Benton RSS Feed
JACKSON PUSHES MEDIA OWNERSHIP ACTIVISM
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Framing media ownership as a civil rights issue and saying it was time to mobilize against further media consolidation, Rainbow PUSH founder the Reverend Jesse Jackson told a Washington policy luncheon audience Monday that his group planned to hold meetings across the country to popularize mass media issues and engage fully in a struggle for the airwaves. Rev Jackson was part of the pushback against the rules in 2003, but he suggested it was time to turn up the heat. That includes a full-time staff to monitor telecommunications issues, but more importantly a push for volunteers to "get in some faces," as Rep. Maxine Waters put it. “Struggles around media ownership have never been mass struggles," Jackson said Monday, though "the impact has been mass." He said the dearth of powerful minority media voices does not just hurt blacks, but "sets the agenda for the rest of the U.S." The flashpoint for the new activist mode is the FCC's current media ownership review, which Rainbow PUSH says is not sufficiently reviewing key issues relating to minority, women and small business media ownership.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6375080.html
* Pols join Jackson in media debate
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117950710?categoryid=18&cs=1&nid=2562
Jackson Pushes Media Ownership Activism
MEDIA OWNERSHIP: MUST THE SHOW GO ON?
[SOURCE: TVNewsDay, AUTHOR: Harry A. Jessell]
[Commentary] The show at FCC Chairman Kevin Martin's renomination hearing served to remind Martin that a lot of important people on Capitol Hill care about media ownership. And those people may become more important if the Democrats emerge from the November elections in control of the House and/or Senate. But is it any more than that? Let’s assume the worse (at least as Boxer sees it) and say that the studies in question both landed on desks of Martin and Powell at some point and that one or both immediately ordered that all copies be bundled up and thrown into the Tidal Basin. Well, so what? There’s no law against the higher ups shelving staff studies that they don't think are well done or don't support the policy goals of the day. And there’s no law that says they have to make them public. I'm willing to bet that if you shook the Portals hard enough, you could fill the Tidal Basin with such memos and studies, some going back to the Hoover Administration. The FCC is a political operation. In any proceeding, the chairman decides what the result is going to be and then gets the staff to do some selective research to get to that result. The chairman’s principal job is simply making sure he has at least three votes. It is probably true that further consolidation is unlikely to increase diversity. Most of the people buying stations are those who already own stations and can take advantage of the economies of scale in buying more. Because of those economies, they can usually outbid newcomers of any gender or color. But freezing the ownership rules as they are is not going to help much.
http://www.tvnewsday.com/articles/2006/09/25/daily.2/
Media Ownership: Must the Show Go On?
CONSUMER GROUPS URGE LIMITS ON AT&T-BELLSOUTH DEAL
[SOURCE: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, AUTHOR: Marilyn Geewax]
Consumer advocates and civil libertarians demanded Monday that regulators refrain from approving AT&T's purchase of BellSouth unless the phone companies accept tough restrictions on their $67 billion deal. While the two phone companies want the FCC to move quickly, consumer groups say regulators should not rush to sign off on a combination that could affect consumers for decades. "This merger will haunt the consumer," said Mark Cooper, research director at the Consumers Federation of America. When the combined companies strengthen their grip on the marketplace, he said, "they will use it against the public." Consumer groups belonging to the Competition Coalition called on regulators to impose restrictions on the new telecom giant. For example, they want AT&T to accept rules guaranteeing "net neutrality," meaning the company would have to treat all Internet content in a neutral way. AT&T has expressed interest in charging content providers for speedy delivery of enhanced services, such as video. Consumer groups say that forcing Internet companies to pay "tolls" for premium delivery of their content would hurt young companies trying to compete against established giants. "AT&T's approach to the Internet is one which does not bode well for maintaining the Internet as an avenue of innovation, an avenue of free expression, an avenue of political speech," said Andrew Schwartzman, president of the Media Access Project. The American Civil Liberties Union also is trying to reshape the proposed merger. Barry Steinhardt, director of the ACLU's Technology and Liberty Program, said the FCC should be investigating the phone companies' possible involvement with the National Security Agency, which conducts surveillance of potential terrorist activities. "We believe the FCC has both a statutory and a public interest obligation to investigate whether or not AT&T and BellSouth have been engaging in illegal cooperation with the NSA and spying on Americans," Steinhardt said. "We are very disappointed that the FCC has fallen down in its obligation to conduct this investigation."
http://www.ajc.com/services/content/business/stories/2006/09/25/0925bizb...
Consumer groups urge limits on AT&T-BellSouth deal
TRIBUNE EMPIRE COULD CRUMBLE
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Frank Ahrens]
A boardroom fight over the Tribune Company's limping stock price has caused anxiety in Tribune newsrooms around the country, from an open revolt by the top editor in Los Angeles to "fear and loathing" about potential job cuts among reporters and editors at some of the company's Washington bureaus. Dissident board members have lost confidence in Tribune management and seek to break up the company to boost stock price. At a board meeting last week, they forced the rest of the board to explore restructuring and divestiture plans, setting a quick Dec. 31 deadline for options. Tribune has 11 newspapers and 26 television stations; the stations appear the most vulnerable to sale. For nearly a century, newspapers were unrivaled in their ability to deliver news and sell advertising. News staffs grew fat as hiring decisions were made on coverage needs rather than bottom lines. Now, as newspapers lose readers and advertising to other media and struggle to transition to Internet and other digital forms of delivery -- while attempting to maintain profit margins of more than 20 percent and mollify Wall Street's need for growth -- cuts in jobs and newsroom budgets are coming fast and deep. All those factors alone would make things tough enough on Tribune. But, like an unlucky home buyer, Tribune purchased a group of newspapers at the height of the market only to watch the market nose-dive.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/25/AR200609...
(requires registration)
Tribune Empire Could Crumble
STATE TRIES ITS HAND AT TELECOM REGULATION
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Mike Langberg mike@langberg.com]
[Commentary] This week, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) is expected to sign the Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act of 2006, also known by its designation in the Legislature, AB 2987. The new law will accelerate a profound transformation in the way information and entertainment comes into our homes. Telephone companies, most notably AT&T and Verizon, will be able to obtain a single statewide franchise agreement to offer TV service through their wires. Cable companies, most notably Comcast, will also get to switch to a single statewide franchise once the phone companies start providing TV. This ends the previous system, in place for nearly half a century, by which cable companies negotiated franchise agreements with each city where they offered service. Almost no one, other than the cities themselves, is mourning the end of local franchising. The process was time-consuming and expensive, and it yielded little for consumers. The end of local franchising for TV service is a good thing. City councils aren't the right place to tackle something as complicated as telecommunications regulation. But we still need appropriate regulation, especially around the much-discussed concept of network neutrality. The fat pipes coming into our homes must be an open link to the digital world. We need to be able to go anywhere online, without AT&T or Verizon or Comcast unfairly favoring their own offerings. As long as the state's politicians and regulators refuse to be intimidated, AB 2987 could ultimately do as much for consumers as for the big telecom companies that pushed the bill forward.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/technology/15604070.htm
California tries its hand at telecom regulation
NAB, CEA AGREE ON CONVERTER BOX BASICS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Monday was the deadline for filing comments with the National Telecommunications & Information Administration on a new digital television converter box subsidy program. NTIA will get up to $1.5 billion to administer the DTV-to-analog subsidy, which is intended to keep over-the-air analog sets from going dark after February 2009, when television broadcasting goes all-digital. In joint comments filed to the NTIA, the National Association of Broadcasters, the Consumer Electronics Association and the Association for Maximum Service Television (broadcasters' spectrum policy watchdog) called for the program to cover all analog-only sets, not just ones in analog-only households, and said that the subsidies should not be based on economic need, but instead on "continuity of service." The groups identifies four core principles: 1) Continued Consumer Access to the Broadcast Service. The associations state that the DTA coupon is not a subsidy program; it is a consumer reimbursement program. NTIA's administration of the program must effectively ensure continuity of service to existing analog television sets. 2) Availability of High Quality, Usable, Low-Cost Converter Boxes. Consumers' out-of-pocket expenses for DTA converters must be minimized and the converter boxes must be intuitive and work properly in the myriad of challenging installation configurations in which they will be placed. 3) Simplicity and Clarity. NTIA's administration of the program must strive for simplicity. For consumers and others involved, the program must also be easy to understand and follow. 4) Fairness and Prevention of Waste and Abuse. The program should be structured
to facilitate equitable distribution of coupons to all Americans with analog televisions that depend on over-the-air broadcasts. The program should also be structured to prevent abuses and waste and deter fraudulent attempts to obtain program benefits. 5) Cooperation. The government, broadcasters, manufacturers, and retailers must each contribute to the above goals by providing consumers with the tools and information necessary to make effective use of the converter box program.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6375082.html?display=Breaking...
NEW AMERICA: USE SUBSIDY PROGRAM TO MAXIMIZE 'WHITE SPACES'
[SOURCE: New America Foundation]
The New America Foundation filed comments in the National Telecommunications & Information Administration's proceeding creating a new digital television converter box subsidy program. NAF recommends the following: The minimum technical capabilities for the converter boxes should maximize the utility of the TV white spaces within channels 2-51 for broadband and wireless innovation. The primary goal in designing the converter box subsidy should be to ensure that the return of TV Channels 52-69 is not endangered as a result of inadequate distribution of converter boxes to eligible households.
http://www.newamerica.net/publications/resources/2006/comments_on_dtv_co...
CENTER FOR PUBLIC INTEGRITY SUES FOR BROADBAND RECORDS
[SOURCE: The Center for Public Integrity]
The Center for Public Integrity filed suit against the Federal Communications Commission for failure to provide a database of records requested under the Freedom of Information Act. The lawsuit alleges that the FCC has failed to provide the Center with an electronic copy of a database about the companies that provide broadband within particular zip codes in the United States. "We filed suit against the FCC to obtain the data that the public and policy-makers need in order to get a complete and accurate picture of the current state of broadband," said Drew Clark, who leads the Center's Telecommunications and Media Project. The Center desires to make the data that examines broadband deployment publicly available, which will aid in the nation's understanding of the extent of broadband availability. "All of the legislative debates surrounding communications policy rely on the availability of broadband -- whether the subject is Net neutrality, universal service, or video competition," said Clark.
http://www.publicintegrity.org/about/release.aspx?aid=64
http://www.publicintegrity.org/about/release.aspx?aid=64
WEB'S AD REVENUE UP 37 PERCENT IN FIRST HALF 2006: STUDY
[SOURCE: Reuters]
U.S. Internet advertising revenue rose 37 percent in the first six months of the year, hitting a record of nearly $8 billion, according to a study released on Monday. The study, released by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers, comes just days after a revenue warning by Yahoo raised concerns that ad spending in new media could be slowing.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=technologyNews&story...
DC HONES IN ON MEDIA & OBESITY
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The FCC and Congress Wednesday will announce the formation of a joint task force, Media and Childhood Obesity: Today and Tomorrow, to explore the media's impact on children's health and possible legislative and/or regulatory approaches. The task force, chaired by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate, and Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS), will hold a series of meetings with programmers, marketers, health professionals and government officials about what the surgeon general has warned is a looming national health crisis.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6375092.html?display=Breaking...
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6375092.html?display=Breaking%20News
PBS HONES ITS PITCH WITH NEW SPONSORSHIPS
[SOURCE: MediaWeek, AUTHOR: John Consoli]
The Sponsorship Group for Public Television -- the advertising arm of WGBH in Boston, the public TV powerhouse that produces about a third of the series that air on PBS -- is stepping up its pitch to media agencies and advertisers. SGPTV, in particular, is stressing value-added packages that include not only on-air spots but assorted ways of involving advertisers with the shows off-air. One recent example involves first-time PBS advertisers Arby’s and Macy’s. The pair in May, began sponsoring a new kids’ show Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman, which taps an animated canine host, Ruff, who poses science-based challenges to real kids. Arby’s, in addition to its on-air spots, has attached Ruff to one of its kids meals, while Macy’s, as it absorbs its newly acquired Marshall Fields stores, is having the kids on the show appear live in its kids’ departments to promote its Greendog kids clothing line.
http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/networktv/article_display.jsp?vnu_conte...
http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/networktv/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=10…