February 2006

** We're off Monday to celebrate President's Day. Have a great, long
weekend and we'll see you Tuesday. **
For upcoming media policy events, see http://www.benton.org

NEWS FROM CONGRESS
Upton Proposes Ownership Changes
Upton: New Telecom Bill on Fast Track
Senate Rejects Wiretapping Probe
Accord in House to Hold Inquiry on Surveillance
iScheme

MEDIA OWNERSHIP
Televisa Is/Isn't Ideal Suitor for Univision
Icahn Ends Effort To Take Control Of Time Warner

BROADCASTING/TELEVISION
Benton Pushes Public Interest Deadline
Dueling Studies: NAB Counters ACA
Administration Seeks Emergency Broadcasting Funds
Some Shows Turn NBC Olympics Into Also-Ran
Bad Apple Spoils Bunch of Commercials
Talk radio gives powerful voice to Katrina anger
Comcast Agrees to $2.6M in Refunds
Phones Call Cable's Number
AT&T's Progress in California

QUICKLY -- CTIA sides with Martin on numbers-based contribution for
USF; FOX Coverage of "video news releases"; Internet muck-raker
challenges China's censors; Internet Protocol, Version 6

NEWS FROM CONGRESS

UPTON PROPOSES OWNERSHIP CHANGES
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
House Telecommunications Subcommittee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) has
sent a letter to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin suggesting the commission
issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking allowing the ownership of more
radio stations in a market and scrapping the newspaper/broadcast
crossownership ban. Rep Upton told a Media Institute audience in
Washington Thursday that the scarcity rationale no longer justified
capping radio station ownership anywhere except in some small
markets. The explosion in new media should eliminate concern about
diversity of opinions, he said. "The unfortunate reality is that our
nation's ownership laws do not reflect or even acknowledge" that explosion.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6308163?display=Breaking+News...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
* Rep. Upton Urges FCC to Eliminate Newspaper-TV Station Ownership Rule
http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=9405
(requires free registration)
* Upton Urges Radio Dereg
http://www.billboardradiomonitor.com/radiomonitor/news/business/leg_reg/...
* US lawmaker asks FCC to ease media ownership rules
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=televisionNews&story...

UPTON: NEW TELECOM BILL ON FAST TRACK
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
House Telecommunications Subcommittee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) said
Thursday that he expects the House to pass a major new bill for the
Internet age in late April or May. "Our goal would be to get through
the committee before Easter [April 16], and I'd like to think we can
have it on the floor for a vote shortly after Easter," Upton told the
Media Institute, a First Amendment organization funded by cable,
phone and broadcasting companies. Senate Commerce Committee chairman
Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) has repeatedly said he expects his committee
to vote on similar legislation in March.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6308372.html?display=Breaking+News
(requires subscription)

SENATE REJECTS WIRETAPPING PROBE
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Charles Babington and Carol D. Leonnig]
The Bush administration helped derail a Senate bid to investigate a
warrantless eavesdropping program Thursday after signaling it would
reject Congress's request to have former attorney general John D.
Ashcroft and other officials testify about the program's legality.
The actions underscored a dramatic and possibly permanent drop in
momentum for a congressional inquiry, which had seemed likely two
months ago. Senate Democrats said the Republican-led Congress was
abdicating its obligations to oversee a controversial program in
which the National Security Agency has monitored perhaps thousands of
phone calls and e-mails involving U.S. residents and foreign parties
without obtaining warrants from a secret court that handles such matters.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/16/AR200602...
(requires registration)

ACCORD IN HOUSE TO HOLD INQUIRY INTO SURVEILLANCE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Eric Lichtblau & Sheryl Gay Stolberg]
Leaders of the House Intelligence Committee said Thursday that they
had agreed to open a Congressional inquiry prompted by the Bush
administration's domestic surveillance program. But a dispute
immediately broke out among committee Republicans over the scope of
the inquiry. Representative Heather A. Wilson, the New Mexico
Republican and committee member who called last week for the
investigation, said the review "will have multiple avenues, because
we want to completely understand the program and move forward." But
an aide to Representative Peter Hoekstra, the Michigan Republican who
leads the committee, said the inquiry would be much more limited in
scope, focusing on whether federal surveillance laws needed to be
changed and not on the eavesdropping program itself.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/17/politics/17nsa.html
(requires registration)

iSCHEME
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Editorial Staff]
[Commentary] The Intellectual Property Action Committee (IPAC), a
group of tech-savvy activists who want to loosen
intellectual-property restrictions on cultural content, is sending
senators iPods loaded with music by sympathetic stars such as the
Beastie Boys, plus the works of Shakespeare and others long past
claiming copyright. The idea is to persuade senators to abandon
proposed "broadcast flag" restrictions on the replaying of digital
content. But instead of sending them to Senate offices, the pressure
group is sending them to the senators' reelection campaign offices.
That way, the iPods will be deemed a contribution in kind by the
Federal Election Commission, as long as the gizmos are deployed for
campaign purposes rather than personal use.
http://thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/Comment/Editorial/021606.html

MEDIA OWNERSHIP

TELEVISA IS/ISN'T IDEAL SUITOR FOR UNIVISION
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Miriam Jordan miriam.jordan( at )wsj.com]
American media giants Viacom, Time Warner, Walt Disney and News Corp
may all be interested in buying Univision, but the best fit for US
broadcaster may be Mexico's Televisa, which produces the shows that
ensure top ratings for Univision, a rival Spanish-language
broadcaster. "They have $1 billion in cash, and nothing else to buy
in Mexico," says Philip Remek, an analyst at Guzman & Co. Hamstrung
by Mexican antitrust regulations, the operator of radio, satellite,
Internet and publishing businesses has diversified recently into a
new discount airline and gambling, such as off-track betting, in
Mexico. But it prefers to capitalize on its traditional strength:
media. Televisa is run by one of Latin America's most powerful and
ambitious sons, 37-year-old Emilio Azcarraga Jean, who has been at
the forefront of Mexican companies tapping growth opportunities
overseas. But until Mr. Azcarraga obtains U.S. citizenship --
conceivable in the future thanks to his marriage to a
Mexican-American and the birth of an American son last year --
Televisa would have to join forces with an equity investor or media
company to circumvent a 25% cap on ownership of U.S. broadcasters by
foreigners. The opportunity to acquire Univision and become a major
player in the U.S. media market now has Televisa moving into high
gear. U.S. Hispanics, whose disposable income is commensurate with
Mexico's gross domestic product, are an alluring market. Currently,
the company's U.S. interests are limited to some Spanish-language
magazine titles, a joint-venture cable channel called TuTV and its
11% stake in Univision. In 2004, Televisa derived less than 10% of
its annual $2.63 billion in revenue from Univision royalties and
other U.S. business. With Univision now formally on the block,
Televisa looks like one of the few sure bidders, given the high price
that Univision and its chairman, 75-year-old A. Jerrold Perenchio,
are aiming for -- about $40 a share.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB114014286254676586.html?mod=todays_us_mo...
(requires subscription)

ICAHN ENDS EFFORT TO TAKE CONTROL OF TIME WARNER
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Matthew Karnitschnig
matthew.karnitschnig( at )wsj.com]
Investor Carl Icahn ended his effort to seek control of Time Warner
amid talks that could result in a settlement between the activist and
the media giant. Participants late yesterday said talks between the
camps were ongoing and warned they could fall apart. Yet even without
a quick resolution, Mr. Icahn said he had decided to run only five
candidates for Time Warner's board, rather than the full, 14-member
slate of directors he originally intended.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB114010945965176010.html?mod=todays_us_pa...
(requires subscription)
* Bid for Breakup of Time Warner Is Said to Falter
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/17/business/17icahn.html?hp&ex=1140238800...
(requires registration)

BROADCASTING/TELEVISION

BENTON PUSHES PUBLIC INTEREST DEADLINE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Benton Foundation Chairman Charles Benton has written the FCC asking
it to "elevate" digital public-interest obligations on its agenda.
"In three years, when analog TV is finally turned off, so too will
broadcasters' mandate to serve the public interest, convenience, and
necessity be left behind unless the Commission acts to extend
meaningful obligations to the digital world," Benton wrote to FCC
Chairman Martin. "I write today to ask that you bring clarity to the
DTV transition. On a number of occasions, you have recognized the
importance of defining the public interest. Now as FCC Chairman, you
have an enormous opportunity, indeed a responsibility, to act." Some
broadcasters have suggested they would be agreeable to some new
digital TV public-interest obligations in return for digital
multicast must-carry.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6308362?display=Breaking+News...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
Benton's letter to Chairman Martin:
http://www.benton.org/benton_files/bentonltr2-16-06.doc
Benton Press Release: http://www.benton.org/index.php?q=node/1445

DUELING STUDIES: NAB COUNTERS ACA
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The National Association of Broadcasters is slamming an Arlen
Communications study of small-market and rural cable system
retransmission negotiations that concluded stations ought to be
paying for carriage and that broadcasters were preventing cable
operators from launching new services. In its response to the study,
the NAB asserts that the Arlen study "mischaracterizes the outcomes
of retransmission consent negotiations as being something other than
the result of negotiations between two parties (local cable systems
and television stations) that both are facing increased competition."
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6308346?display=Breaking+News...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
See NAB press release:
http://www.nab.org/newsroom/pressrel/Releases/021606_BIAstudy_retrans.htm

ADMINISTRATION SEEKS EMERGENCY BROADCASTING FUNDS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Less than two weeks after cutting funding for various English
language services to Europe to make room for expanding Middle East TV
channel Alhurra from 16 to 24 hours, adding customized local news
content (as some legislators had suggested in a hearing on the
service), and stepping up broadcasts to Iran, Secretary of State
Condoleeza Rice has asked Congress for $75 million in emergency
funds, including for more broadcasts into Iran.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6308054?display=Breaking+News...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)

SOME SHOWS TURN NBC OLYMPICS INTO ALSO-RAN
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Richard Sandomir & Bill Carter]
NBC Olympic broadcasts have always turned back challenges to their
ratings dominance, but the Turin Games have shown that strong
counterprogramming can succeed. The Games are a valuable franchise
for NBC Universal, which has committed $5.7 billion for the Olympic
television rights from 2000 to 2012, including $613 million for the
rights to carry the Turin Games.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/17/sports/olympics/17tv.html
(requires registration)
* Olympics on TV: Where's the buzz?
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20060217/1a_cover17.art.htm

BAD APPLE SPOILS BUNCH OF COMMERCIALS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
While saying it "respectfully disagrees" with the Children's
Advertising Review Unit (CARU) of the Better Business Bureau, Kellogg
says it will no longer run TV ads putting down apples in favor of the
cinnamon in its Apple Jacks cereal. Afger reviewing five different
commercials, as well as Web and print advertising, CARU recommended
the ads be discontinued because they feature a hip cinnamon stick,
CinnaMon, but a "devious and grouchy" apple. "The Apple is always
scheming, but ultimately fails, to beat CinnaMon to the bowl of Apple
Jacks," said CARU.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6308172?display=Breaking+News...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)

TALK RADIO GIVES POWERFUL VOICE TO KATRINA ANGER
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Stuart Grudgings]
When Hurricane Katrina struck in August, knocking out television,
phones, and computers, it was old-fashioned AM radio that kept
thousands of flood-stranded people in New Orleans connected and even
saved lives. Nearly six months on, it has turned from emergency
rescue service into a powerful voice of frustration at the slow pace
of recovery from the disaster and the perception that federal and
state politicians have let residents down. Callers flood the line
every day with complaints and questions that reflect the daily grind
of life after Katrina, from mold on the walls to delays in getting
promised federal trailers.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID...

COMCAST AGREES TO $2.6 MILLION IN REFUNDS
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Linda Haugsted]
A rate challenge by about 100 cities and regional regulatory
authorities across the country has led to Comcast Corp. agreeing to
refund about $2.6 million to consumers. Refunds averaging $2 per
household will be made to about 1.3 million Comcast subscribers
during the next two months. That represents approximately 2% of
Comcast's universe. The rest of the MSO's regulators accepted its
pricing representations on its federal filing. Communities in this
challenge raised questions about Comcast's national rate filings in
2004. The local franchising authorities hired an accountant,
Florida-based Ashpaugh & Sculco LLC, and Front Range Consulting Inc.
of Colorado to analyze the filing Comcast made to the Federal
Communications Commission. They concluded that Comcast had
overcharged for some service calls and equipment costs. Based on the
report, client cities and regional cable authorities -- including the
Metropolitan Area Communications Commission outside Portland, Ore. --
ordered rate rollbacks by Comcast. Other participants in the
challenge included Arlington and Montgomery counties in Virginia,
regulators from the Denver metro area and small, individual towns
such as Murfreesboro, Tenn. The cities paid 10 cents per Comcast
subscriber to fund the rate analysis.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6308146.html?display=Breaking+News
(requires subscription)

PHONES CALL CABLE'S NUMBER
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Jennifer Kerr]
For consumers who yearn to see their monthly cable TV bills shrink,
phone companies say they have just the answer: more competition. They
want Congress to make it easier for them to roll out video services
that would compete with cable. The cable industry protests that such
government assistance would create an unfair advantage for the phone
companies and hurt consumers in poor communities. Both sides
Wednesday took their arguments to Capitol Hill, where lawmakers are
considering legislation to ease phone companies' entry into
subscription video services. Consumer advocates pressed for more
competition, but they also urged lawmakers to require phone companies
to offer services to an entire franchise area. "There is no reason
why they shouldn't be able to serve everyone in a community," said
Gene Kimmelman, vice president of federal and international affairs
at Consumers Union.
http://www.syracuse.com/news/poststandard/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1140083...
More coverage --
* Verizon, AT&T seek entry to TV markets
http://www.newsday.com/business/printedition/ny-bzvide164628534feb16,0,5...
See commentary on the issue --
* Video Competition: Much Ado About Something
http://www.techliberation.com/archives/036776.php
* AT&T and Verizon CEOs Whine to Congress
http://www.consumerist.com/consumer/evil/att-and-verizon-ceos-whine-to-c...

SAN RAMON WELCOMING AT&T PLAN LIVERMORE, WALNUT CREEK AREN'T
[SOURCE: Contra Costa Times, AUTHOR: Scott Marshall and Bonita Brewer]
San Ramon is moving to embrace a proposal by AT&T to introduce
Internet Protocol Television service -- the same plan being resisted
in Walnut Creek and Livermore.
Though Walnut Creek and Livermore have stopped similar proposals, San
Ramon appears likely to authorize it. Project Lightspeed, which AT&T
wants to begin introducing this year, would bring television to
residential customers through DSL phone connections and super-high
speed broadband. Instead of offering one-way video through a cable
box, AT&T's service will enable customers to choose programs they
want through two-way communication. The company says this would
increase competition for television service, thereby benefiting
consumers. AT&T says it does not need a cable franchise to do this
because it is a regulated telephone company. Cable industry
officials, meanwhile say AT&T's plan would create an unfair advantage
for phone companies. Cable officials add that such "IPTV"-type
service should be regulated under existing law to ensure it wouldn't
hurt consumers in poor communities. San Ramon agrees with AT&T, and
Tuesday night authorized City Attorney Byron Athan to draft a
resolution supporting it.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/13881671.htm
* City likely to allow AT&T television
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/13885993.htm

QUICKLY

CTIA SIDES WITH MARTIN ON NUMBERS-BASED CONTRIBUTION FOR USF
[SOURCE: RCRNews, AUTHOR: Heather Forsgren Weaver]
CTIA is changing its USF tune and siding with FCC Chairman Kevin
Martin in his battle to change the way universal service is paid for.
Chairman Martin -- and now CTIA -- wants to base universal service
funds on telephone numbers, instead of the current system that works
on percentages of long distance and international revenues. However,
CTIA's new position does not support a straight contribution
mechanism; the wireless trade association proposes several discounts
for certain classes of customers. For example, CTIA proposes that
regulators only assess the full fee on the primary number of a
wireless family plan. All other numbers would receive a 50 percent
discount. CTIA argues that members of a wireless family plan work
like line extension in the wireline world.
http://www.rcrnews.com/news.cms?newsId=25644

HUME NOTES WHITE HOUSE CLAIM THAT VNRs ARE LEGAL, IGNORED THAT GAO
THINKS OTHERWISE
[SOURCE: Media Matters for Ameria]
Summary: Reporting on a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study
that found that the Bush administration has spent $1.6 billion in
public relations contracts since 2003, Brit Hume noted the White
House claim that its use of "video news releases" is legal. However,
Hume did not report that, according to the GAO, this practice
violates federal law.
http://mediamatters.org/items/200602150002

INTERNET MUCK-RAKER CHALLENGES CHINA'S CENSORS
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Chris Buckley]
Chinese Communist Party elders and U.S. lawmakers fired shots at
China's powerful censors this week, but Li Xinde says muck-raking
campaigners like himself are undermining the country's barriers to
free speech every day. Li is one of just a handful of Internet
investigative reporters, exposing corrupt officials and injustice on
his China Public Opinion Surveillance Net (www.yuluncn.com).
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=internetNews&storyID...

TECHNICAL AND ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT OF INTERNET PROTOCOL, VERSION 6
[SOURCE: National Telecommunications and Information Administration]
The U. S. Department of Commerce has released the final report on the
technical and economic issues related to IPv6 adoption in the United
States, including the appropriate role of government, international
interoperability, security in transition, and costs and benefits of
IPv6 deployment. The report was developed by the IPv6 Task Force,
with the involvement of the NTIA and the National Institute of
Standards and Technology, and with the assistance of consultant RTI
International.
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/ntiageneral/ipv6/final/ipv6finalTOC.htm
--------------------------------------------------------------
Communications-related Headlines is a free online news summary
service provided by the Benton Foundation (www.benton.org). Posted
Monday through Friday, this service provides updates on important
industry developments, policy issues, and other related news events.
While the summaries are factually accurate, their often informal tone
does not always represent the tone of the original articles.
Headlines are compiled by Kevin Taglang headlines( at )benton.org -- we
welcome your comments.
--------------------------------------------------------------