BROADCASTING
High-Definition Television Faces A Fuzzy Future (WP)
Canadian Regulators Curb Public TV Network (WP)
Airwaves Soon May Open To More Voices (USA)
Radio Squeezes Empty Air Space For Profits
INTERNET
Now Showing on an E-Mail Screen Near You: Your Congressman (WSJ)
DVD Lawsuit Questions Legality Of Linking (Cyber)
CABLE
Fox Returns To Cox Cable In Fairfax (WP)
SPECTRUM
FCC Sets Rules for Auction of Spectrum That Could Be Technological
Speedway (WSJ)
INTERNATIONAL
Mexico's Telecom Imbroglio Awaits an FCC Call (WSJ)
VIDEO
DVD Takes a Big Step in Competition With VHS (NYT)
BROADCASTING
HIGH-DEFINITION TELEVISION FACES A FUZZY FUTURE
Issue: DTV
Digital TV, specifically high-definition TV--has maintained a puzzling
existence in the market. While HDTV displays pictures of amazing clarity the
prices for those sets are staggering at $3,000 for a "cheap" high-definition
TV. More than 100,000 "digital-ready" sets have been sold to dealers and
predictions are for 600,000 sets to be shipped this year. Many of these sets
however are high-frequency or high-scan products without digital tuners
built in. Theoretically, consumers can adapt the set later by buying a
set-top box. Without the equipment, an "HDTV-ready" set can make existing
programming and DVD movies look much better, but it can't show any of the
high-definition pictures being broadcast by the major networks. Broadcast
networks, aided by subsidies from TV manufacturers, have put a portion of
their schedules on the air in digital form although cable companies have
largely declined to carry digital programming.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E10), AUTHOR: Rob Pegoraro]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/feed/a15985-2000jan7.htm)
CANADIAN REGULATORS CURB PUBLIC TV NETWORKS
Issue: Television
The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission extended the
licenses of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation network of radio and
television stations for another seven years. However, for the first time,
the license is conditional - requiring the publicly owned CBC ceasing to
show popular American movies during prime time, reducing its broadcasts of
National Hockey League games and other professional sports and devoting more
of its programming to regional cultural issues and news. The CBC rejected
the order, saying sports and movies provide a large part of the advertising
money necessary to subsidize local and regional programming. CBC officials
said they might appeal to the federal cabinet, or simply ignore the
requirement. The CBC is the biggest producer of home-grown Canadian
television shows.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (A17), AUTHOR: Steven Pearlstein]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16004-2000Jan7.html)
AIRWAVES SOON MAY OPEN TO MORE VOICES
Issue: Radio
The Federal Communications Commission is expected later this month to permit
a new breed of low-power radio stations a move that would let churches,
non-profits and community groups get licenses for inexpensive, noncommercial
FM stations at up to 100 watts and a 4-mile radius. FCC Chairman William
Kennard began lobbying for low-power radio nearly two years ago based on
concerns over declining local and minority programming. The National
Association of Broadcasters (NAB), opposing the initiative, repeatedly
delayed it, arguing the tiny stations would interfere with existing
broadcasters. The FCC would resolve competing frequency applications by
assessing the local programming and other criteria.
[SOURCE: USA Today (1B), AUTHOR: Paul Davidson]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000107/1826366s.htm)
RADIO SQUEEZES EMPTY AIR SPACE FOR PROFITS
Issue: Radio/Advertising
Many radio personalities and listeners are up in arms over a new software
program -- called Cash - that quickens talk programs so that more
commercials can be wedged in. The digital technology literally snips out the
silent pockets between words, shortening the pauses and generally speeding
up the pace of speech, allowing radio stations to add as many as four
minutes of commercial time an hour. Rush Limbaugh, who has recently
discovered that some stations are using Cash to speed up his talk show,
said, "I think it is potential doom for the radio industry." Critics say
that jamming too many ads on radio will only chase away listeners who have a
cornucopia of other media choices. "We are throwing way too many commercials
at our listeners," said James Duncan, president of a broadcasting industry
consulting group. "I think stations will slowly realize that there is a
maximum that listeners can stand, and if they don't they will seriously
downgrade their listenership."
[SOURCE: New York Times, 1/7/00 (A1), AUTHOR: Alex Kuczynski]
(http://www.nytimes.com/)
INTERNET
NOW SHOWING ON AN E-MAIL SCREEN NEAR YOU: YOUR CONGRESSMAN
Issue: Political Discourse
Representative Bob Riley of Alabama (R) sent his constituents a special
holiday email message. Upon clicking an icon in the message, up popped Riley
in a video message. The message was created by a company called
Ecommercial.com of Mission Viejo, Calif., which has had more than a dozen
members of Congress as clients since July. Vice President Al Gore has
already used a similar video message to invite supporters to campaign
events. In July, House Republican Conference Chairman J.C. Watts of Oklahoma
asked the House for permission to let members use their office budgets for
the "compelling new technology." This privilege covers the cost of the video
and sending it, about 15 cents an address, charged by Ecommercial. A
controversial aspect of the Ecommercial product is its ability to track, for
a dime extra, whether the recipient forwards the message to someone else or
visits a connected Web page. (Rep. Riley, a privacy advocate, did not take
advantage of this feature; he also claims not to send unsolicited e-mail.)
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: GLENN R. SIMPSON]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB947201170157366926.htm)
DVD LAWSUIT QUESTIONS LEGALITY OF LINKING
Issue: Intellectual Property/Internet
The American courts have one again been asked to wrestle with the question:
under what circumstances, if any, is hyperlinking to information in
cyberspace illegal. In the latest dispute raising the issue, a group
representing Hollywood and the consumer electronics industry last week
accused 72 Web sites of illegally posting, or linking to, an underground
software program, DeCSS, that program unlocks the security system on DVD
video movies. The DVD Copy Control Association is seeking a court order that
would prevent the defendants from continuing to post the DeCSS program or
link to it. Some legal experts, noting that one of the defending sites is a
news site, say it is extreme to go after the news media for trade secret
misappropriation when they are just reporting and referencing what is going
on. "The problem here is that manufacturers of intellectual property are
willing to attempt an extraordinary global limit on freedom of speech in
order to protect their content-protection systems," said member of the
defense team, Eben Moglen, a professor at Columbia Law School.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Carl S. Kaplan]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/01/cyber/cyberlaw/07law.html
CABLE
FOX RETURNS TO COX CABLE IN FAIRFAX
Issue: Cable
Senior executives from both Fox and Cox Cable of Fairfax reached an
agreement enabling Fox Channel 5 to be broadcast to cable viewers in Fairfax
County, Virginia. The agreement reached by the two companies is confidential
with both companies declining to disclose details. A news release issued by
the two companies said the agreement "restores all Cox Cable customers
served by Fox owned and operated stations." The disappearance of WTTG Fox 5
from the Cox Cable lineup in Fairfax County last week marked the start of a
new debate in television over who will decide which TV programs reach
customers. The two sides are represented by the communications companies
that provide the hardware, hook ups and signals to subscribers and the
networks and entertainment conglomerates that produce the programs. These
two sides also represent two competing visions of cable TV's digital future
and how best to profit from it.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (A1), AUTHOR: Michael D. Shear and William
Branigin]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/2000-01/07/074l-010700-idx.html)
SPECTRUM
FCC SETS RULES FOR AUCTION OF SPECTRUM THAT COULD BE TECHNOLOGICAL SPEEDWAY
Issue: Spectrum
The Federal Communications Commission has set the ground rules for an
auction this spring of valuable electromagnetic spectrum that may be used
for high-speed Internet access and other new technologies. The FCC said it
would open most of the spectrum for flexible usages such as broadband
services and next-generation wireless telephones, as long as they meet
certain technical parameters. The auction will involve 36 megahertz of
spectrum originally allocated to television broadcasters as UHF channels,
which are no longer needed. Congress said it expects the auction to bring in
$2.6 billion, but the figure could be much higher given the wide corporate
interest.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A6), AUTHOR: Kathy Chen]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB947211071985899370.htm)
INTERNATIONAL
MEXICO'S TELECOM IMBROGLIO AWAITS AN FCC CALL
Issue: International/Competition
Both Mexican legislators and new telecommunications carriers are growing
angry that the pro-competition framework of the 1996 telecom law has not
been put into practice. Many feel that regulatory agency, Cofetel, has
failed to rein in the former state monopoly, Telmex, that was privatized in
1990. According to Peters, Mexico's consumers are paying the price for the
lack of competition. Residential rates have nearly tripled since 1995,
pinching low-income Mexicans. When Telmex has refused to comply with the
law, Cofetel has been reluctant to enforce its own rules. Peters writes that
Mexico needs systemic reform to create a truly independent regulatory body
that belongs to no executive-branch agency and is given a mandate to act.
"Without reform," he says, "Mexicans will be saddled with a system that
reduces their economic opportunities while beginning to damage the country's
reputation for a good investment climate."
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A12), AUTHOR: Philip Peters (President of the
Lexington Institute)]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB947198586241867625.htm)
VIDEO
DVD TAKES A BIG STEP IN COMPETITION WITH VHS
Issue:
About 3.9 million digital videodisc (DVD) players were sold last year,
vastly exceeding industry projections. DVDs, which resemble compact discs
that play music but are also capable of storing enough additional digital
information to provide moving images as well, are now expected to overtake
videotape in a few years as the home entertainment format of choice. Some
even predict that the DVD reinvigorate the video retail business "It's
making people interested in video again as a medium of entertainment," said
Michael Becker, the owner of the Video Room stores in Manhattan.
[SOURCE: New York Times (), AUTHOR: Terry Pristin]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/01/biztech/articles/07video.html)
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The Benton Foundation's Communications Policy and Practice (CPP)
(www.benton.org/cpphome.html) Communications-related Headline
Service is posted Monday through Friday. The Headlines are highlights
of news articles summarized by staff at the Benton Foundation. They
describe articles of interest to the work of the Foundation -- primarily
those covering long term trends and developments in communications,
technology, journalism, public service media, regulation and philanthropy.
While the summaries are factually accurate, their often informal tone does
not represent the tone of the original articles. Headlines are compiled by
Kevin Taglang (kevint( at )benton.org), Rachel Anderson (rachel( at )benton.org),
Jamal Le Blanc (jamal( at )benton.org), and Stephanie Ingersoll
(stephanie( at )benton.org) -- we welcome your comments.
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