Oct 29, 2008 (FCC Agenda; Election; Economy)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 29, 2008
We're tracking how the financial crisis is impacting communications -- see http://benton.org/taxonomy/term/1427
FCC AGENDA
FCC Nov 4 Agenda Released
Martin in the spotlight: FCC chief's Nov. 4 meeting center of controversy
FCC chairman faces growing pressure to delay votes
White Spaces Jockeying Continues
'White Spaces Debate Shows Broadcasters At Their Worst
ELECTIONS & MEDIA
Univision Works to Magnify Clout of Hispanic Voting Bloc
Campaigns Try New Web Tactics In Battle to Tap Fresh Supporters
With Time Running Short, Campaigns Engage in a Noisy Air War
Journalists Name 44th President
Hollywood braces for new FCC chief
Obama-mercial To Air On Univision, NBC, CBS, and Fox
Beyond the Fairness Doctrine
THE ECONOMY
Mourning Old Media's Decline
Advertising groups issue dire slowdown warnings
Time Inc. Plans About 600 Layoffs
Hollywood may not be recession-proof this time
Gannett will cut 10 percent of newspaper jobs
Christian Science Monitor will stop printing daily
GOOGLE/ADVERTISING
Barton wants indepth review of Google/Yahoo deal
Google to pay $125 million in online books settlement
Nielsen Online: Kids Encounter Ads Less Than Adults
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Should All ISPs Provide Data on Network Activity?
Tweets of terror? Army: microblogs potential terrorist tool
FCC AGENDA
FCC NOV 4 AGENDA RELEASED
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
Late Tuesday night, the Federal Communications Commission released a public notice of its agenda for its Nov 4 meeting. The Commission will consider: 1) comprehensive reform of intercarrier compensation and universal service, 2) a merger to create the largest mobile phone carrier in the US, 3) a merger to create the largest WiMAX provider in the US, 4) allowing unlicensed uses of unused portions of broadcast spectrum, and 5) digital television issues including closed captioning.
http://benton.org/node/18289
Comment on this Headline
back to top
MARTIN IN THE SPOTLIGHT: FCC CHIEF'S NOV 4 MEETING CENTER OF CONTROVERSY
[SOURCE: RCR Wireless News, AUTHOR: Jeffrey Silva]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin is coming under mounting pressure to postpone votes on major wireless items scheduled for Nov 4. meeting could be a big one, possibly producing a new No. 1 mobile phone carrier in Verizon Wireless and the country's dominant WiMAX provider in what would be called New Clearwire. When the dust settles, according to one estimate, the top four wireless carriers could control more that 90% of the wireless market. Lawmakers otherwise wrapped up in re-election campaigns are writing brow-beating letters to Chairman Martin. But Chairman Martin shows little sign of backing down. There is little downside for Martin staying the course and much to gain in terms of overseeing major wireless decisions in his waning months as chairman. Martin is putting the finishing touches on his legacy. The Democratic-controlled Congress has investigated Martin's management of the agency and has generally kept the heat on during the past couple of years. But lawmakers really have little leverage at this point in light of the fact that Chairman Martin likely will be gone early next year when a new administration takes charge. Still, the next couple months promise to be rocky for Martin.
http://benton.org/node/18281
Comment on this Headline
back to top
FCC CHAIRMAN FACES GROWING PRESSURE TO DELAY VOTES
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Joelle Tessler]
Nearly 75 members of Congress are urging the head of the Federal Communications Commission to delay next week's vote on a proposal to overhaul key pieces of telecommunications regulation, arguing that the matter should get public review. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin wants to significantly reorder the complicated menu of fees that phone companies pay to connect calls with each other's networks. He advocates more uniform, lower rates. The proposed changes are backed by the three largest phone companies, Qwest, Verizon, and AT&T. They argue that existing rules are outdated and based on obsolete regulatory distinctions. But the plan faces opposition from a broad coalition of competing carriers and rural phone companies, which fear it could erode the money they get for completing phone calls to their subscribers. And consumer advocates warn that it could lead to higher phone bills - particularly for rural customers - as phone companies seek to recover lost access charges from other sources.
http://benton.org/node/18280
Comment on this Headline
back to top
WHITE SPACES JOCKEYING CONTINUES
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Glen Dickson]
Proponents and opponents of using unlicensed wireless devices in unused parts of the broadcast spectrum, the so-called "white spaces," continue to vigorously lobby the Federal Communications Commission with only a week left until to a scheduled vote on the issue. Some 28 members of the House have sent a bipartisan letter to the FCC urging the commission to delay its scheduled Nov. 4 vote and seek public comment on the white spaces rulemaking, citing unfavorable results in an FCC report on field testing of prototype devices this summer. The lawmakers expressed concerns over the devices' interference with both wireless microphones and cable television systems. Meanwhile, key members of the Wireless Innovation Alliance have sent their own letters to the FCC urging Chairman Kevin Martin to go ahead with the Nov. 4 vote, including Google Chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt, Dell Chairman and CEO Michael Dell and The Technology CEO Council, which represents Motorola, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, IBM and EMC, among others.
http://benton.org/node/18279
Comment on this Headline
back to top
'WHITE SPACES DEBATE SHOWS BROADCASTERS AT THEIR WORST
[SOURCE: PublicKnowledge, AUTHOR: Art Brodsky]
[Commentary] For most industries, companies have to buy the raw materials from which their finished products are made. One industry has been continually exempt from that law of commerce - broadcasting. For almost 90 years, radio and then TV broadcasters have used the public's airwaves (spectrum) without charge. At one point, they had some obligations to serve the public interest, but most of those were done away with in the great deregulation wave of the 1980s. It's time for a new policy for broadcasters because their world is changing, like it or not. The TV networks are starting to offer full episodes of shows online, so that viewers don't have to watch the television set or tune in to the stations the networks or their affiliates own. Public Knowledge has proposed some approaches, ranging from abandoning the spectrum scarcity argument on which broadcast regulation is based, to forcing broadcasters to choose between paying for spectrum and losing their special protections, or keeping protections like must-carry and give up spectrum. The basic question: Should an industry so dedicated to stopping progress deserve any protections without any accompanying responsibilities? The basic answer: Everything should be on the table for discussion.
http://benton.org/node/18278
Comment on this Headline
back to top
ELECTIONS & MEDIA
UNIVISION WORKS TO MAGNIFY CLOUT OF HISPANIC VOTING BLOC
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Miriam Jordan]
If the path to the White House this election passes through the Hispanic community, then it also passes through Univision. The dominant Spanish-language broadcaster is a powerful influence on its audience -- and in this election cycle, it has been engaged in an aggressive two-year campaign to turn the fast-growing Hispanic constituency into a potent voting bloc. The network -- whose ratings during prime time often surpass those of ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC -- has used public-service announcements as well as local and national news broadcasts to motivate Latinos to become politically engaged. With other Latino media and grassroots groups, Univision began by spurring more than a million eligible legal U.S. residents to apply for U.S. citizenship; it then goaded them to register to vote. Now, less than two weeks before the election, it is guiding them right to the voting booth.
http://benton.org/node/18288
Comment on this Headline
back to top
CAMPAIGNS TRY NEW WEB TACTICS IN BATTLE TO TAP FRESH SUPPORTERS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Christopher Rhoads]
With the help of a massive database of potential Democratic supporters, Democrats are trying to erase Republicans' long-held advantage on the ground in elections. For years, Republicans have used the party's so-called Voter Vault, a database of potential supporters fine-tuned over many elections, to target, motivate and secure the backing of voters. This year, the Republicans are matching information from the Voter Vault to Internet searches to serve up ads to potential supporters and using social-networking sites to identify potential volunteers.
http://benton.org/node/18287
Comment on this Headline
back to top
WITH TIME RUNNING SHORT, CAMPAIGNS ENGAGE IN NOISY AIR WAR
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Jim Rutenberg]
The campaigns of Sens Barack Obama (D-IL) and John McCain (R-AZ) are making their last-ditch advertising pitches in a loud, televised shouting match over health care and taxes, terrorism and presidential readiness, trying to sway the few remaining undecided voters or to push wavering supporters to the polls on Tuesday. Sen McCain is in many ways shouting into the roar of a locomotive. The nearly $21 million that Sen Obama spent on advertisements last week was nearly twice what Sen McCain and the Republican party had spent in the same period.
http://benton.org/node/18286
Comment on this Headline
back to top
JOURNALISTS NAME 44TH PRESIDENT
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Howard Kurtz]
So much for the formality of next week's election. Many pundits and publications seem so certain of a big Democratic win that they're exploring the intricacies of an Obama administration and whether the party will have a filibuster-proof 60 votes in the Senate. "If the mainstream media are wrong about Obama and the voters pull a Truman, that is going to be the end of whatever shred of credibility they have left," says Tobe Berkovitz, associate dean of Boston University's College of Communication.
http://benton.org/node/18277
Comment on this Headline
back to top
HOLLYWOOD BRACES FOR NEW FCC CHIEF
[SOURCE: Variety, AUTHOR: Cynthia Littleton, William Triplett]
Showbiz is bracing for the arrival of a new sheriff in Washington. Because no matter what happens next week on Election Day, one thing is certain: Current Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin is out the door. Even if Sen John McCain (R-AZ) wins, Chairman Martin is history, Beltway insiders say. Speculation about post-election appointments for the FCC and other key policy posts reached fever pitch in Washington media circles this week.
http://benton.org/node/18276
Comment on this Headline
back to top
OBAMA-MERCIAL TO AIR ON UNIVISION, NBC, CBS, AND FOX
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: David Goetzl]
Barack Obama's 30-minute infomercial scheduled for three of the four leading broadcast networks Wednesday will air simultaneously on Univision as well. The extended promo will run with a simultaneous Spanish voiceover. NBC, CBS and Fox are airing Obama's lengthy pitch to a national audience six days before election day. ABC is apparently a holdout, preferring to go with its regular Wednesday schedule--which could yield higher revenues than the Obama presentation. The campaign is paying the three English-language broadcasters about $1 million each to rent the time, from 8 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Eastern and Pacific time zones. If there is a World Series sixth game on Fox, it will air after its conclusion in the West.
http://benton.org/node/18275
Comment on this Headline
back to top
BEYOND THE FAIRNESS DOCTRINE
[SOURCE: Reason, AUTHOR: Jesse Walker]
[Commentary] The fairness doctrine is still dead, and it probably will stay dead even if Sen Barack Obama (D-IL) becomes president. But there's a host of other broadcast regulations that Obama has not foresworn. In the worst-case scenario, they suggest a world where the FCC creates intrusive new rules by fiat, meddles more with the content of stations' programs, and uses the pending extensions of broadband access as an opportunity to put its paws on the Internet. At a time when cultural production has been exploding, fueled by increasingly diverse and participatory new media, we would be stepping back toward the days when the broadcast media were a centralized and cozy public-private partnership. Such threats might not rile up the red-state base the way the fairness doctrine does, in part because it's far from clear that the GOP would be any better.
http://benton.org/node/18274
Comment on this Headline
back to top
THE ECONOMY
MOURNING OLD MEDIA'S DECLINE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: David Carr]
Clearly, the sky is falling. The question now is how many people will be left to cover it. The paradox of the many layoff announcements is that newspapers and magazines do not have an audience problem — newspaper Web sites are a vital source of news, and growing — but they do have a consumer problem. Stop and think about where you are reading this summary. If you are one of the million or so people who are reading it in a newspaper that landed on your doorstop or that you picked up at the corner, you are in the minority. This same information is available to many more millions on this paper's Web site, in RSS feeds, on hand-held devices, linked and summarized all over the Web. Historically, people took an interest in the daily paper about the time they bought a home. Now they are checking their BlackBerrys for alerts about mortgage rates.
http://benton.org/node/18285
Comment on this Headline
back to top
ADVERTISING GROUPS ISSUE DIRE SLOWDOWN WARNINGS
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Kate Holton, Paul Thomasch]
Three of the world's largest ad groups have issued dire warnings about an industry slowdown, as economic upheaval throws planned spending on advertising from TV commercials to Web searches into doubt. The forecasts from Publicis, Interpublic Group and Aegis on Tuesday followed solid-third quarter results by each of the groups, showing they have so far weathered the storm. But with economic troubles deepening, the advertising market is now at risk of suffering its biggest slowdown since 2001.
http://benton.org/node/18271
Comment on this Headline
back to top
TIME INC PLANS ABOUT 600 LAYOFFS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Tim Arango]
Time Inc., the world's largest magazine publisher, plans to cut 6 percent of its work force — more than 600 positions — and will revamp the organization in a way that could radically alter the culture at the company. The layoffs will begin in about two weeks. No magazines are scheduled to close, but some are likely to be severely cut back. Time Inc.'s 24 magazines in the United States and their Web sites will be organized into three divisions: news, which will include Fortune, Money, Time and Sports Illustrated; lifestyle titles, which include Real Simple, Cottage Living, Coastal Living and Southern Living, among others; and style and entertainment, which includes People, InStyle and Entertainment Weekly, which has suffered a severe downturn and is likely to be whittled down under the new structure.
http://benton.org/node/18284
Comment on this Headline
back to top
HOLLYWOOD MAY NOT BE RECESSION-PROOF THIS TIME
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Dawn Chmielewski, Meg James]
Changes in consumer behavior signal trouble for media companies. For decades, entertainment executives have boasted that Hollywood is "recession-proof." No matter how dire the economy, the argument goes, consumers will always be willing to spend on entertainment to escape. Studio executives note that during the Great Depression, when more than a quarter of the country was out of work, people still scraped together dimes to see the latest motion picture. In subsequent economic slumps, consumers spent freely on new technology, expanded their home video libraries and, most recently, invested $1,000 or more on high-definition, big-screen TVs. This time, however, past may not be prologue. Unlike the rudimentary entertainment economy of 75 years ago, when the downtown Bijou was about the only diversion, consumers now have a near-limitless array of entertainment options to occupy their leisure time.
http://benton.org/node/18283
Comment on this Headline
back to top
GANNETT WILL CUT 10 PERCENT OF NEWSPAPER JOBS
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Robert MacMillan]
Gannett, the largest U.S. newspaper publisher, is planning to cut about 10 percent of jobs at its local papers as it fights advertising declines made worse by the global financial crisis. It is the second round of layoffs that Gannett has planned in the past two months. In August, Gannett said it would eliminate 1,000 newspaper jobs, with 600 being laid off.
http://benton.org/node/18270
Comment on this Headline
back to top
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR WILL STOP PRINTING DAILY
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Robert MacMillan]
The Christian Science Monitor will abandon its weekday print edition next year, choosing instead to put daily news on its free website and print a paper just once a week. It is the first nationally distributed US newspaper to make such a move, and could prove a harbinger for an industry battered by a falling advertising sales and circulation, and a steep rise in the cost of newsprint.
http://benton.org/node/18269
Comment on this Headline
back to top
GOOGLE/ADVERTISING
BARTON WANTS INDEPTH REVIEW OF GOOGLE/YAHOO DEAL
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Diane Bartz]
Former House Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX) asked the Justice Department on Tuesday to "thoroughly investigate" antitrust and privacy issues in a search advertising partnership planned by Google and Yahoo. He expressed frustration at Yahoo's response to questions he and his staff had posed about the deal, which would allow Yahoo to use Google advertisements on its search. Yahoo issued a statement saying that the firm has "cooperated fully" with Rep Barton's staff and will continue to do so.
http://benton.org/node/18273
Comment on this Headline
back to top
GOOGLE TO PAY $125 MILLION IN ONLINE BOOKS SETTLEMENT
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Paul Thomasch]
Google has reached a legal settlement with authors and major publishers that paves the way for readers to search through millions of copyrighted books online, browse passages and purchase copies. Under Tuesday's settlement, Google will pay $125 million to create a Book Rights Registry, where authors and publishers can register works and receive compensation from institutional subscriptions or book sales. The settlement with the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers draws to a close a three-year legal challenge of Google's plan to make many of the world's great books searchable online.
http://benton.org/node/18268
Comment on this Headline
back to top
NIELSEN ONLINE: KIDS ENCOUNTER ADS LESS THAN ADULTS
[SOURCE: MediaWeek, AUTHOR: Mike Shields]
Kids and teens encounter far less advertising than do adults as they surf the Web, according to a new report issued by Nielsen Online, perhaps bucking conventional wisdom that the younger, social networking and instant messaging-loving generation is constantly bombarded by banner ads. Nielsen's analysis found that kids 2-11 endure the lowest level on ad clutter on the Internet, while the 12-17 group experiences the second lowest level, based on the company's new "clutter expose" metric for online advertising. Meanwhile, the 65 and older Web surfing crowd sees more ads than any group, reported Nielsen, which found that higher ad clutter correlates with consumers' ages. The researcher said its new clutter exposure measures pieces together data from a variety of sources, including it's own Web site audience reports as well as ad campaign data—include page views, impressions, time spent and even ad pixel numbers. The hope is to give advertisers information on where on the Web they can place ads without getting drowned out.
http://benton.org/node/18272
Comment on this Headline
back to top
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Should All ISPs Provide Data on Network Activity?
Tweets of terror? Army: microblogs potential terrorist tool
SHOULD ALL ISPs PROVIDE DATA ON NETWORK ACTIVITY?
[SOURCE: PC magazine, AUTHOR: Chloe Albanesius]
Is your Internet service provider interfering with your Web experience? Washington-based interest group Free Press believes you have the right to know, and asked the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday to require all broadband service providers to be transparent about their network activities. The Commission needs to craft a rule "requiring all broadband service providers to disclose in detail any networking activities that monitor or interfere with any level of communications by end users to access or share unlawful content and applications on the Internet," according a filing submitted to the FCC by Free Press' Ben Scott, policy director, and Chris Riley, policy counsel.
http://benton.org/node/18282
Comment on this Headline
back to top
TWEETS OF TERROR? ARMY: MICROBLOGS POTENTIAL TERRORIST TOOL
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Joel Hruska]
A recent report from the 304th Military Intelligence Battalion has raised concerns over whether a number of relatively new communication technologies might be adding terrorist forces in the field. Although it stops short of recommending any sort of formal response, the intelligence operatives behind this OSINT (open-source intelligence, also known as intelligence gathered from public sources) point out that cell phone GPS support and microblogging services like Twitter could actually be used to facilitate military attacks against United States personnel.
http://benton.org/node/18267
Comment on this Headline
back to top