April 2, 2009 (A Movement Is Defined)
"The first thing we do, let's kill all the humorless lawyers."
http://www.pdnpulse.com/2009/04/ephoto-newsletter-auction-houses-to-charge-100-premium.html
http://techdailydose.nationaljournal.com/2009/04/april-fools-obama-sells-intern.php
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for THURSDAY APRIL 2, 2009
MEDIA REFORM
A Movement Is Defined at Freedom To Connect
THE TRANSITION/AGENDA
State of Newspapers Priority For Senate Commerce Committee
Sen Kerry Promises 'Aggressive' Tech Agenda
Boucher Has A Full Legislative Slate
Sebelius champions national health IT system
FCC Releases Agenda for April 8 Meeting
FCC is Agency in Midst of Transition, Says Co-Leader of Obama Transition Team
FCC Nominee to Take Big Pay Cut
TELECOM
House Commerce Committee Wants Additional Information on Universal Service Fund High Cost Support Program
Telcos are shrinking, study says
Qwest Seeks To Sell Piece Of Its Network
EU court dismisses France Telecom fine appeal
WIRELESS
CEOs see wireless as answer to economic crisis
Verizon's Seidenberg: 500 percent penetration achievable
Verizon promises 4G wireless for rural America
Wi-Fi becoming must-have for smartphones, survey says
Verizon may cut number of mobile systems
For US Satellite Makers, a No-Cost Bailout Bid
TELEVISION
Some May Lose Out With Digital TV
Messages With a Mission, Embedded in TV Shows
Execs say cable TV shows on web not a threat
BIA Study Calls for Broadcast-Cable Pacts
NAB Goes on Retrans Offensive
Time Warner Spinoff Shuffles Ranks, Disney New No. 1
Study: TV, Mags Ads More Effective Than Online Ones
TiVo: Viewers Don't Skip Engaging Ads
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Time Warner Cable Expands Internet Usage Pricing
Newspapers Not Effectively Using Social Media
Why Facebook Can't Succeed
CYBERSECURITY
Cybersecurity Bill Proposes Unprecedented Government Power Over the Internet
Cyber Bill May Misunderstand ICANN
MORE ON THE WEB
Freedom to Connect Panelists Hopeful About Prospects for 'Smart Grid'
Biden touts Recovery Act's Effect on Rural America
House Unanimously Passes Shield Law
Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act Introduced in House
Study: Internet safer for kids than many think
New York extends film/TV tax break for one year
US asks to drop corruption conviction against ex-Sen Stevens
People in Need Are Filling and Taxing Libraries
You've Got Voice Mail, but Do You Care?
Light and Cheap, Netbooks Are Poised to Reshape PC Industry
US Ties New Funds to Schools Data
MEDIA REFORM
A MOVEMENT IS DEFINED AT FREEDOM TO CONNECT
[SOURCE: internetnews.com, AUTHOR: Alex Goldman]
The Internet is changing our country by changing how we interact with our media and government, said speakers at the Freedom To Connect conference. "We're talking about more than technology and politics here," said Timothy Karr, campaign director for Free Press. "We're talking about a movement." Karr defined three movements that are working together: the movements for media reform, free culture and open government. Each has coalesced around a specific crisis and has survived to influence future policy decisions. Karr said that the media reform movement was forged in the public battles over spectrum and then over battles on public access to private cable networks. The free culture movement is growing out of copyright battles in social media such as Facebook and YouTube. He asked for discussion on principles that all of the three movements would agree on and suggested: openness (a non-discriminatory Internet), transparency (making government information available to all citizens), innovation (copyright reform to foster new creativity), privacy (freedom from government spying) and access (to extend this new digital power to every American).
http://benton.org/node/24105
Recommend this Headline
back to top
THE TRANSITION/AGENDA
STATE OF NEWSPAPERS PRIORITY FOR SENATE COMMERCE COMMITTEE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Jessica Rosenworcel, an aide to Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), said Wednesday that he is concerned about the health of newspapers and broadcast properties. "We would like to talk a little bit about the future of journalism and the future of the broadcast medium," she told the National Cable and Telecommunications Association. She said the committee was concerned about "the diminished state of the newspaper industry and the consequences that has for the media market at large."
http://benton.org/node/24063
Recommend this Headline
back to top
SEN KERRY PROMISES 'AGGRESSIVE' TECH AGENDA
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Amy Schatz]
Senate Communications, Technology and the Internet Subcommittee Chairman John Kerry (D-MA) plans on developing a comprehensive broadband strategy and monitoring how the $7.2 billion in stimulus funds to expand broadband service is spent. "There are a lot of issues on our plate and we're teeing up an aggressive subcommittee agenda to deal with them," he said. Sen Kerry recently took the reins at the communications subcommittee, which was eliminated a few years ago when former Sen Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) was chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee. Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) revived the panel when he became chairman of the full committee in January.
http://benton.org/node/24104
Recommend this Headline
back to top
BOUCHER HAS A FULL LEGISLATIVE SLATE
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: ]
A Q&A with House Communications, Technology & Internet Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher (D-VA). His priorities this Congress are the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act (SHVERA), expanding the Universal Service Fund to include broadband, and online privacy. On Network Neutrality he says, "There has to be a firm principle of Internet openness that is abided by all. We do not have a legislative emergency at this moment that requires that as a priority today, in the top rank of priorities for action in the next several months, that we pass legislation such as was considered a couple years a go."
http://benton.org/node/24103
Recommend this Headline
back to top
SEBELIUS CHAMPIONS NATIONAL HEALTH IT SYSTEM
[SOURCE: Government Health IT, AUTHOR: Peter Buxbaum]
Gov Kathleen Sebelius (D-Kansas), President Barack Obama's nominee to Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, characterized spending on health information technology as crucial in the overall effort to reform US health care. Sebelius, at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, said health IT "lays the foundation for a 21st-century system to reduce medical errors, lower health care costs, and empower health consumers." Gov Sebelius said HHS's agenda for the next five years will include setting standards for privacy and interoperability, testing models and certifying technology, and offering incentives for hospitals and doctors to adopt health IT. "The goal," Sebelius said, "is to provide every American with a safe, secure electronic health record by 2014." The nominee also endorsed efforts to use data gleaned from electronic medical records to conduct "comparative effectiveness research to provide information on the relative strengths and weaknesses of alternative medical interventions to health providers and consumers."
http://benton.org/node/24102
See also:
Miles to Go on E-Health Records (NYTimes editorial)
Recommend this Headline
back to top
FCC RELEASES AGENDA FOR APRIL 8 MEETING
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
The Federal Communications Commission will hold an Open Meeting on Wednesday, April 8, 2009 at 10:00am. As previously indicated by the Commission, the agenda is consideration of: 1) a Notice of Inquiry soliciting information for the next annual report to Congress on the status of competition in the market for the delivery of video programming; 2) a Report and Order and Fourth Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making concerning improving data collection on minority and female broadcast ownership; 3) a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking concerning the policies and procedures for allocation and assignment of broadcast frequencies in the commercial AM and FM and non-commercial FM services (Rural Radio); 4) a Notice of Inquiry seeking comment to inform the Commission's development of a national broadband plan for the U.S.; and 5) a Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking concerning amendments to Part 90 of the Commission's rules. Peanuts and popcorn available in the commissary, but drinks are not allowed in the Commission meeting room.
http://benton.org/node/24086
Recommend this Headline
back to top
FCC IS AGENCY IN MIDST OF TRANSITION, SAYS CO-LEADER OF OBAMA TRANSITION TEAM
[SOURCE: BroadbandCensus.com, AUTHOR: Jesse Masai]
Kevin Werbach, recently co-leader of the Obama administration's Federal Communications Commission Transition Team, said the agency in the midst of a transition. In a conversation with Dan Gillmor, director of the Knight Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship, Werbach said that the FCC must be the world's biggest think-tank and conversation-starter on technology issues. The agency, he said, should take a leading role in innovations and building systems that go with it. Werbach tickled the audience when he called for the death of telecommunication companies, broadcasters and newspapers, before quickly adding that he believes new leadership at FCC would herald an era of "knowledge and skills."
http://benton.org/node/24101
Recommend this Headline
back to top
FCC NOMINEE TO TAKE BIG PAY CUT
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Amy Schatz]
The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission will earn $162,900 this year and earn every penny of it. By contrast, President Obama's nominee for that spot, Julius Genachowski, reported income of $1.16 million in 2008. Many of his listed investments are either spin-offs from IAC or companies that Genachowski's VC firms have helped fund, as well as mutual funds and various muni bonds. He appears to have few investments in companies that lobby the FCC, although there are a few, including Google and Time Warner. It's not uncommon for cabinet and other high-ranking administration officials to take a paycut while serving in the government -- you'll recall that Leo McGarry did. Genachowski's nomination is pending before the Senate Commerce Committee but isn't expected to move for a few weeks, at least. Committee Republicans want his nomination paired with a Republican nominee for the FCC, which currently has three members: two Democrats and a Republican.
http://benton.org/node/24067
Recommend this Headline
back to top
TELECOM
HOUSE COMMERCE COMMITTEE WANTS ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON USF
[SOURCE: House of Representatives Commerce Committee]
In a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Copps, a bipartisan group of House Commerce Committee members requested additional information about the top recipients -- by company and geographic area -- of high-cost subsidy dollars from the federal Universal Service Fund. The High Cost Program of the Universal Service Fund subsidizes eligible telecommunications carriers for the purpose of ensuring that consumers in all regions of the nation have access to and pay rates for telecommunications services that are reasonably comparable to services provided and rates paid in urban areas. The Members of Congress indicate that they are "likely to consider proposals to reform the federal Universal Service Fund program." They request a response their requests by April 23, 2009.
http://benton.org/node/24100
Recommend this Headline
back to top
TELCOS ARE SHRINKING, STUDY SAYS
[SOURCE: TelephonyOnline, AUTHOR: Carol Wilson]
The latest in an annual study of the bundled services market shows US telecom service providers are losing wireline voice customers at a faster pace and being transformed in the process into companies that will look very different from their traditional telecom roots. The Battle for the American Couch Potato: Bundling, TV, Internet, Telephone, Wireless, released this week by the Convergence Consulting Group, shows maintaining a broadband connection is increasingly important to telecom providers, as wireline voice services become much less important.
http://benton.org/node/24099
Recommend this Headline
back to top
QWEST SEEKS TO SELL PIECE OF ITS NETWORK
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Amol Sharma, Dana Cimilluca]
Apparently, Qwest, struggling to pare a hefty debt load, is seeking a buyer for a key piece of its telecommunications network. Qwest is considering selling a long-distance network that carries calls and Internet traffic for other phone carriers. The unit also provides advanced telecom services to businesses and government agencies. A sale would largely leave Denver-based Qwest as a regional provider of telephone and Internet services to consumers. Potential bidders include companies with similar networks, such as Qwest's larger rivals, AT&T and Verizon, and smaller players like Level 3 Communications and TW Telecom.
http://benton.org/node/24098
Recommend this Headline
back to top
EU COURT DISMISSES FRANCE TELECOM FINE APPEAL
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Foo Yun Chee, Bate Felix]
France Telecom kept rivals out of the high-speed Internet market with artificially low prices, the European Union's highest court ruled on Thursday, upholding a 2003 European Commission decision. The European Court of Justice also upheld a lower court's decision to dismiss France Telecom's appeal against a 10.35 million euro ($13.7 million) fine imposed by the EU's executive Commission for abuse of a dominant market position. The Commission, the European Union's top antitrust regulator, had accused France Telecom's Wanadoo unit of charging consumers rates for high-speed network access during 2001-2002 that did not cover costs. It had said France Telecom hoped to offset those losses with considerable profits on the prices it charged Wanadoo's competitors for access to the network. The Court of First Instance had in January 2007 upheld the Commission's decision.
http://benton.org/node/24064
Recommend this Headline
back to top
WIRELESS
CEOs SEE WIRELESS AS ANSWER TO ECONOMIC CRISIS
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: ]
Wireless industry executives at the CTIA Wireless 2009 trade show say that despite the economic meltdown, the cell phone industry remains strong. And they're confident that it will be a driving force in pulling the nation out of the current financial crisis. Verizon Communications CEO Ivan Seidenberg went so far as to say that the rest of the economy could take a lesson from the wireless industry. Instead of companies and investors pulling back and hoarding their money as they've done thus far, he said that businesses should be continuing to invest. He emphasized that the way the communications industry has done this is by investing in building new infrastructure. Verizon Communications has already begun spending billions of dollars to lay new fiber for its fiber-to-the-home broadband service known as Fios. And now it plans to invest in improving its wireless network. The company is about to embark on another major infrastructure project to build a new 4G wireless broadband network.
http://benton.org/node/24097
Recommend this Headline
back to top
VERIZON'S SEIDENBERG: 500 PERCENT PENETRATION ACHIEVABLE
[SOURCE: FierceWireless, AUTHOR: Lynnette Luna]
Ivan Seidenberg, CEO of Verizon Communications, is excited about the next generation of wireless--the one that will usher in growth that could see penetration rates of more than 500 percent for the mobile industry. Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology will be the enabler unleashing a connected world that not only will see people-to-people connections but people-to-machine and machine-to-machine communications going forward, Seidenberg said during his keynote address today at the CTIA Wireless 2009 show. Devices with a truly open platform is another critical piece. "There will be no limit on the number of connections as part of the mobile grid," he said. "Everything has the potential to be connected to the web. Call it the 100 percent ceiling."
http://benton.org/node/24096
Recommend this Headline
back to top
VERIZON PROMISES 4G WIRELESS FOR RURAL AMERICA
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Marguerite Reardon]
The new 4G wireless broadband network that Verizon Wireless plans to launch in 2010 could be rural America's answer to its broadband access prayers. But extending the network to every nook and cranny in the U.S. will likely take years. Tony Melone, senior vice president and chief technology officer for Verizon Wireless, said during an interview at the CTIA Wireless 2009 tradeshow Wednesday that the new 4G network that the company is building will blanket the entire continental United States, including the far corners of rural America. "The licenses we bought in the 700MHz auction cover the whole U.S.," Melone said. "And we plan to roll out LTE throughout the entire country, including places where we don't offer our CDMA cell phone service today." If Verizon makes good on this promise, it will be helping to bridge a widening gap between broadband haves and have-nots in this country. While Verizon Wireless' parent company Verizon Communications and other broadband providers have concentrated on building wireline broadband infrastructure in densely populated areas, such as cities and sprawling suburbs, they have not done a good job of extending that infrastructure to rural America. The problem has been that building infrastructure for land-based broadband networks is expensive. And companies, such as AT&T, Verizon and Comcast say they can't make profits by offering service in sparsely populated regions because the cost to build these networks is too high and the number of potential customers is too few. And even though the federal government has provided some $1.2 billion in loans aimed at helping operators in the private sector build broadband networks in remote areas, the money hasn't been stretched to reach every community.
http://benton.org/node/24062
Recommend this Headline
back to top
WI-FI BECOMING MUST-HAVE FOR SMARTPHONES, SURVEY SAYS
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Dong Ngo]
More and more people expect Wi-Fi from their cell phones, according to a survey released Wednesday by ABI Research. 77 percent of users of Wi-Fi-enabled mobile phones are completely or very satisfied with their device. Among those who have Wi-Fi on their phones, 74 percent use the feature, and 77 percent say they will also seek Wi-Fi in their next phone. According to the study, about 44 percent of smartphones currently have the Wi-Fi feature. This figure is expected to increase to 90 percent by 2014. This is interesting, as almost 60 percent of Wi-Fi-enabled phone users have owned their phones for less than a year.
http://benton.org/node/24095
Recommend this Headline
back to top
VERIZON MAY CUT NUMBER OF MOBILE SYSTEMS
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Sinead Carew]
Verizon Wireless hopes to roughly halve the number of cellphone operating systems that it needs to support in the next few years to help improve the time it takes to bring new technologies to customers. The company has teamed up with China Mobile, Vodafone and Japan's Softbank to create a single platform to make it easier for developers to create mobile data applications for cellphones. "We probably have, literally, eight or nine different operating systems ... What we hope over the next few years is to land on about three to four," McAdam told reporters at the CTIA annual wireless technology showcase. There are already several widely used operating systems from companies such as Nokia, Microsoft, Research In Motion, Palm, Apple and Google. Verizon will hold its first conference for application developers this summer, suggesting the company could join its device suppliers in the race to build application stores. McAdam ruled out network-sharing agreements with rival providers and network management outsourcing as ways for Verizon to save money as it gears up to build a new network in one of the weakest economies in years.
http://benton.org/node/24094
Recommend this Headline
back to top
FOR US SATELLITE MAKERS, A NO-COST BAILOUT SOLUTION
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: William Broad]
Officials in Washington are moving to revitalize yet another faltering American industry: the business of making the communications satellites that hover above Earth and knit the planet into a global community. But this rescue would not cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars. In fact it could be virtually free — if Congressional Democrats succeed in lifting export controls that classify satellite technology as weapons and have handicapped American manufacturers since the last days of the Clinton administration. House hearings on the controls are to begin Thursday. Proponents of change are optimistic, pointing to a campaign pledge by President Obama and the support of respected figures like Brent Scowcroft, national security adviser to Presidents Gerald R. Ford and George Bush. But the export revision is by no means a sure thing. The national security arguments cited in imposing the limits still resonate with conservatives who believe strict regulation is needed to keep China and other countries from stealing secret technology.
http://benton.org/node/24072
Recommend this Headline
back to top
TELEVISION
SOME MAY LOSE OUT WITH DIGITAL TV
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Amy Schatz]
Congress thought Americans' free TV service would get better, not disappear, when it first ordered broadcasters to shut down older analog TV signals as of Feb. 17. Instead, millions of Americans who rely on free, over-the-air TV could lose one or more channels after the extended deadline for the digital switch in June -- even if they bought a converter box. That's because some stations are changing their broadcasting areas and the new digital signals aren't as strong as the analog ones they're replacing. That raises the question of whether everyone has a right to free TV and what -- if anything -- the government may need to do about consumers who will lose some or all of their broadcast channels. The Federal Communications Commission requires station owners to uphold "public interest" obligations to keep their licenses, but there's nothing in FCC rules requiring station owners to serve every viewer in a particular area. "Unless I missed something back in civics class, I can't find anything in our founding documents that refers to 'free TV' as an inalienable human right," says Adam Thierer, senior fellow at the Progress & Freedom Foundation. "It's something that citizens need and, on some level, have a right to have," says Robert Thompson, director of Syracuse University's Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture. When that coupon system was devised, "it seemed to indicate a federal acknowledgement that television was an entitlement to the American citizen."
http://benton.org/node/24065
Recommend this Headline
back to top
MESSAGES WITH A MISSION, EMBEDDED IN TV SHOWS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Tim Arango, Brian Stelter]
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation known for gifts to libraries and projects to promote health and education is less known as a behind-the-scenes influencer of public attitudes toward these issues by helping to shape story lines and insert messages into popular entertainment. Foundation money was used to develop the script for a recent episode of "ER" that featured the return of George Clooney. Now the Gates Foundation is set to expand its involvement and spend more money on influencing popular culture through a deal with Viacom, the parent company of MTV and its sister networks VH1, Nickelodeon and BET. It could be called "message placement": the social or philanthropic corollary to product placement deals in which marketers pay to feature products in shows and movies. Instead of selling Coca-Cola or G.M. cars, they promote education and healthy living.
http://benton.org/node/24069
Recommend this Headline
back to top
EXECS SAY CABLE TV SHOWS ON WEB NOT A THREAT
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Yinka Adegoke]
Cable industry executives said on Wednesday that putting cable TV shows on the Web was an opportunity for the industry rather than a threat, though technical challenges still need to be addressed. Concerns that cable companies would be by-passed by consumers preferring to watch their favorite shows online rather than on television missed the point that cable companies also provide the broadband pipes for delivery of Internet video, executives said at industry trade event, The Cable Show. Comcast and Time Warner Cable are among the cable operators currently working with cable program makers on new ways of enabling access for customers who already pay for their favorite shows as part of the cable package. Comcast calls its plan for web programming On Demand Online, and sees it as an extension of its TV-based video on demand service, while Time Warner has called its plan to offer programs online, TV Everywhere.
http://benton.org/node/24093
Also:
McSlarrow: Broadband Continues To Change The World
back to top
BIA STUDY CALLS FOR BROADCAST-CABLE PACTS
[SOURCE: tvnewsday, AUTHOR: Price Colman]
A confidential report prepared by BIA Advisory Services for the CBS, NBC, Fox and ABC affiliate groups suggests that affiliates work with cable and satellite TV operators and programmers in developing new businesses and sources of revenue. In an economic spin on "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" axiom, the report cites the common threat of the Internet and characterizes cable, telephone and satellite as broadcasters' natural allies, not enemies. Through revenue-sharing arrangements with cable and satellite providers, the report says, the affiliates and the broadcast networks could offer "non-linear interactive streams" — that is, video-on-demand programs — with targeted "on-the-fly" advertising and promos. And, in exchange for local ad inventory, affiliates could supply local programming and other local services for cable networks, including promotion, ad sales, ad trafficking and spot production, the report says. Enhanced by local programming and promotion, the cable ad inventory would be more valuable than it is now.
http://benton.org/node/24091
Recommend this Headline
back to top
NAB GOES ON RETRANS OFFENSIVE
[SOURCE: tvnewsday, AUTHOR: Kim McAvoy]
Anticipating that the cable and satellite TV industries may try to weaken broadcasters' retransmission consent rights through legislation this year, the National Association of Broadcasters has begun circulating on Capitol Hill a study that rebuts the claims that broadcasters have too much leverage in retrans negotiations and that retrans payments will harm consumers by driving up subscription fees. "Overall, retransmission consent represents an economically efficient regime that results in reasonable compensation for the value of broadcaster programming, and adoption of proposals to repeal or weaken the system would harm consumer welfare," says the study by Jeffrey A. Eisenach entitled The Economics of Retransmission Consent.
http://benton.org/node/24090
Recommend this Headline
back to top
TIME WARNER SPINOFF SHUFFLES RANKS, DISNEY NEW NO 1
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Andy Fixmer, Sarah Rabil]
Time Warner's spinoff of its cable division dropped the New York-based owner of Time magazine and Warner Bros. to third place among U.S. media companies, behind Walt Disney Co. and News Corp. Disney, based in Burbank, California, reported fiscal 2008 sales of $37.8 billion; News Corp $33 billion. Time Warner divested the unit, the second-largest cable company in the US, because it no longer needed the division to guarantee distribution of its channels including HBO and CNN.
http://benton.org/node/24089
Recommend this Headline
back to top
STUDY: TV, MAGS ADS MORE EFFECTIVE THAN ONLINE ONES
[SOURCE: MediaWeek, AUTHOR: Lucia Moses]
A new study -- by media researcher McPheters Co. and in cooperation with Condé Nast and CBS Vision -- found, perhaps not surprisingly, that when it comes to ad effectiveness, TV and magazine ads trump Internet ads. The findings come at a time of continued high anxiety for print and TV media, with marketers reducing spending and shifting those reduced budgets to the Web. Like other cross-media studies that have come before it, the McPheters research compared ad recall across media (in this case, 30-second TV ads; full-page, four-color magazine ads; and standard-sized Internet banner ads.) Respondents were given a choice of watching TV, reading a magazine or surfing the Internet for 30 minutes, and at the end, filled out surveys asking if they recalled the ads they saw. While the study may not break new ground, it is somewhat unusual in its use of eye-tracking software to determine if respondents saw the Internet ads. Among the major findings: Magazines delivered more than twice as many ad impressions as TV and more than six times those delivered online in the half-hour period; recall of TV ads was almost twice that of magazine ads; and magazine ad recall was almost three times that of Internet banner ads.
http://benton.org/node/24088
Recommend this Headline
back to top
TIVO: VIEWERS DON'T SKIP ENGAGING ADS
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Erik Sass]
A new study from TiVo and Innerscope Research provides data supporting what advertisers have long suspected: Viewers are less likely to fast-forward through emotionally engaging advertising -- provided it's able to grab them in the first few seconds. The study of 55 national TV ads revealed that ads which scored "low" in terms of emotional engagement were 25% more likely to be skipped than those ranked "high."
http://benton.org/node/24082
Recommend this Headline
back to top
INTERNET/BROADBAND
TIME WARNER CABLE EXPANDS INTERNET USAGE PRICING
[SOURCE: BusinessWeek, AUTHOR: Tom Lowry]
In a strategy that's likely to rankle consumers but be copied by competitors, Time Warner Cable is pressing ahead with a plan to charge Internet customers based on how much Web data they consume. Starting next month, the company will introduce tiered pricing in several markets. In April, Time Warner Cable will begin collecting information on its customers' Internet use in the Texas cities of Austin and San Antonio and in Rochester (NY). Consumption billing will begin in those cities later this summer. In Greensboro (NC) the billing changes will begin sooner. Spun off from Time Warner this month, Time Warner Cable had been testing a plan to meter Internet usage in Beaumont (TX) since last year. By charging a premium to the heaviest broadband users, much the same way cell-phone providers collect fees from subscribers who exceed their allotted minutes, Time Warner would upend a longstanding pricing strategy among Internet service providers. Typically, phone and cable companies charge flat fees for unlimited access to the Web. "We need a viable model to be able to support the infrastructure of the broadband business," Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt says in an interview. "We made a mistake early on by not defining our business based on the consumption dimension." Time Warner Cable has 8.4 million broadband customers. Consumer advocates and Web site owners say tiered Web-use pricing limits customer choice and could stifle innovation by crimping demand for high-bandwidth services such as online video and music. Cable and phone companies say they need flexibility in setting prices for use of large, expensive, heavily used broadband networks.
http://benton.org/node/24084
Recommend this Headline
back to top
NEWSPAPERS NOT EFFECTIVELY USING SOCIAL MEDIA
[SOURCE: WebProNews, AUTHOR: Mike Sachoff]
Newspapers should be using social media more effectively to engage their readers and boost online revenue, according to a new survey by Gartner. "In the wake of the economic challenges facing the U.S. newspaper industry, publishers are losing focus on the crucial imperative of how to capitalize on those consumers who remain loyal, engaged online and print readers," said Allen Weiner, research vice president at Gartner. Allen Weiner"Brand-loyal news consumers need to be turned into brand stewards who can wield their influence to two parts of their social graph - those who know them personally, and those who regard the brand stewards as tastemakers with similar points of view." The survey indicates that newspaper Web sites are failing to optimize for search and a there is a lack of integration between content and social media such as Facebook and Twitter.
http://benton.org/node/24081
Recommend this Headline
back to top
WHY FACEBOOK CAN'T SUCCEED
[SOURCE: TheBigMoney, AUTHOR: Edmund Lee]
Social networks are doomed to fail. At least Facebook is, so long as it continues on its current path. By heeding to the objections of its grumbling users, Facebook has essentially painted itself into a revenue corner. This latest incident underscores the company's biggest mistake to date: Facebook has yet to cement its relationship with its members, a fatal flaw for any social network and the root of Facebook's inchoate business model. As soon as a community adopts a certain dynamic, a certain mode of operating, it is near impossible to change that dynamic. And it is especially true of Facebook simply because it has so many citizens -- 175 million globally. While the company often boasts of its massive size (it constitutes the world's sixth-largest country), that may, in fact, be its precise problem. As the terms of service debacle makes clear, power has tipped the other way. It's the users who run the site now.
http://benton.org/node/24080
Recommend this Headline
back to top
CYBERSECURITY
CYBERSECURITY BILL PROPOSES UNPRECEDENTED GOVERNMENT POWER OVER THE INTERNET
[SOURCE: Center for Democracy and Technology, AUTHOR: ]
A cybersecurity bill introduced today in the Senate would give the federal government extraordinary power over private sector Internet services, applications and software. The Cybersecurity Act of 2009 would, for example, give the President unfettered power to shut down Internet traffic in emergencies or disconnect any critical infrastructure system or network on national security grounds. The bill would grant the Commerce Department the ability to override all privacy laws to access any information about Internet usage in connection with a new role in tracking cybersecurity threats. The bill, introduced by Sens. John Rockefeller and Olympia Snowe, would also give the government unprecedented control over computer software and Internet services, threatening innovation, freedom and privacy. CDT President and CEO Leslie Harris said, "The cybersecurity threat is real, but such a drastic federal intervention in private communications technology and networks could harm both security and privacy."
http://benton.org/node/24076
Recommend this Headline
back to top
CYBER BILL MAY MISUNDERSTAND ICANN
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Andrew Noyes]
Legislation unveiled Wednesday by Senate Commerce Chairman John (Jay) Rockefeller and Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, would require greater oversight of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. "It's a great thing the Congress is taking this issue so seriously" and better coordination of cybersecurity is a laudable goal, ICANN Vice President Paul Levins told Tech Daily Dose. But the Internet is a dispersed network "so you can't just turn it off by exerting pressure at one point," he said. The bill would "make sure that ICANN does not succumb to foreign pressure" to end its relationship with the U.S. government, according to a summary. Levins argued the analysis "misunderstands ICANN's interests" and said his organization does not want to end its link to the U.S. government. Another section would require the head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to develop a secure Internet addressing system. According to the summary, ICANN has "failed in this regard." Levins defended his group's leadership on the issue saying a proposal on this front was sent to the Commerce Department in October and officials have been running a test bed for over 12 months. ICANN is awaiting feedback from the agency, he said.
http://benton.org/node/24075
Recommend this Headline
back to top