October 2010

Spanish-Language Media Launch Drive to Get Hispanics to the Polls

Days before the midterm elections, Spanish-language media have unveiled a get-out-the-vote blitz to energize Hispanic voters, whose turnout could be decisive in many races. In a campaign called "Tu Voto, Tu Futuro" (Your Vote, Your Future), newscasts on Telemundo, the second-largest Spanish-language network, this week have devoted segments to such questions as how to vote and the importance of voting. Telemundo's website and social media are also participating.

Meanwhile, Univision, the largest Spanish-language network, has teamed up with the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, a non-partisan group, and ImpreMedia LLC, the largest Spanish-language publisher in the U.S., in another campaign that began airing this week.

Despite the swelling importance of Latino voters, Spanish-language media haven't normally garnered the attention of political candidates because they are perceived as having the eyeballs of illegal immigrants or of non-English speakers alienated from the political process. That perception appears to be changing. This season, Univision hosted a debate with gubernatorial candidates in California and Florida, as well as Senate hopefuls in Florida. The chairmen of both the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee appeared on Al Punto, a Sunday morning talk show on the network.

Democrats increasingly go negative in midterm ads

It's not the "Party of Hope" right now - many embattled Democrats have gone negative. Many Democratic candidates, faced with running on accomplishments that haven't been embraced by voters, are using a tested, if unsavory, tactic: attacking their opponents' character, according to data provided by a new study.

The strategy of these Democrats is to turn the election from a referendum on their record into a choice - one where the other side is "too extreme," a label that has become a common refrain in TV ads across the country. An analysis of advertising by the Wesleyan Media Project shows that Democratic candidates are running a higher percentage of negative ads and are more likely to go after their opponents' personal characteristics instead of their policy positions.

Data collected by the project show that 29 percent of Democratic House and Senate candidates' ads are negative, up from 13 percent in 2008. By comparison, Republicans' share of attack ads has dropped from 28 percent to 21 percent. Further, 35 percent of the negative ads run by Democrats are focused exclusively on policy. By contrast, Republicans were focused exclusively on policy 57 percent of the time. Democrats say their ads focus on personal characteristics because Republican candidates this year are especially flawed, pointing to Senate nominees such as Rand Paul in Kentucky and Sharron Angle in Nevada.

Moving WiFi to the next level

[Commentary] Recent public discussion has focused on the importance of large-scale visible infrastructure projects, such as highways and high-speed rail, to economic growth and America's global competitiveness. Just as vital is our invisible infrastructure - the electromagnetic spectrum that travels through the air and enables our wireless communications networks.

The value of spectrum is growing every day. But if don't address our spectrum shortage, we will stifle American innovation and cost our nation the job-creating opportunity to lead the world in mobile communications. Put simply, we have no choice but to make more spectrum available for mobile broadband and to find new ways to use spectrum more efficiently. The United States will be the first nation to deploy this Super WiFi technology. Analysts estimate that we will benefit from billions of dollars in new private investment and accompanying job creation. We will also be exporting our technology products to other countries, not the other way around. But Super WiFi must be only one small step in unleashing the potential of wireless. Over the next decade, we need to free up 500 megahertz of spectrum for wireless broadband use -- much more than all the spectrum we assign to this use today.

The challenge is finding 21st-century policies that recognize the important role that broadcast TV still plays while reprioritizing our use of spectrum. In my view, the best approach is through market-based mechanisms that will encourage the current holders of spectrum to let some of that spectrum flow to uses the market and consumers value most.

White House's Next Task: Rebuilding Policy Team

President Barack Obama, with his party perhaps on the cusp of a major electoral defeat, also faces the burden of recalibrating his presidency while restocking the West Wing's depleted policy team.

The National Economic Council has seen its influence wane with the announced resignation of Director Lawrence Summers and the difficult search for a successor, say former White House officials. The scope and scale of its economic proposals have shrunk drastically and gained little traction. The White House budget office remains without permanent leadership three months after the departure of former chief Peter Orszag, shifting responsibility to junior staff members as Congress struggles to pass a budget for fiscal 2011, which began this month. White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's exit several weeks ago, meanwhile, robbed the president of one of his most powerful policy strategists. The National Security Council also faces a major transition, as James Jones gives way to new National Security Adviser Tom Donilon, admired for his administrative skills but not known as a policy maker.

Microsoft Adopts Website Release for Earnings

Another company is taking its earnings straight to the Web. Microsoft published its fiscal first-quarter earnings exclusively on its website, joining a small but growing number of U.S. companies that are skipping the tried-and-true method of announcing financial news via press releases. Google, Expedia and BGC Partners have already adopted the practice. The move extends Internet technology's slow erosion of the market for traditional means of disclosing financial information. If it continues to spread, Web disclosure could eventually cut press-release distributors like PR Newswire and Business Wire out of the loop. Critics worry Web-based disclosure puts small investors at a disadvantage. Microsoft, however, reckons that sending shareholders, analysts and reporters directly to its investor Web page exposes them to more information than could fit in a single earnings document, allowing them to make more thorough evaluations of its business.

Carlyle telecom Acquisitions

Carlyle Group, the world's second-largest private-equity firm, agreed to pay about $2.6 billion to take Syniverse Holdings Inc. private, its second telecommunications buyout in as many days.

Carlyle is offering investors $31 a share in cash, Syniverse said. That's a 30 percent premium to Wednesday's closing price for the Tampa-based company, which makes mobile-phone messaging and network technology. The telecommunications-gear industry, where many companies were hit with spending cuts amid the global recession last year, is rebounding as demand for mobile data services and network equipment increases.

Carlyle also agreed to pay $3.9 billion for fiber-optic cable maker CommScope Inc. to take advantage of demand for high-speed networks.

Private-equity firms are attracted to the industry because of the "explosive, accelerating usage of mobile Internet devices," said John Bright, an analyst with Avondale Partners in Nashville, who rates Syniverse shares "market perform" and doesn't own any.

Where's the Game?

[Commentary] More than three million cable subscribers in the New York City area couldn't watch the first game of the 2010 World Series. That's because of the continuing brawl between Cablevision Systems and the Fox networks over who should get a bigger share of subscribers' fees. The blackout is still going on.

This isn't just a problem for die-hard baseball (or "Glee") fans in New York. Millions of subscribers around the country can expect a similar fight between the News Corporation, which owns Fox, and the Dish Network, a satellite service, when their agreement expires Oct 31. All of this underscores the sweeping changes in the economics of TV. When retransmission arrangements were first made 20 years ago, the balance of power was roughly equal: broadcasters had unique content and cable operators had market monopolies. While broadcasters did not charge for their signal, cable systems agreed to pay for new cable channels. Satellite television, Verizon FiOS and cable rivals have tilted the balance toward broadcasters. With ad revenue dropping, they want to get paid well for broadcast shows.

There isn't much regulators can do. The law says the Federal Communications Commission must ensure companies negotiate in "good faith." That doesn't mean they can't deadlock over price. Washington must not put a thumb on the scale. The fact that broadcasters also use the public airwaves justifies intervention to bring transparency to the process. Meanwhile, Fox and Cablevision should cut a deal.

Cablevision Says Government, Nonprofit Could Retransmit World Series Online

Cablevision has put out a general call to a "government entity" or "non-profit organization" to retransmit Fox's coverage of the World Series over the Internet.

In its latest appeal to government to help in its retransmission consent battle with Fox, Cablevision issued a release saying there was an exemption in the Copyright Act giving those entities the right to do so so long as it was not for "any purpose of direct or indirect commercial advantage" and "without charge to the recipients of the secondary transmission other than assessments necessary to defray the actual and reasonable costs of maintaining and operating the secondary transmission service." Cablevision said those entities were also excluded by statute from the FCC's retransmission consent regime. "Under the clear language of this statutory exemption, a governmental entity or non-profit entity could, for the purpose of serving the public interest, retransmit the World Series free over the Internet. With a simple antenna and Internet streaming capacity, a governmental entity or non-profit organization could do a tremendous public service and extend the reach of this broadcast programming - just as Congress intended," said Cablevision.

Fox Blackout May Spread as Dish, News Corp. Spar Over Fees

Dish Network Corp. customers in some cities may face their own Fox blackout next week, as the satellite company feuds with Fox parent News Corp. over programming fees ahead of a Halloween contract deadline.

Dish's existing contract to carry more than 25 local Fox TV stations expires at midnight on Oct. 31. If an agreement can't be reached, the channels would go dark for more than 3 million customers in New York, Los Angeles, Washington and other cities. That would affect Fox shows such as "House" and potentially the last three games of the World Series. "Dish is more exposed to programming costs than any other pay-TV provider because they face a lot of competition," Matthew Harrigan, an analyst at Wunderlich Securities, said. "Fox is absolutely determined to force this through."

Dueling Commentary on California Video Game Law

[Commentary] USA Today has dueling commentary on the California video game law which will be reviewed by the Supreme Court next week.

The law bans the sale of ultraviolent or sexually violent games to minors. The USA Today editorial staff says you can't blame parents for wanting to shield their children from these sorts of games. They should. But the legal question to be argued is whether government -- in this case, the state of California -- has a role in deciding which games ought to be banned. USAT thinks not. "[It is] better to rely on parents to impose limits, rather than expecting the heavy hand of government to do the job for them." The editorial concludes: "Guarding the First Amendment often means protecting the right of people to say or do things that most Americans find repulsive, such as Nazis marching in a Jewish neighborhood in Skokie, Ill. But the alternative is to arbitrarily pick and choose who's entitled to free expression and who isn't. In that world, anyone might be deprived of rights reserved for individuals since the nation's founding."

Steyer, CEO and founder of Common Sense Media, counters that the case pits the profits of a multibillion dollar video game industry against the best interests of kids. This law is not about preventing access to games that provide learning opportunities and appropriate entertainment, such as Wii Backyard Sports. It covers only the most violent games. He concludes: "If parents decide a violent game is OK for their kids, that's one thing. But kids can't judge the impact of violence on their lives. This law is a common sense solution that puts a parent or adult in charge of the decision-making process, instead of an industry just protecting its profits."

Benton

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