November 2014

For US studios, the international TV bazaar is bustling and has never been more lucrative.

Licensing Hollywood TV shows abroad was once a small side business for big US media companies, but is now providing a much-needed source of growth as parts of their domestic businesses slow down. Beyond that, the overseas cash flow is playing an essential role in financing ambitious American productions -- from “The Blacklist” to “CSI.” Contracting talent is getting costlier as more cable channels and streaming providers jump into original programming. The cost of a typical one-hour drama has increased as much as 50% in five years to over $3 million per episode, agents and industry analysts say. Studios like Warner pay to produce the shows and then license them to networks like NBC and ABC. But the U.S. networks can only afford to pay a portion of the costs -- often half or two-thirds -- leaving studios with a big programming deficit. Selling to foreign channels is increasingly vital to plug that gap and make shows profitable.

President Barack Obama launched a new effort to assist school leaders in their transition to digital learning with the Future Ready Digital Pledge. The Future Ready Digital Pledge is part of the President’s ConnectED initiative, which empowers teachers with the best technology and the training to make the most of it, and empowers students through individualized learning and rich, digital content. ConnectED also seeks to connect 99 percent of America’s students with high-speed broadband internet in their schools and libraries.

More than 1,200 school superintendents have already signed the pledge, and have agreed to:

• Foster a culture of learning through technology across their schools
• Assist their students and families in the transition to high-speed connectivity
• Provide their learners greater access to high-quality digital devices and content
• Provide teachers and principals the support needed to use technology in innovative ways

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) said a National Security Agency program that collects telephone records of millions of Americans is helpful in preventing terrorism. He was the only Democrat to vote against the USA Freedom Act, which would have ended the government's bulk collection of telephone records.

The vote on the motion to open debate failed 58-42. "Sen. Nelson has consistently supported measures he feels aid the intelligence community in preventing future terrorist attacks," spokesman Ryan Brown said. "That’s why he voted ‘no’ on the measure last night," he added. "He believes the bill would have undone a provision allowing for retention of certain telephone records that he feels is helpful in preventing future terrorist attacks.”

Cambodians are increasingly turning to the Internet for news and information, with 12% reporting weekly Internet use (up from 4.9% in 2012), according to new data released by the Broadcasting Board of Governors and Gallup.

“Between 2012 and 2014 Internet use just took off as a result of the new broadband infrastructure in the country,” said Betsy Henderson, director of research, training and evaluation at Radio Free Asia. Of Cambodians who reported accessing the Internet in the past week, an overwhelming majority (89.2%) used a mobile phone as compared to a desktop (18.6%), laptop (15.2%), or tablet (7.6%). This signals the growing importance of mobile in the Cambodian media market: 88% of households report owning a mobile phone, and 68.8% of Cambodians report owning a personal mobile phone. Although urban residents are driving the adoption of technologies such as Internet connections, computers and tablets, there is little difference in household ownership of mobile phones between urban (93.2%) and rural (86.5%) Cambodians.