clyburn for commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission. "Ms. Clyburn is one of the very few FCC nominees with years of experience in both mass media...MMTC warmly endorses this nomination." MMTC was just as warm in its praise for Clyburn when her name first came up. MMTC's David Honig at the time called her a "terrific choice."

Knight Awards $15 Million in Grants for Investigative Reporting

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation is giving $15 million in grants to help develop new digital models for investigative reporting, the foundation announced. The grants, which span programs already in existence and others yet to be formed, "will promote both local and national investigative reporting in order to help provide the vital stories that citizens need to run their communities and their lives."

The three newest grants include:

1) $1.32 million to the Center for Investigative Reporting "to launch a new multimedia investigative reporting project in California that encourages print, digital and student journalists to collaborate on stories."

2) $565,000 to Sunlight Foundation "to develop web tools so the public can easily access information on Congressional lawmakers, from their campaign contributions and votes."

3) $1.01 million to ProPublica "to help the investigative reporting organization create a sustainable business model."

Education Sec Duncan: Use tech to leverage change

To avoid being caught short when stimulus money runs out, school officials should use the short-term federal funding to upgrade technology and improve the tracking of student data, said Education Secretary Arne Duncan. He said federal school officials would continue to push for data-driven learning programs -- based on analyses of individual students' academic strengths and weaknesses. As the federal government pours $100 billion into the schools, he said, administrators should consider implementing technology upgrades. Adopting innovative technology now could pay dividends for school systems in coming fiscal years, the secretary explained. ED has $10 billion in discretionary dollars that will be awarded to schools that meet goals set in the education stimulus.

Blame gets shared for dark side of reality TV fame

Television talent show contestants fantasize about fame and fortune but for some people, an appearance on one of the shows only leads to real problems of stress, anxiety, depression, even suicide. But who is to blame when an everyday person becomes an overnight TV sensation and can't cope. TV producers and industry watchers vary in opinion, but they all say networks who air the shows, companies that make them and contestants themselves shoulder some responsibility.

Digital technology and dollar signs

[Commentary] Talk to filmmakers and media executives about the Internet -- the biggest tectonic shift in the entertainment industry since the advent of cable -- and they typically gripe about two things. Consumers, they say, predominantly seem to want to watch short video clips, and the economic models for earning a decent return on Internet content are still hazy. Business models for content on the Internet are still evolving. But it's already becoming clear that $100-million movies like "Land of the Lost," or even $10-million independent films, may not represent the future of the industry. And new technologies like YouTube, the iPhone and next-generation gaming consoles are opening up all sorts of new, creative possibilities. The artists and business people who will succeed in this new environment are those who are paying attention to the changing behaviors and tastes of this new digital audience -- rather than trying to ignore them or, worse, explaining why they are wrong.

Family time eroding as Internet use soars

Whether it's around the dinner table or just in front of the TV, US families say they are spending less time together. The decline in family time coincides with a rise in Internet use and the popularity of social networks, though a new study stopped just short of assigning blame. The Annenberg Center for the Digital Future at the University of Southern California is reporting this week that 28 percent of Americans it interviewed last year said they have been spending less time with members of their households. That's nearly triple the 11 percent who said that in 2006. These people did not report spending less time with their friends, however.

Benton

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