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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
CANADA SLEEPS THROUGH WAR TO 'SAVE THE INTERNET'
[SOURCE: The Tyee, AUTHOR: Bryan Zandberg]
[Commentary] Known for their abnormal sleeping habits, Canadians are missing a really good policy debate. One and a half million Americans have signed a petition for the US Congress in support of Network Neutrality -- but only 217 Canadians have done the same. It's not that the fight over net neutrality doesn't matter in Canada. At issue in the frozen tundra, as in the United States, is whether telecom companies can favour some Internet sites over others by charging different rates to different customers and making some sites much easier to access than others. Critics say the practice threatens the Internet's level playing field and would stifle smaller independent voices on the web. At stake is nothing less than democratic speech in the Canadian modern era, says Kevin McArthur. "I mean this is The People vs. Larry Flint all over again, only this time it's digital." Odd then that public debate on the issue in Canada has been a non-starter. Especially when, between the two countries, it's Canada where the World Wide Web is most poised to become the latest plaything of the rich and the powerful.
http://thetyee.ca/Mediacheck/2007/01/17/NetNeutrality/
Canada Sleeps Through War to 'Save the Internet'
FTC CHAIRMAN WANTS MARKETERS TO SHAPE UP
[SOURCE: AdAge, AUTHOR: Brooke Capps]
Federal Trade Commission Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras offered markerts advice in the form of New Year's resolutions at the Association of National Advertisers's Advertising Law and Business Affairs Conference. "Advertising is a critical part of our consumer-centric competition-based economic system," she said in her keynote, "so much so that false or misleading advertising which distorts the system can't be tolerated." She began by asking advertisers to "trim the fat in marketing to kids." While Ms. Majoras is not interested in placing blame for rising childhood obesity rates, she is interested in action. She said she is pleased so far with the self-regulatory actions by marketers to shift the focus of advertising to children under the age of 12 to encourage healthier eating habits.
http://www.tvnewsday.com/link/?id=9723
http://www.tvnewsday.com/link/?id=9723
HOLLYWOOD RETHINKS ITS RATINGS PROCESS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: David Halbfinger]
Stung by a low-budget documentary that assailed the movie ratings system last year, motion picture industry officials are vowing to make the system more transparent to filmmakers and more accessible to parents. The most substantive rule change will let aggrieved filmmakers refer on appeal to other movies -- for example, to argue that because another film was permitted to run a similar scene, their film should be permitted to as well. Until now, directors were barred from citing other films when appearing before the appeals board. But ratings officials decline to say that they will cede to precedent; the “context of the entire film†will still guide their decisions. Officials of the Motion Picture Association of America, its Classification and Ratings Administration and the National Association of Theater Owners plan to meet with filmmakers and producers Monday in Park City, Utah, at the Sundance Film Festival to discuss other tweaks to the ratings system.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/18/movies/18rati.html
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Hollywood Rethinks Its Ratings Process