Benton's Communications-related Headlines For March 16, 2007
DIGITAL DIVIDE
Latinos less likely to go online
Black Lawmakers Digitally Redline African American Neighborhoods
CABLE
NAACP Opposes A La Carte
NCTA to Lobby on Retransmission Consent
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Network Neutrality: Avoiding a Net Loss
Google grapples with increasingly political Web
MEDIA & CHILDREN
PTC Pans, Valenti Defends TV Boss
Revised R rating has a parental guide
MEDIA OWNERSHIP
One Proposal for Tribune Said to Lose Momentum
Clear Channel watchers look for Plan B
TEN YEARS AGO...
Angst Over the Digital TV Transition
QUICKLY -- Cingular to refund $18.5 million to unhappy California
customers; Ad Revenues Up for Local Broadcast TV
DIGITAL DIVIDE
LATINOS LESS LIKELY TO GO ONLINE
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Ed Stoddard]
Latino adults in the United States are less likely than their white
or black counterparts to use the Internet, according to a study
released on Thursday by the Pew Research Center. The study
underscores English dominance of the online world and highlights
educational and income gaps between Hispanics and other Americans. It
found that 56 percent of adult Latinos in the United States reported
using the Internet compared to 71 percent of white adults and 60
percent of blacks. Education for all groups was the biggest factor
determining who trawls cyber-space and who does not. If you didn't
finish high school, you probably won't be reading this online.
"Nine-in-ten (89 percent) Latinos with a college degree go online,
compared with 70 percent of Latinos who completed high school, and
only 31 percent of Latinos who did not complete high school," said the center.
http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSN1547420020070315
* Latinos Online
http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/204/report_display.asp
BLACK LAWMAKERS DIGITALLY REDLINE AFRICAN AMERICAN NEIGHBORHOODS
[SOURCE: Black Agenda Report, AUTHOR: Bruce Dixon]
Last year Big Cable and Big Telephone interests teamed up to propose
national cable franchise laws that would have killed network
neutrality, privatized the Internet and allowed providers a free hand
to redline broadband deployment in black, poor, rural and urban
neighborhoods nationwide. Stopped in the U.S. Senate last fall, they
have resurfaced in more than two dozen state legislatures from coast
to coast. Prominent among supporters of Big Cable and Big Telephone
are the National Black Caucus of State Legislators, thanks to tens of
thousands in donations from AT&T, Verizon and Comcast.
http://www.blackagendareport.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&...
CABLE
NAACP OPPOSES A LA CARTE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has
written FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and the other commissioners
registering their opposition to a la carte cable pricing. Saying many
of its constituents live in communities affected by violence, NAACP
Director Hilary Shelton said the FCC needed to review the "negative
impact of dramatically reducing the diversity of cable and satellite
programs targeting racial and ethnic minorities."
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6425022.html?display=Breaking...
NCTA TO LOBBY ON RETRANSMISSION CONSENT
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
The cable industry's principal trade association, in a policy shift,
is going to lobby Congress about problems with laws governing cable
carriage of local TV stations, National Cable & Telecommunications
Association president Kyle McSlarrow told reporters Thursday. But
McSlarrow said the NCTA hasn't decided on legislative goals that
enjoy broad member support. "Unlike several months ago, we plan to be
engaged in this debate," he said. "I'm not racing to the Hill asking
for legislation. We want to be part of that conversation. We're
thinking through what kind of ideas might be good solutions for
that." The NCTA's effort will likely meet stiff resistance from
broadcasters, which have many key lawmakers in their corner,
including House Commerce Committee Chairman Rep. John Dingell (D-MI),
who helped to pass the 1992 law that gave TV stations the right to
demand compensation from pay TV distributors, also called
retransmission consent. The NCTA has been sidelined on the issue
because important cable-programming members, including Disney and
General Electric, own TV stations that rely on retransmission consent.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6425083.html?display=Breaking+News
* NCTA Weighs In On Retrans Debate
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6425096.html?display=Breaking...
* McSlarrow Says He Won't Personalize Differences With Martin
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
National Cable & Telecommunications Association President Kyle
McSlarrow reiterated to reporters that he would not personalize his
differences over a host of policies with FCC Chairman Martin --
despite several opportunities to do so.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6425038.html?display=Breaking...
INTERNET/BROADBAND
NETWORK NEUTRALITY: AVOIDING A NET LOSS
[SOURCE: TechNewsWorld 3/14, AUTHOR: Robert Pepper, Cisco]
[Commentary] To average Internet users, the battle over network
neutrality must seem quite confusing, if not downright opaque. They
must wonder: What's all the fuss about? After all, to this point, the
Internet has been an unqualified success, adopted faster and used
more creatively than almost any other technology in human history.
Why impose additional regulations now? Cisco believes that
empowered consumers, maximum user choices and a free marketplace are
the keys to maintaining an open and innovative Internet. To that end,
we support the High Tech Broadband Coalition's Connectivity
Principles, which were also embodied in the Federal Communication
Commission's Policy Statement of 2005. These principles constitute a
type of consumer "bill of rights" for the Internet. In other words,
they protect and empower consumers while also noting the consumers'
responsibilities as users of the medium. To a large extent, the
Internet has become so popular, successful and useful because it
enriches and empowers people at the individual level. That spirit
must not be jeopardized by ill-advised, untimely government
regulations. Instead, it must be preserved as we go ever deeper into
a new era of high-bandwidth applications and exciting new broadband services.
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Ii1IJ10PgRjmkt/Network-Neutrality-Avo...
GOOGLE GRAPPLES WITH INCREASINGLY POLITICAL WEB
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Anne Broache]
With the Internet poised to be the "epicenter" of the 2008 elections,
Google is contemplating how best to keep candidate information
readily accessible without allowing the Web to transform into a giant
tabloid. One major question the company faces is how to "provide a
platform for free expression without exacerbating the ugliness,"
Elliot Schrage, the company's vice president of global
communications. Schrage was also quick to point out the unprecedented
democratizing benefits he believes the Web has brought to candidates
and voters. He said the Internet has led to easier interaction
between politicians and constituents, greater accountability for
politicians who make missteps and a broader fundraising base. Google
hopes to promote that exchange by creating a special sales team to
handle ad requests from political campaigns. It has also invited all
of the 2008 presidential candidates to journey to the Googleplex to
"talk tech and policy and maybe even grab lunch," Schrage said.
http://news.com.com/Google+grapples+with+increasingly+political+Web/2100...
* Authenticity issues cloud prospects for online politics
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/16915608.htm
MEDIA & CHILDREN
PTC PANS, VALENTI DEFENDS TV BOSS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Parents Television Council released a pair of polls Thursday that
PTC President Tim Winter said showed the industry's TV Boss
v-chip/ratings education campaign was not working. PTC asked: Do you
agree or disagree that there is too much sex, violence and coarse
language on television? 80% of respondents said "yes." Nearly 90% of
respondents said they had not used their TV's V-chip or cable
parentaal control box. And only 8% could correctly answer what the D,
L, S and V content descriptors mean [that's Dialog, Language, Sex and
Violence for those playing at home]. Jack Valenti, the campaign's
architect, said the polls were an unfair shot at an effort that will
take time for the public to fully understand.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6425049.html?display=Breaking...
REVISED R RATING HAS PARENTAL GUIDE
[SOURCE: Hollywood Reporter]
In response to complaints from moviegoers, the groups that oversee
ratings are discouraging parents from bringing smaller children to
violent and sexually graphic films. Movies given an R rating, which
require that anyone under the age of 17 be accompanied by a parent or
adult guardian, will carry a new advisory: "Generally, it is not
appropriate for parents to bring their young children with them to
R-rated motion pictures."
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=entertainmentNews&st...
MEDIA OWNERSHIP
ONE PROPOSAL FOR TRIBUNE SAID TO LOSE MOMENTUM
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Katharine Seelye]
As a March 31 deadline nears for deciding the fate of the Tribune
Company, the proposal from Sam Zell, the Chicago real estate
billionaire, is falling from favor. The company, which has been on
the auction block for more than five months, has all but dismissed
three earlier bids. With Mr. Zell's bid losing steam, management is
forced to reconsider how the company might restructure. The proposals
on the table do not pay much of a premium for the company and would
do little to ease its debt. Moreover, none would really accomplish
anything that the current management could not do on its own, by
spinning off some of the company's assets or raising debt to pay
shareholders a large dividend. "The most likely outcome is the
so-called management self-help plan," said Peter Appert, a media
analyst for Goldman Sachs.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/16/business/media/16zell.html
(requires registration)
* Tribune Rethinks Part of 'Self-Help' Plan
Responding to further signs of weakening in its internal business
outlook, Tribune Co. is re-evaluating the economics of the
"self-help" plan it is expected to embrace. The plan will likely
involve taking on debt to pay a dividend to shareholders, spinning
off its TV-station group and selling the Chicago Cubs baseball team.
But faced with continued declines in print advertising revenues, the
company may opt to borrow less money and pay a smaller dividend than
originally thought.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117400812808138845.html?mod=todays_us_ma...
(requires subscription)
* Advocate's union files grievance with Tribune Co.
The union representing 40 editorial employees at The Advocate and
Greenwich Time is filing a grievance against the Tribune Company
which is selling the two papers to Gannett Co., Inc. for $73 million.
The complaint says that the union's contract, which extends until
September 2008, was not considered in the sale of the paper to
Virginia-based Gannett.
http://www.thestamfordtimes.com/stamford_templates/stamford_story/317144...
CLEAR CHANNEL WATCHERS LOOK FOR PLAN B
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Sue Zeidler]
Does Clear Channel Communications Inc. have a Plan B? That is the
question analysts and industry watchers are wondering after the
largest U.S. radio station operator this week delayed a shareholder
vote on a $19-billion buyout offer from the founding Mays family and
private equity firms Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP.
Opposition to the deal has been mounting, with various analysts
saying investors deserve more than the current offer of $37.60 a
share, and the deal needs two-thirds of votes cast by shareholders to pass.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=industryNews&storyID...
TEN YEARS AGO...
ANGST OVER THE DIGITAL TV TRANSITION
Ten years ago on St Patrick's Day, there was a good deal of angst
about the digital television transition. A New York Times editorial
said Congress made a big mistake by not auctioning off spectrum that
will be used by broadcasters to provide digital TV. The transition
will be costly to consumers and even the biggest-market stations were
not planning starting digital broadcasts for six years. Manufactures
of the digital TV sets and adapters were threatening to delay
production. The editorial urged the FCC to fine stations that did not
adhere to a strict timetable to make the transition. In the Wall
Street Journal, Alan Murray wrote that the government should have
asked broadcasters for free time for candidates before promising the
spectrum needed for the transition. Also in the WSJ, Byran Gruley
wrote about then-Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain's
battle with what he viewed to be the most powerful lobby in
Washington: the National Association of Broadcasters. He wanted
broadcasters to 1) pay for the spectrum they will use for the
transition to digital TV, 2) give political candidates free air time,
and 3) change the new TV ratings system to appease angry parents. And
Broadcasting and cable identified four issues that clouded DTV's
future: 1) the amount of time needed for stations to begin digital
broadcasts, 2) UHF broadcasters objections to the proposed power
levels, 3) low-power television stations attempts to save their
operations, and 4) public service obligations.
* Speeding Up Digital TV
http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0C14F73E5C0C748DDDAA08...
* Advanced TV Makers See Year's Delay
http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70C17F63E5C0C748DDDAA08...
* Digital TV Giveaway Foils Campaign Reform
http://online.wsj.com/home/us
* Senator McCain Puts the Spotlight on Broadcasters
http://online.wsj.com/PA2VJBNA4R/article/SB858553388666028000-search.htm...
* Digital TV No Sure Thing
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
QUICKLY
CINGULAR TO REFUND $18.5 MILLION TO UNHAPPY CALIFORNIA CUSTOMERS
[SOURCE: Associated Press]
Cingular Wireless will refund $18.5 million to thousands of former
California customers who were penalized for canceling their mobile
phone service because they had trouble making and receiving calls.
The settlement announced Thursday with the California Public
Utilities Commission ends a lengthy battle revolving around
Cingular's treatment of dissatisfied subscribers from January 2000
through April 2002. About 115,000 customers who left Cingular during
that time will receive average refund checks of $160 to cover the
fees that they were charged for prematurely ending their contracts.
The refunds include interest.
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/16915688.htm
AD REVENUES UP FOR LOCAL BROADCAST TV
[SOURCE: TVWeek, AUTHOR: Michele Greppi]
Ad revenues for network and syndicated television in the top 100
markets were down, but local broadcast TV was up by double digits for
the fourth quarter of 2006, according to the Television Bureau of
Advertising's analysis of estimates made by TNS Media
Intelligence/CMR in the top 100 markets. For the year, local TV
revenues were up 11.5%. The TVB said the growth extended beyond
politics to all of the top 10 categories for the quarter and the year.
http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=11725
(requires free registration)
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If it's green, leave it alone (unless it's beer, of course). Have a
great weekend and we'll see you in the Sweet Sixteen.
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Communications-related Headlines is a free online news summary
service provided by the Benton Foundation (www.benton.org). Posted
Monday through Friday, this service provides updates on important
industry developments, policy issues, and other related news events.
While the summaries are factually accurate, their often informal tone
does not always represent the tone of the original articles.
Headlines are compiled by Kevin Taglang headlines( at )benton.org -- we
welcome your comments.
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