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NON-COMMERCIAL EDUCATIONAL RADIO STATION FILING PERIOD SCHEDULED FOR THIS YEAR
[SOURCE: Lasar's Letter on the FCC, AUTHOR: Matthew Lasar]
The Federal Communications Commission will accept applications for new full power non-commercial educational (NCE) FM radio station licenses sometime this year, perhaps in late spring. Typically, the FCC gives between one and three months notice before opening the filing window, which will likely last only five days. These full power NCE stations will lie between 88.1 FM and 91.9 FM, and range from 100 to 100,000 watts, depending on location. Full power stations are superior to low power stations because they are protected from interference and cannot be bumped off the air as new stations emerge. This year’s filing window, disclosed by the agency last August, will end the FCC’s six-year freeze on new full power applications. This window is a rare opportunity for non-profits and educational institutions, but interested parties must devote energy and money to submit an acceptable application. Further, the FCC can only accept applications for frequencies that do not conflict with existing stations, which, for the most part, no longer exist within 30 miles of the largest 100 cities in the U.S. To complete a valid application, applicants need an engineer to perform a frequency search, which normally costs over $2000. Also, the likelihood of running into competition over a given frequency is high, so most applicants rely on the services of an FCC attorney. If awarded a license, radio station start-up costs run between $50,000 and $250,000. To increase the chances of receiving a license, one entity may file several applications. Christian organizations have relied on this technique in the past. For example, in a 2003 filing window for FM translators, several Christian organizations filed thousands of applications to rebroadcast radio ministries. As they have in the past, many Christian groups are publicizing the upcoming NCE filing window.
http://www.lasarletter.net/drupal/node/284
Non-Commercial Educational radio station filing period scheduled for this year
SIRIUS/XM TEAM UP ON FCC SATELLITE REPEATER RULES
[SOURCE: Lasar's Letter on the FCC, AUTHOR: Matthew Lasar]
As debate continues over a possible merger between Sirius and XM satellite radio, XM has filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission backing Sirius's proposed rules for satellite repeaters and wireless transmitters. Final regulations governing these two technologies "should take into account the well-established hazard that terrestrially-based services can pose to adjacent band satellite services," two attorneys for XM Radio Inc. wrote to the FCC on January 5th in support of Sirius' proposals. XM filed the statement to back a Sirius petition submitted on October 17th, 2006 that outlines broadcasting rules for satellite Digital Audio Radio Service (DARS or SDARS) repeaters and Wireless Communications Service (WCS) transmitters. Both XM and Sirius use DARS repeaters to reach customers whose receivers cannot receive a direct satellite signal. But WCS broadcasts, used to pinpoint the location of cell phone users, can sometimes interfere with satellite repeaters.
http://www.lasarletter.net/drupal/node/285
Sirius/XM team up on FCC satellite repeater rules
FUTURE OF MUSIC COALITION STATEMENT ON FCC PAYOLA SETTLEMENT
[SOURCE: Future of Music Coalition]
Payola has been the radio and music industry's dirty secret for decades. While the Federal Communications Commission avoided taking action on payola, leaders like Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, Senator Russ Feingold and then-New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer pushed for progress. Now, the FCC is reported to be on the brink of pushing through a negotiated consent decree with the broadcast industry. This consent decree could bring to an end the broad investigation that the FCC announced in the aftermath of the Spitzer investigation. Future of Music Coalition strongly believes that any successful settlement must have three components: 1. A basic framework that outlines how the local independent music community can interact with the commercial radio industry to gain access to commercial airplay; 2. A credible oversight plan that ensures the negotiated framework can be enforced in a way that will lead to true reform; and 3. serious penalties that hold the broadcast industry responsible for years of abusive practices that have so damaged the music community and the public. Any deal that does not address all three points must be judged a failure.
http://www.futureofmusic.org/news/FCCpayolaconsentdecree07.cfm
Future of Music Coalition Statement on FCC Payola Settlement
FCC ENFORCEMENT BUREAU LISTS ACCOMPLISHMENTS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable]
FCC MEETING PRESENTATIONS
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
At the FCC, it is customary now at the first open meeting of the year to recap the accomplishments and priorities of each of the bureaus. At the URL below, find links to the presentations by senior agency officials regarding implementations of the agency's strategic plan and a comprehensive review of FCC policies and procedures.
http://www.fcc.gov/realaudio/presentations/2007/011707/
The FCC's Enforcement Bureau chief briefed the commissioners on its chief accomplishments in 2006 as part of a Wednesday status meeting. Its two main accomplishments dealing with children and content, according to Bureau Chief Kelly Monteith, was the creation of a Web-based complaint form for indecency, and the March omnibus order proposing fines against a number of broadcasters. That March order includes the profanity decisions -- though no fines were issued -- that broadcasters are currently challenging in federal court.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6407928?title=Article&spacede...
DEMOCRATIC GAINS ALTER MEDIA OWNERSHIP DEBATE
[SOURCE: Technology Daily 1/16, AUTHOR: David Hatch]
For television, radio and newspaper outlets seeking regulatory relief from the FCC, the timing of the agency's comprehensive review of ownership limits could not be worse. When FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, a deregulatory-minded Republican, initiated the review last year, the business-friendly GOP controlled both chambers of Congress. But now the Democrats are in charge, and some are flexing their muscle on the issue. "I think the election [result] is going to add additional challenges" for stations seeking relief, National Association of Broadcasters spokesman Dennis Wharton conceded. "If Martin had known the Democrats were going to take over Congress, certainly he would have moved things along faster," quipped Andrew Schwartzman, president and chief executive officer of the public-interest law firm Media Access Project, which opposes easing the rules. Schwartzman predicted that the agency, which will issue new reports on media ownership this spring, will not conclude its review until the third quarter of 2007. FCC Commissioner Copps told Technology Daily that as part of the review he will press for more public-interest obligations for broadcasters, which will be capable of offering multiple stations when they switch to digital signals in early 2009. Commissioner Copps suggested that increased consolidation may be fueling more gratuitous violence and sex on television as media conglomerates appeal to the lowest common denominator.
http://www.njtelecomupdate.com/lenya/telco/live/tb-XJZC1169062405650.html
Democratic Gains Alter Media Ownership Debate
TRIBUNE DRAWS THREE OFFERS, ALL SHORT OF ORIGINAL HOPES
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Sarah Ellison sarah.ellison@wsj.com]
At least three groups, including the Chandler family and a pairing of Los Angeles billionaires Ron Burkle and Eli Broad, submitted sharply varying proposals for newspaper and TV empire Tribune Co. by last night's bid deadline, giving the company's board the difficult task of deciding how to proceed. None of the bidders is offering to pay a premium for all of Tribune, the type of offer the company's board and the Chandler family were hoping to get when the company put itself on the auction block in September. Even so, the board will likely come under pressure from shareholders to pursue some dramatic action. The Chandler family's offer is seen as a last-ditch effort to rescue the value of its stake in the company. Under the proposal, which hadn't been finalized, the Chandlers and private-equity partners would buy the newspapers, which include the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune, while Tribune would spin off its TV stations. The family's advisers have received a commitment from one private-equity firm for half of the money needed for the deal, according to people familiar with the proposal, but are trying to find additional investors. The Chandlers envision holding 51% of the newspapers, while partners would hold the remainder. Burkle and Broad proposed a leveraged recapitalization, under which they would borrow roughly $10.5 billion and offer Tribune shareholders $27 a share in a cash dividend that would leave shareholders with equity valued at $7 a share. The valuation of the proposal could vary, depending on what value would be put on existing shares, but the proposal says the offer is worth roughly $34 a share. The two men are also offering $500 million in cash, which would give them roughly 34% of equity control of the company. The company also received at least one proposal from a private-equity firm interested in the company's TV stations.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116906723798879341.html?mod=todays_us_pa...
(requires subscription)
* No Bidders Announced for Tribune Co.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/17/AR200701...
* Chandlers, Moguls in Battle for Tribune
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-fi-tribune18jan18,1,74...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116906723798879341.html?mod=todays_us_page_one
CLEAR CHANNEL SALE IS THREATENED AS SHAREHOLDER DISCONTENT MOUNTS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Dennis K. Berman dennis.berman@wsj.com and Sarah McBride]
Large shareholders of Clear Channel Communications Inc. have begun voicing resistance to the big radio firm's $18 billion sale, dissent that could jeopardize the transaction. In recent weeks, Clear Channel's largest holder, Fidelity Management & Research Co., has made its displeasure known about the company's sale to Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital Partners, according to people familiar with the matter. A number of the company's top 10 holders also have been upset about the terms, these people said, and have been talking to the company about their positions. The private-equity firms are in a tight spot because the transaction requires that two-thirds of outstanding votes be in favor. Given that a percentage of shares usually are not voted in merger approvals, a dissenting group with a relatively small number of shares could theoretically squelch the transaction.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116909478729079956.html?mod=todays_us_mo...
(requires subscription)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116909478729079956.html?mod=todays_us_money_and_…
VOTERS USE INTERNET MORE, BIG ROLE SEEN IN 2008
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Jeremy Pelofsky]
Americans turned in growing numbers to the Internet for political news and information during the 2006 U.S. congressional campaign, as Web videos and blogs became more widespread, a report on Wednesday said. Fifteen percent of those surveyed said they relied on the Web for the bulk of their political news in 2006, up from 7 percent in the 2002 congressional campaign but down 2 points from 2004, when there was also a presidential race. Presidential contests tend to draw more intense interest. "We might begin to see 2008 as the year when the distinction between 'virtual' politics and 'real life' politics becomes much less meaningful," said Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet Project and co-author of the report.
http://today.reuters.com/News/newsArticle.aspx?type=internetNews&storyID...
See "Election 2006 Online"
http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/199/report_display.asp
* Internet Gains for Midterm Campaign News
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/TECHBIT_POLITICS_ONLINE?SITE=MATA...
Voters use Internet more, big role seen in 2008
WEB NEWSPAPER BLOG TRAFFIC TRIPLES IN DECEMBER
[SOURCE: Reuters]
The number of people reading Internet blogs on the top 10 U.S. newspaper sites more than tripled in December from a year ago and accounted for a larger portion of overall traffic to those sites, according to data released on Wednesday. Unique visitors to blog sites affiliated with the largest Internet newspapers rose to 3.8 million in December 2006 from 1.2 million viewers a year earlier, tracking firm Nielsen//NetRatings said. Some of the growth stems from newspapers adding new blogs to their site that were not running in 2005, Nielsen//NetRatings said, as well as readers' greater familiarity with the reading format.
http://today.reuters.com/News/newsArticle.aspx?type=internetNews&storyID...
SAN FRANCISCO WI-FI REPORT KICKS UP DUST
[SOURCE: Broadband-Today.com, AUTHOR: Joni Morse]
San Francisco’s municipal Wi-Fi project doesn’t pass the sniff test as administered by city budget analyst Harvey Rose. In a new report carried out at the request of the city’s Board of Supervisors, Rose concludes, “it may be fiscally feasible to build a municipally-owned wireless network.†However, Rose also notes, “to assure initial fiscal feasibility and sustain future fiscal feasibility, the city would need to continually work to contain and manage financial risk in the future in order to maintain a viable wireless service for all of San Francisco.†Rose says he reviewed projected wireless network capital expenditure needs and operational costs and weighed the estimates against projected revenue streams to determine the project’s fiscal feasibility. San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors, whose majority approval is needed in order for a network to be constructed, has been speaking out against Mayor Gavin Newsom’s plan to put EarthLink in charge of building and maintaining the city’s Wi-Fi network. The board was presented with a contract proposal agreed upon by the mayor’s office and EarthLink last week, and they now have a little less than six months to vote on the contract. Members of the board have complained publicly that the mayor’s office didn't adequately consider the viability of a plan that involved a city-owned network. The debate over whether the city should own the network or not comes down to two main factors: how much control the city ultimately will have over what services are offered to its citizens, especially its disadvantaged residents; and how the city would pay for the system. Rose’s report determined that the fiscal impact of city ownership of the Wi-Fi network ranges from an annual funding shortfall of more than $1.44 million to an annual revenue gain of about $923,000.
http://www.broadband-today.com/article/CA6407505.html?nid=2907
http://www.broadband-today.com/article/CA6407505.html?nid=2907