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[Commentary] We begin the new year with a public totally turned off by Capitol Hill’s embarrassing holiday antics over the fiscal cliff. Sadder still, more cliffs are on the way. It is difficult to see how Congress will find time for anything other than debt limit extensions, budget sequesters, continuing resolutions, government shut-downs and other assorted near-death experiences in the year ahead. We could be free-falling off cliffs all year long! It’s actually worse than being on a roller-coaster, because a roller-coaster goes up as well as down. Isn’t the year following a national election supposed to be open, at least for six months or so, to something approaching cooperative work and tackling tough problems that no one is willing to take on during campaign season? Shouldn’t we be discussing wide-ranging proposals to tackle the many challenges that beset America instead of marking do-or-die cliff dates on our political calendars? America needs to be climbing mountains instead of falling off cliffs. I end where I so often begin these writings. Until we have media that invest in real news, that dig for facts instead of just loud-mouthing opinions, that sustain resource-intensive investigative journalism, that analyze truly complex national issues and national choices, that hold the powerful accountable—until then, we will not have media that truly serve the public interest.
Life On The Cliff
Sony and BMG, onetime partners in one of the music world’s biggest mergers, are teaming up again on a bid to buy — and then divide between themselves — some of the recorded music assets of EMI, according to two people with direct knowledge of the talks between the companies. The EMI assets are being sold by the Universal Music Group, which last year took the company over for $1.9 billion but is being required by the European Union to dispose of about a third of it to preserve competition. The EMI labels up for sale include Parlophone, with acts like Coldplay and the Gorillaz, along with EMI’s extensive classical catalog and other labels and subsidiaries across Europe. Universal is said to be seeking at least $650 million for the divestments, according to these people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks were private. Sony and BMG — which merged in 2004, then split up four years later when Sony bought out BMG’s share — have agreed to submit a bid together in the EMI auction, but the two companies will not be forming another joint venture. Instead, if they are successful, EMI’s divested assets would be split up even further, with Sony taking some and BMG taking others.
Sony and BMG Are Said to Team Up on Bid for EMI
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, is urging the Federal Trade Commission to investigate leaks to the media about its probe of Google. He sent a letter dated Jan. 3 to Scott Wilson, the FTC's inspector general, urging him to find out which FTC officials provided nonpublic information about the Google case to media outlets. Rep Issa noted that any leaks ahead of the announcement were illegal and said they were counterproductive to the investigative process.
Rep Issa urges FTC to smoke out Google tipsters
Clearwire investor Crest Financial will ask the Federal Communications Commission to block Sprint’s takeover of the company, as well as a separate deal between Sprint and Softbank, saying they undermine the value of Clearwire’s airwaves.
The firm plans to file its complaint with the FCC before the Jan. 28 comment deadline on the two transactions, David Schumacher, general counsel for Houston-based Crest Financial, said on a conference call with reporters today. The low price Sprint is getting for Clearwire’s spectrum could hurt the value of other airwaves, making it a concern for the FCC, he said. “I doubt this kind of complaint from Crest is likely to derail the Sprint-Clearwire or Sprint-Softbank deals,” said Jeffrey Silva, a Washington-based analyst with Medley Global Advisors. “Third-party concerns about the impact on shareholder value is unlikely to move the needle much relative to the agency’s overall evaluation of the deals.”
Clearwire Investor Will Ask FCC to Block Sprint Deals
There are a million ways to say how wonderful the Internet is, and the newly formed Internet Association uses dozens of them in this new video ad directed at lawmakers. Backed by more than a dozen of the nation's biggest dot-coms -- including Google, Yahoo, Amazon and Facebook -- the Internet Association has one overarching mission: to make sure policymakers in the nation's capital don't screw up the beloved Internet. The ad’s debut coincides with the beginning of the 113th Congress and just as a number of policymakers, lawmakers and lobbyists get on planes to head to Las Vegas for the annual International Consumer Electronics Show, where a number of sessions will address keeping the Internet free from harmful new laws.
New Internet Association Has a Message for Congress
New data from the Consumer Electronics Association suggests that global spending on consumer electronics will soar to $1.1 trillion during 2013, up about 4% on last year's figures. Much of the projected growth will come from emerging markets. A study by Strategy Analytics pinpoints what devices Americans will be buying as part of this expenditure. Apple's iPhone topped SA's chart with 23.5% of those surveyed saying they planned to buy one during 2013. Android smartphones came second with 21.6% of the respondees planning to get one, just above portable PCs with a figure of 17.4%. Apple's other headline product, the iPad, came next at 15.3%, just above a big-news gadget, the smart TV (12.7%).
iPhones And Americans: How Consumer Electronics Became A Trillion-Dollar Business
Google’s mandate to Motorola Mobility: Focus, innovate. Since Google bought Motorola earlier this year, it hasn't had any big, breakthrough product launches, mostly refinements of existing products. Worldwide marketshare has fallen to 2 percent from 2.5 percent in the past year, according to Gartner Inc., and the phone unit has lost $217 million through the first nine months of 2012.
Google gives Moto space, but how about its mojo?
Apple and Google have been attempting for years to entice customers to ditch cable television for set top boxes that deliver TV shows, movies and more via the internet. For the past year or so, Intel has also quietly been working on a top-secret set-top box that could not only be better than what Apple, Google, and even Microsoft offer today, but also kill the cable industry as we know it.
This set-top box, said by industry insiders to be available to a limited beta of customers in March, will offer cable channels delivered “over the top” to televisions anywhere there is an Internet connection regardless of provider. For the first time, consumers will be able to subscribe to content per channel, unlike bundled cable services, and you may also be able to subscribe per show as well. Intel’s set-top box will also have access to Intel’s already existing app marketplace for apps, casual games, and video on demand. Leveraging the speed of current broadband, and the vast shared resources of the cloud, Intel plans to give customers the ability to use “Cloud DVR”, a feature intended to allow users to watch any past TV show at any time, without the need to record it ahead of time, pause live TV, and rewind shows in progress.
Why Intel's New IPTV Service Will Do What Google, Apple, and Microsoft Can't
The Superfast and the Furious argues that politicians have become overly focused on broadband speeds.
The internet is central to modern life, and next generation fixed and mobile broadband are unquestionably vitally important for the economy. But the case for spending any more taxpayers' money to subsidize very fast connectivity is weak. The report suggests an end to government subsidies for broadband infrastructure once current commitments are reached in 2015. Instead the government should focus on helping the 10.8 million people not online - half of whom are over 65 - and do more to help small businesses make the most of the opportunities presented by the internet.
New polling of 2,000 people and 500 businesses by Ipsos MORI for Policy Exchange found:
- Only a third of people (31%) are confident they could choose the best broadband deal for their household. Overall, price and reliability matter to people as much as speed
- Two thirds of people (64%) think that good basic broadband coverage for the whole country is more important than chasing very fast speeds in some areas at the expense of others
- Four in five people (79%) think that every household should be able to have access to the internet, but only a quarter (24%) think it is fair for people in remote areas to pay more
- People are split (49% vs. 49%) on whether it is more important to invest in connectivity, even if it means more masts and street cabinets, or to preserve neighborhoods and the environment, even if this constrains broadband speeds and coverage
- The vast majority of small businesses have a web presence (79%) but still only a minority are ready to take bookings (34%) or accept payments (36%) online
The report says that the government should see out its current spending plans to extend superfast fixed broadband to 90 per cent of the country, to accelerate the roll out of 4G wireless networks, and to deliver on the 2Mbps universal service commitment for 2015. However, once this program is completed, the priority for any further use of taxpayers' money must be on empowering consumers and businesses to make best use of the internet. Combined with a relentless focus on effective, sustainable competition, this will ensure that supply and demand are free to drive the private sector broadband investment and innovation that people want.
The Superfast and the Furious: Priorities for the future of UK broadband policy
Greater media consolidation is generally considered by owners in both Britain and the United States to offer a way out of the current crisis. But an American commentator, Josh Stearns, believes that we should think again about acceding to such a plan.
He argues that "media consolidation is largely what got us into this mess in the first place." After pointing out a truth that some publishers would prefer we didn't notice - that they are still making reasonable profits - Stearns takes issue with the commercial strategy they employed in the days when they made bumper profits. Instead of investing in journalism and the web, he says "they went on a buying spree" which meant that many of the biggest among them "got over-leveraged with debt as they gobbled up competitors." He is writing about the US experience. But that remark about indebtedness certainly applies in the UK too, particularly at Johnston Press (which makes good money but must service an intolerable debt burden due to its former acquisition spree).
Media consolidation - a panacea that may not be good for journalism