Broadcasting&Cable

[Op-ed] Who truly has access to broadband (high-speed internet) in America? Right now, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) relies on data from a federal filing, known as Form 477, to identify where the greatest need is and who does or does not have coverage. This data is submitted by Internet Services Providers (ISPs) themselves and, although it does give us a snapshot of some coverage, it’s not as accurate as you may think.

House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Subcommittee on Communications and Technology Ranking Member Mike Doyle (D-PA) sent a letter to the Office of Special Counsel requesting an investigation into all three Republican Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioners regarding their involvement with the 2018 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). 

In a post-trial brief, AT&T and Time Warner said the government "came nowhere close" to proving the proposed AT&T-Time Warner merger violates antitrust laws. The companies said that the government's case was built on "non-probative competitor complaints, irrelevant slide shows," and a theoretical model of harm that collapsed under the weight of "real-world" evidence, then disintegrated upon first contact with real-world events, testimony, and data." The Justice Department had asserted that without spinoffs of Turner programming networks, the merger would mean substantially less comp

The US Office of Special Counsel (OSC) has wrapped up its investigation of Federal Communications Commissioner Michael O'Rielly's statements at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Feb. 23, 2018, and concluded he violated the Hatch Act prohibition on certain political activities by federal branch employees. He was issued a warning letter that a repeat of such statements could incur more than a warning.

Allied Progress, which is opposed to the Sinclair-Tribune deal, says it has placed a six-figure TV ad buy in Iowa to try to get viewers to pressure House Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) to hold hearings on the proposed merger. The group says Grassley has done nothing to scrutinize the merger despite the companies "many controversies." The ad says that "those choosing to compete in the state’s cherished Iowa Caucuses may be forced to face much more than a field of other candidates if the Sinclair-Tribune merger succeeds."

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has said the FCC does not plan to investigate reports that Dish, Tivo and ComScore may have given Cambridge Analytica "the specific viewing habits of many subscribers in the United States." Chairman Pai says the Federal Trade Commission should instead be the one investigating and added that he has forwarded the issue to the FTC. He said he was sure an inquiry would be in good hands.

Charter is ramping up its call for online privacy legislation that applies opt-in requirements on the sharing of personal info, no matter who is doing the sharing. That came in a letter to the Hill from Charter EVP Catherine Bohigian, which followed Charter CEO Tom Rutledge's blog two weeks ago calling for an opt-in regime for all. It also follows Hill hearings with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg three weeks ago and a concomitant boost in Hill sentiment for regulating edge players whose power has grown from "garage" to gargantuan.