July 1997

AT&T Long-Distance Rates Cut and MCI Joins in Move

Court Gets Rival Plans for USA Network

Shhhh! Reed Hundt Has Seen the Future

Tiny Tonga Expands Its Domain

One Last Request for Jazz 90

Telecommunications Act fails consumers

Phone competition off to a slow start

Churn up, shares down in L.A.

No spectrum fees in budget bills

Is I-chip next for the Internet?

Bud Paxson Sets His Sights To Be Lucky Number 7
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Title: AT&T Long-Distance Rates Cut and MCI Joins in Move
Source: New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/(D2)
Author: Mark Landler
Issue: Telephone Regulation
Description: making good on a promise made in May, AT&T announced that it
will lower long distance rates by 5% for day and evening calls and by 15%
for night and weekend calls. MCI announced that it would match the rate
decrease. AT&T agreed to cut rates during regulatory reform proceedings at
the Federal Communications Commission.

Title: Court Gets Rival Plans for USA Network
Source: New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/(D8)
Author: Geraldine Fabrikant
Issue: Ownership
Description: Viacom and Seagram are trying to settle a dispute over
ownership if the USA Network. Seagram sued Viacom in April 1996 because
Viacom had breached the ownership agreement. A Delaware court has asked each
party to propose way to settle the dispute. Viacom wants to auction the
network off (as long as it is allowed to bid on it). Seagram has proposed a
"buy-sell" agreement by which Seagram would offer a figure that Viacom could
either sell its share or buy Seagram's share of USA. The cable TV network
has 72 million subscribers and is valued at $3 - 3.4 billion.

Title: Shhhh! Reed Hundt Has Seen the Future
Source: Wall Street Journal http://www.wsj.com/ (A15)
Author: Holman W. Jenkins Jr.
Issue: Reed Hundt
Description: In his Business World column, Jenkins criticizes FCC
Chairman Reed Hundt for shooting down the possible AT&T-SBC merger in a
speech last week. "And since Mr. Hundt is seen as a stunt double of Al
Gore, the discussions are now said to be kaput." Jenkins argues that this
particular regulatory agency is not looking at the evidence, which indicates
that a merger would stimulate competition.

Title: Tiny Tonga Expands Its Domain
Source: Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/(C1)
Author: Elizabeth Corcoran
Issue: Internet/International
Description: If you were bothered because eviltofu.com was already taken,
don't fret because eviltofu.to is probably still available. ".to" stands for
Tonga -- a country in the South Pacific made up of 171 small islands. Every
country can decide who gets to use its name in an Internet address. Most
companies require users to live in the country or be affiliated with it.
Tonga just wants you to pay a $100 registration fee.

Title: Daily Digest
Source: Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/ (C1)
Author: WP Staff
Issue: Phone Rates
Description: MCI and AT&T, starting today, have cut their domestic
long-distance rates by 5% during the day and 15% during the night and
weekends. Long distance companies will be dropping their rates because they
are saving $1.7 billion from lowered access fees "for completing calls on
regional phone companies' local networks."

Title: One Last Request for Jazz 90
Source: Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/ (D7)
Author: Marc Fisher
Issue: Radio
Description: Delano Lewis, the President of National Public Radio, sent a
letter to the DC Financial Control Board protesting the sale of the
University of the District of Columbia's Jazz 90 to a commercial religious
broadcaster. In the letter, Lewis said, "the
sale of a public radio license to a commercial broadcaster means the public
radio system and the service we provide will be weakened. While
we understand the control board's need to close the District's financial
gap, we hope you will not sacrifice public interest in order to do so." The
University of the District of Columbia was required by the control board to
shrink its $10.1 million budget gap and felt that selling the station was
the way to do it. Jazz 90 is the District's only all-jazz station.

Title: Telecommunications Act fails consumers
Source: Miami Herald
http://www.herald.com/opinion/columns/docs/054815.htm(6/23/97)
Author: Mark Cooper, Americans for Competitive Telecommunications
Issue: Competition
Description: The race is on between consolidation and competition. Year two
of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 will determine consumers' fate. If
local providers are allowed to offer long distance service before they open
their markets to competition, consumers will lose twice: they will see no
reductions in either local or long distance rates.

Title: Phone competition off to a slow start
Source: San Jose Mercury News
http://www.sjmercury.com/business/competition063097.htm(6/30/97)
Author: Howard Bryant
Issue: Competition
Description: Although passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 was
supposed to mean competition in the local phone market, some industry
analysts believe it won't happen for decades, if at all. In California,
PacBell and GTE have lost less than one percent of their customers since
passage of the Act in February 1996. Tom Long, telecommunications analyst
for TURN, a San Francisco consumer
advocacy group, says "The monopoly is expected to treat competitors fairly
at the same time it has a great deal at stake. Because competitors are
taking away business, it's not surprising that the incumbent is doing
everything it can to make it difficult for its competitors. Anyone who
didn't realize this wasn't paying attention. Regulators must realize they
have to get tough on the incumbent."

Title: Churn up, shares down in L.A.
Source: Broadcasting&Cable http://www.broadcastingcable.com/(p.4)
Author: Lynette Rice
Issue: Television Content
Description: Six percent viewer households tuned into broadcast television
last season. One reason my be the high turnover of network executives. "It
is so much more competitive, because networks are now part of big multimedia
corporations run by people who don't tend to be patient," says a studio
head. "They really don't have a grasp of the creative process, and there's
so damn much money at risk. They don't wish to be patient. They always have
one eye on the stock. And taking that into consideration, with all the cable
competition and proliferation of broadcast networks, it's harder to hold on
to a job."

Title: No spectrum fees in budget bills
Source: Broadcasting&Cable http://www.broadcastingcable.com/(p.14)
Author: Paige Albiniak
Issue: Spectrum
Description: Budget legislation passed by the House and Senate last week did
not include new spectrum fees for users that have not paid for it. Senate
Commerce Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz) and House Telecom Subcommittee
Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-LA) fought off these fees, viewing them as another
tax on consumers. Both bills will now go to a conference committee. The
National Association of Broadcasters will continue to lobby against the
spectrum fees.

Title: Is I-chip next for the Internet?
Source: Broadcasting&Cable http://www.broadcastingcable.com/(p.16)
Author: Dan Trigoboff
Issue: Internet Regulation
Description: "We can and must develop a solution for the Internet that is as
powerful for the computer as the V-chip will be for television," President
Clinton said after the Supreme Court struck down the Communications Decency
Act. One of the sponsor's of the law, Senator Can Coates (R-Ind), accused
the Court of "undermin[ing] religious liberty and influence" and
"defend[ing] immediate unrestricted access of children to pornography." The
Court determined that there is little Congress can do to regulate content on
the Internet without violating the First Amendment.

Title: Bud Paxson Sets His Sights To Be Lucky Number 7
Source: Broadcasting&Cable http://www.broadcastingcable.com/(p.42)
Author: Steve McClellan
Issue: Ownership
Description: Bud Paxson owns 42 television stations that reach 49% of the
viewing audience. The co-founder of the Home Shopping Network sells
timeslots for infomercials, but wants to branch out to mainstream
entertainment program providers. These producers would buy time slots on the
Paxson network of stations, and then they would have to go out and sell
advertising time. There's very little risk for Paxson and the producers can
tap into the $37 billion general television advertising market.

At the FCC http://www.fcc.gov

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