October 2006

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EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
Professor Pitches Emergency Communications Re-Think

MEDIA & ELECTIONS
Federal Rules Help Shield Creators of Political Advertisements
FCC rejects complaint about Schwarzenegger on 'Tonight Show'
Band's film ads hit sour note

MEDIA OWNERSHIP
Fox calls for the removal of all FCC media ownership rules
Comcast's Earnings Surge on Sales of Digital Services

QUICKLY -- FCC's Martin on Administrative Law; Speed Matters;
Broadband: The Communication Service we can Least Live Without

EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS

PROFESSOR PITCHES EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS RE-THINK
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Discussing scenarios for reforming public safety communications and
coordination, Jon Peha, a professor of electrical engineering and
public policy at Carnegie Mellon, argues against what he says are the
basic assumptions that local flexibility should trump standardization
and regional coordination, that commercial media's role is limited,
and that public safety spectrum should not be shared. Citing changed
technology and a changed world after 9/11, he argues responsibility
should be shifted from independent local government agencies to the
federal government and commercial providers. He also says municipal
Wi-Fi networks should have an expanded role so that the public safety
spectrum can be shared with other users. He says that spectrum being
vacated by legacy TV users is the ideal place to build a new
emergency communications system, rather than manage spectrum
according to "the same old policies." He suggests that funds for the
new system could come from an auction of reclaimed analog television
spectrum, perhaps by saying that any revenues beyond the $10 billion
the Government Accountability Office has projected for the treasury
be earmarked for public safety -- some have predicted the take could
be twice that amount or more. But he also argues that funding should
not hinge on what he calls an accounting trick. "Surely in the age of
terrorist threats on American soil," he argues, "policy-makers need
no such excuses to spend money that will advance homeland security
and public safety, especially when the short-term expenditures will
lead to long-term savings."
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6385577?display=Breaking+News
* New Report Calls for Fundamental Reform in Public Safety Spectrum
and Wireless Communications Policy
http://www.newamerica.net/programs/wireless_future

MEDIA & ELECTIONS

FEDERAL RULES HELP SHIELD CREATORS OF POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENTS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Anne Kornblut & Jim Rutenberg]
When an advertisement mocking Representative Harold E. Ford Jr. set
off controversy in the Tennessee Senate race last week, a question
quickly arose: Who was behind the provocative and, critics said,
racially loaded television spot? No Republicans wanted to take
credit. When the identity of the producer, Scott Howell, emerged,
Democrats quickly pounced on his history of bare-knuckled tactics and
close relationship with Karl Rove as evidence of a familiar
Republican approach. And the incident quickly set off a wave of
denials and denunciations from Republican officials, including the
national party chairman and Senator John McCain of Arizona, who has
hired Terry Nelson, another consultant affiliated with the spot.
Campaign finance regulations limit how much money the political
parties can spend on campaigns with which they coordinate. But they
allow parties to spend without limit if they set up committees that
operate independent of the party leadership. Advocates for stricter
campaign finance laws say the regulations, a result of court
decisions several years ago, do little more than provide a fig leaf
for the parties, insulating them from controversy like the one that
is now engulfing the advertisement in Tennessee. All independent
expenditure units are required to sign legal papers promising not to
have contact with the campaign that they are hired to advocate on
behalf of, and to receive only financial support, not strategic
advice, from the national party.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/27/us/politics/27ads.html
(requires registration)
* RNC pulls ad in Tenn. amid racism charges
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20061027/a_eline27.art.htm
* Compounding a Political Outrage
[Commentary] Strategists from both political parties use the
"independent" route of the campaign law for launching sleaze and
disclaiming provenance. Voters across the nation are hard-pressed to
separate wheat from chaff in the whirlwind of political ads. But one
of the few keys they have in figuring out who's responsible for
something particularly egregious is the tag line required at each
commercial's close.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/27/opinion/27fri2.html
* The Year Of Playing Dirtier
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/26/AR200610...

FCC REJECTS COMPLAINT ABOUT SCHWARZENEGGER ON 'TONIGHT SHOW'
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Michael Blood]
The Federal Communications Commission dismissed a complaint Thursday
that accused "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" of playing favorites in
the race for California governor. The complaint, filed on behalf of
Democratic challenger Phil Angelides, argued that the NBC show
violated the equal time provision in federal law when Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger appeared as a guest on Oct. 10, less than a month
before the election. Angelides also asked to appear but was not
scheduled. Federal rules require broadcast stations to give equal
time to candidates who appear on the air. The rules do not apply to
news programs, interview shows and documentaries in which the
candidate is not the sole focus. The agency concluded that
Schwarzenegger's appearance was exempt. "Nor do we find that the
decision to invite Schwarzenegger on 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'
was motivated by partisan purposes," the agency said in a ruling by
Robert L. Baker, assistant chief of the policy division's media
bureau. Steven Maviglio, an Angelides campaign spokesman, accused the
Bush administration of bending the law to side with the Republican governor.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/10/26/politics/p175547...
* FCC Upholds Tonight News Exemption
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6385719.html?display=Breaking...

BAND'S FILM ADS HIT SOUR NOTE
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Richard Verrier]
A new documentary on the backlash against the Dixie Chicks after
critical remarks the group's lead singer made about President Bush
has brought disharmony between the film's distributor and two TV
networks. On Thursday, Weinstein Co. alleged that NBC and the CW had
refused to air nationwide commercials to promote "Shut Up & Sing."
Weinstein said NBC wrote that the network "cannot accept these spots
as they are disparaging to President Bush." The CW also rejected the
ads, Weinstein said, saying in a letter that it did "not have the
appropriate programming in which to schedule this spot." Harvey
Weinstein, who runs the company with his brother, Bob, said the
networks were stifling free speech. "It's a sad commentary about the
level of fear in our society that a movie about a group of courageous
entertainers who were blacklisted for exercising their right of free
speech is now itself being blacklisted by corporate America," he said.
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-dixie27oct27,1,531911...
(requires registration)

MEDIA OWNERSHIP

FOX CALLS FOR THE REMOVAL OF ALL FCC MEDIA OWNERSHIP RULES (EXCEPT
FOR THE RULE FOX LIKES)
[SOURCE: Lasar's Letter on the FCC, AUTHOR: Matthew Lasar]
Arguing that the Internet has completely changed the media landscape,
two Fox media companies have asked the FCC to eliminate its media
ownership rules "once and for all." Except for the UHF discount on
the national TV station ownership cap. Fox argues for elimination of
the local TV ownership rule and the newspaper/broadcast station
crossownership bans. "[T]he media marketplace of 2006 has become so
robustly competitive," Fox Entertainment Group and Fox Television
Holdings' October 23rd public filing concludes, "and offers so many
diverse voices on subjects too numerous to count, that the broadcast
ownership rules cannot possibly survive the scrutiny required by" law.
http://lasarletter.com/freepage.php?id=200610251

COMCAST'S EARNINGS SURGE ON SALES OF DIGITAL SERVICES
[SOURCE: Bloomberg News]
Comcast, the world's largest cable-television provider, said Thursday
that third-quarter profit soared fivefold on the purchase of Adelphia
and record sales of telephone and digital television services. The
Philadelphia-based company reported that net income jumped to $1.22
billion from $222 million a year earlier. Sales rose 22% to $6.43
billion. Comcast added more phone, digital TV and high-speed Internet
customers than analysts predicted. The company's offer of all three
services for $99 a month fueled the growth, Chief Executive Brian
Roberts said. Next quarter will be "as good or better," Roberts told
analysts Thursday. Comcast signed up 483,000 new digital voice
customers, up from 72,000 a year earlier, and 558,000 digital cable
customers, a 77% increase. About 536,000 customers bought high-speed
Internet, the most for a quarter in two years.
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-comcast27oct27,1,5961...
(requires registration)
* Comcast Surges on Earnings Report
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6385003.html?display=Breaking+News

QUICKLY

FCC CHAIRMAN MARTIN AT THE 2006 ABA ADMINISTRATIVE LAW CONFERENCE
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
Speaking to lawyers at an administrative law conference, Federal
Communications Chairman Kevin Martin said the Commission must find a
way to "establish consistent regulatory frameworks to apply to" the
services it has traditionally regulated -- wireline and wireless
services, broadcasting and cable TV -- since they are now moving to
competing against eachother. "And I believe we should do so by
removing regulations wherever possible," he added. " We should remove
legacy rules from new investment and make sure that our regulations
do not favor one company's investment in technology over another's."
He then went on to discuss (1) the Supreme Court's recent Brand X
decision - and the ability of an agency's interpretation to stand in
the face of prior court decisions; (2) the legal standard for our
periodic Regulatory Review; and (3) the standard for forbearance petitions.
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-268089A1.doc

SPEED MATTERS
[SOURCE: Communications Workers of America]
The Communications Workers of America has adopted "five key
principles" for improving the US's place in the high-speed Internet
economy: 1) Speed and Universality Matter for Internet Access --
High-tech innovation, job growth, telemedicine, distance learning,
rural development, public safety and e-government require truly high
speed, universal networks. 2) The U.S. "High Speed" Definition is Too
Slow -- The FCC defines "high speed" as 200 kilobits per second
(kbps) downstream. Government policies should immediately set "high
speed" definition at 2 megabits per second (mbps) downstream, 1
upstream. 3) A National "High Speed Internet for All" Policy is Critical
The U.S. must adopt policies for universal access and set deployment
timetables: 10 mbps down, 1 mbps up by 2010, with new benchmarks set
for succeeding years. 4) The U.S. Must Preserve an Open Internet --
High speed, high capacity networks will eliminate bandwidth scarcity
and will promote an open Internet. Consumers are entitled to an open
Internet allowing them to go where they want when they want. Nothing
should be done to degrade or block access to any websites. Reserving
proprietary video bandwidth is essential to finance the build-out of
high speed networks. 5) Consumer and Worker Protections Must Be
Safeguarded -- Public policies should support growth of good, career
jobs as a key to providing quality service. Government should require
public reporting of deployment, actual speed and price.
http://www.speedmatters.org/why/principles.html

SURVEY REVEALS NORTH AMERICAN HOUSEHOLDS RATE BROADBAND AS MOST
IMPORTANT WIRELINE SERVICE
[SOURCE: In-Stat press release]
According to the results of a new survey of US and Canadian consumers
that segments households by demographics, all segments rated
broadband "the communication service they can least live without,"
reports In-Stat.
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news...
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...and we are outta here. Have a slow news weekend -- and a great
Halloween party.
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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
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