October 2005

Frist Lobbied on Multicast Must-Carry

A dozen conservative including American for Tax Reform, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and the Property Alliance have sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), advising against mandating cable carriage of digital television broadcasters' multicast signals. The groups argue that multicast must-carry would impose an "unreasonable and likely unconstitutional burden on cable operators" and that the move represents a massive seizure without compensation from broadcasters.

Unlicensed To Kill DTV?

A battle between the broadcast industry and backers of a more wide-open spectrum policy is turning into wide-open warfare. The Association for Maximum Service Television (MSTV), essentially the broadcasting industryâ€™s spectrum watchdog, has been showing a videotape to staffers of the House and Senate Commerce committees warning of the dangers of allowing unlicensed devices, such as Wi-FiÂenabled laptops, to operate in the spaces between DTV channels. Backers of the devices say the video is a â€œshamelessâ€ attempt by broadcasters to protect their spectrum windfall from the digital transition. computer companies said to include Microsoft and Intel, as well as independent wireless Internet service providers, are pressuring Congress to allow the smart devices to utilize unused frequencies. The issue could be included in one of the DTV-related bills that Congress is considering as it sets the rules of the road for spectrum reallocation during the DTV transition. A principal advocate in Washington for the smart-device spectrum scenario has been the New America Foundation, which says that, rather than worrying about legitimate interference, broadcasters are being alarmist and obstructionist and simply want to warehouse spectrum that they can expand into at a later date.

Cities' Franchising Power Short-Circuited?

Local Texas cable regulators and the companies they oversee are getting their first glimpses of the stateâ€™s telecommunications future under a new regime of reduced local regulation. They don't like what they see all that much. In several cities, officials have spent thousands of dollars on consultants and ascertainment studies to determine the issues to be negotiated in their cable refranchise talks -- only to have the operators walk away from the table.

TV Downloads May Undercut ABC Stations

Last Thursday morning, Apple Computer started selling an episode of the hit television series "Lost" through its iTunes Music Store for $1.99 after the show aired the night before on ABC. It marked the first time a popular show was made available for legal downloading over the Internet so quickly after its original airing. With that, Apple may have helped open a Pandora's box for the media business.

Channeling David Hasselhoff

Cable channeling, that is. When General Electric Co. struck a $14 billion deal to merge its NBC unit with Universal Studios two years ago, there was big talk about exploiting Universal's library of 55,000 television episodes and 9,000 movies to create new TV channels. Among the ideas tossed around: NBC could use Universal, home to the trio of "Law & Order" juggernauts and older police dramas such as "The Rockford Files" and "Dragnet," to create an all-crime channel.

A Message for the Masses, but Are They Tuning In?

Does anyone listen to the President's weekly radio address?

On the Right, Caught in the Middle

The Harriet Miers nomination for Supreme Court has created a fratricidal battle at the heart of a conservative media establishment that, to outsiders at least, has long seemed to operate with enormous message discipline. But the new dissension raises a host of questions: Does the White House see journalists on the right as being on the team, and punish transgressors by limiting access? Do conservative media folks have a responsibility to challenge Bush when he deviates from their principles -- and if so, why haven't they done it until now?

Storm Clouds Over Washington

Alleged failures by the National Weather SerÂvice to properly disseminate information prior to Hurricane Katrina have revived interest in controversial legislation. A bill proposed by Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) could leave TV-station meteorology departments more reliant than ever on private weather services. Introduced earlier this year, Bill 786 would prevent the National Weather Service (NWS) from offering forecasts that compete with those offered by private services like AccuWeather or WeatherData. That would force stations that rely on free NWS forecasts to pay for commercial ones.

Martin Remakes FCC

Since taking the reins in March, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has put his own chiefs atop five of the FCCâ€™s six operating bureaus, which develop and implement regulatory programs in media and communications. He has moved less aggressively in finding new people to head the agencyâ€™s nine staff offices, which provide support services in engineering, law and the like. But in bureaus and offices, Chairman Martin has quietly removed key people from posts deep in the commission, where vital analyses are performed and legal opinions drafted.

Time for a real Internet highway

[Commentary] The recent Level 3 Communications/Cogent Communications tiff/Internet disruption raises some questions: Who owns the Internet? Is competition the best or only way to determine that ownership?

Benton

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