December 2006

(sorry we're late this morning)

MEDIA OWNERSHIP HEARING
FCC Holds Rules Hearings

NEWS FROM CONGRESS
Dems Dissatisfied With FCC Recusal Response
Congress and tech: Little to show

INDECENCY
FCC Chairman Martin? It's Time for You to Resign
Court Says Profanity Arguments Can Be Televised

QUICKLY -- FCC Recharters Diversity Committee; Michigan Passes Bill
On Video-Franchising; Chandler Family Seeks Part of Tribune;
Microsoft tells FCC what it wants for Christmas; Granite Files
Chapter 11; AT&T Sues Time Warner in Texas

MEDIA OWNERSHIP HEARING

FCC HOLDS RULES HEARINGS
[SOURCE: MediaWeek, AUTHOR: Ken Tucker]
Four FCC commissioners -- Kevin Martin, Michael Copps, Jonathan
Adelstein and Nashville's own Deborah Tate -- were on hand at Belmont
University here for the second of six public hearings on the media
ownership rules. Commissioner McDowell was not present. On the agenda
were two panels, one focusing on how current media ownership rules
affect the music industry and the other a look at the Nashville media
market. A number of the commissioners' opening comments brought
cheers and applause from the audience, particularly Adelstein's and
Martin's vows to fight payola. Commissioner Copps, who cited a
lifelong love for country music, may have gotten the biggest
response, though. "If anyone tells you big media's push for more
consolidation has gone away, don't believe it," Copps said. "People
don't have enough say about how their airwaves are used, and it's
time for that to change." He also took the opportunity to attack
former FCC chairman Michael Powell for attempting to loosen ownership
restrictions "under cover of night." The resulting outcry, according
to Copps, "shows that concerned citizens can still make a difference
in this country. Commissioner Adelstein, a musician and avowed music
fan, questioned whether consolidated radio would allow Elvis Presley
to get his start today. "I sometimes wonder if the next Elvis is out
there somewhere throwing down his guitar in disgust because he can't
get on the radio because he's 'different,'" Adelstein said.
http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=10034...

* Statement by Chairman Martin
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-268912A1.doc
* Statement by Commissioner Copps
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-268906A1.doc
* Statement by Commissioner Adelstein
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-268905A1.doc
* FCC comes to town to talk about rights of free expression
[Commentary] An op-ed from FCC Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate.
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006612100373

* Nashville Knocks Consolidation
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6398743.html?title=Article&sp...

* FCC Hears Arguments for, Against Easing Ownership Rules
http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=11217
(requires free registration)

* FCC Hears It From Open Mikers
During the open-mike session of the FCC media ownership hearing in
Nashville Monday, the FCC heard from some angry Tennesseans on the
subject of media consolidation. One man who took the mike to register
his complaint said he owned the only local station in his town after
the others were moved by a corporate owners, who he called "idiots in suits."
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6398935.html?display=Breaking...

* Copps Cheered in Nashville
FCC Commissioner Michael Copps was in his element Monday, getting a
Nashville reception that Hank Williams would have been proud of. His
opening remarks at the FCC's second regional media ownership hearing,
being held in Nashville, were interrupted time and again by applause
and cheers as he pounded on the FCC's remanded ownership rules --
"hammered through" under cover of night against his objections -- and
said that the FCC had to listen to people this time around and put
localism at the head of its agenda.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6398898?display=Breaking+News

* Country Stars Bemoan Radio Consolidation to FCC
http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=11211

* Broadcasters Ask FCC to Think Small
A coalition of small-market broadcasters led by Raycom's Paul McTear
will be lobbying the FCC asking for the same duopoly rights as their
big-market brethren. The group argues that smaller-market
broadcasters are feeling a serious financial squeeze from a costly
digital transition, the elimination of network compensation and
shrinking ad revenues.
http://www.tvnewsday.com/articles/2006/12/13/daily.2/

NEWS FROM CONGRESS

DEMS DISSATISFIED WITH FCC RECUSAL RESPONSE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
FCC General Counsel Sam Feder has provided top House Democrats with
supporting information for his decision to allow Commissioner Robert
McDowell to vote in the Bell South/AT&T merger, but the answers
didn't sit well with them. Incoming House Commerce Committee Chairman
John Dingell (D-MI) said the FCC "has not provided a thoughtful and
appropriate explanation for departing from the advice of the Director
of the Office of Government Ethics." The ethics director told Feder
that he would not "un-recuse" Commissioner McDowell. Rep Dingell's
dissatisfaction with the response was echoed by Rep Ed Markey (D-MA)
who said, "Nothing in the General Counsel's response surmounts the
ethical hurdle placed before the Commission by the Director of the
Office of Government Ethics Robert I. Cusick who indicated to the FCC
that if the decision were up to him, he would not authorize
Commissioner McDowell's participation in the AT&T-BellSouth merger
proceeding. Instead, the FCC General Counsel's response highlights
that there is no direct or persuasive precedent for 'un-recusing'
Commissioner McDowell." Feder said there were several precedents for
un-recusing commissioners, including one involving FCC Chairman Kevin
Martin and one involving former Chairman Michael Powell. He also said
that the FCC had demonstrated it was at an impasse on the merger
vote, with the item pulled from the agenda three times because it was
deadlocked 2-2. He also pointed out that clearing McDowell to vote
did not mean compelling the vote.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6399296.html?display=Breaking...
* Dingell, Markey Blast FCC Lawyer
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6399384.html?display=Breaking+News
* Key Democrats Push To Keep FCC's McDowell Recused On Merger
http://www.njtelecomupdate.com/lenya/telco/live/tb-AGZZ1165960613023.html
* FCC's Martin Takes Heat Over AT&T-BellSouth Action
http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=11208
(requires free registration)
* McDowell Can't Make Ownership Hearing
FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell did not attend the hearing in
Nashville. He stayed in Washington to consider his participation in
the FCC's vote on the AT&T/BellSouth merger.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6398804?display=Breaking+News
* McDowell Mulls AT&T-BellSouth Options
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6398924.html?display=Breaking+News

CONGRESS AND TECH: LITTLE TO SHOW
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Declan McCullagh and Anne Broache]
Politicians in Washington, D.C., spent the last two years promising
new laws on everything from Net neutrality to computer security and
social-networking sites. But when the 109th Congress finally
adjourned over the weekend, ending 12 years of Republican rule of the
U.S. House of Representatives, few technology-related bills had
actually made it through the legislative process. "If they were going
to get a grade, it would be an 'I' for failure to complete all
assignments," said John Palafoutas, senior vice president and chief
lobbyist for the American Electronics Association, whose members
include about 2,500 companies, among them Adobe Systems, Intel, Sun
Microsystems and Hewlett-Packard. A review of outstanding legislation
shows both chambers of Congress approved only a handful of
technology-related items, leaving proposals on topics like data
breach notification, patent reform and Net neutrality to die in committee.
http://news.com.com/Congress+and+tech+Little+to+show/2100-1030_3-6142709...

INDECENCY

FCC CHAIRMAN MARTIN? IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO RESIGN
[SOURCE: AdAge, AUTHOR: Simon Dumenco]
[Commentary] What's driving the FCC's censorious crusade? An extreme,
faith-based view of governing that's being championed by
underqualified FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, who got this job thanks to
a resume that includes serving on Bush's 2000 Florida recount team
and working for Monica Lewinsky fetishist Ken Starr. Martin has
pumped up his case for a morals crisis in American broadcasting by
allowing the use of fraudulent complaints to shape the FCC's great
crusade. We're talking about just another form of un-American
ballot-box stuffing: quasi-automated complaint e-mails about
"indecency" that are invariably generated by a handful of religious
organizations that whip their members into click-and-send frenzies,
usually with few of the members ever having witnessed any (supposed)
broadcast offense. Liberals and conservatives alike should be
panicking about this, because the FCC absolutely shouldn't be
beholden to any one minority group, let alone a religious lobby
that's manufacturing the appearance of mass outrage. The FCC should
be striving to reflect the views of the majority of Americans; the
commissioners should not be held hostage by one hyperactive,
megaphone-wielding group looking to impose its point of view on the
rest of us. Like Donald Rumsfeld before him, Kevin Martin has
stubbornly and willfully relied on faulty intelligence that does not
reflect reality outside of a certain hermetically sealed bubble.
Martin and his ultra-conservative religious allies would have us
believe that they've found the moral equivalent of WMDs on our
airwaves: an epidemic of foulness that necessitates the FCC's
invasion of American living rooms to protect us from broadcast
evildoers. But the average American simply does not want the
government deciding what adults can and cannot watch -- and certainly
doesn't want censorious rules to extend to pay-cable networks (such
as HBO), as Martin hopes to do. All TV can't, and shouldn't, be
reduced to the level of "Blue's Clues" (or "The 700 Club," for that matter).
http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=113730

COURT SAYS PROFANITY ARGUMENTS CAN BE TELEVISED
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The oral arguments in broadcasters challenge to the FCC's March
profanity rulings against Fox Billboard Awards broadcasts will be
allowed to be televised. That's according to the docket of the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York. The court has
informed the attorneys involved that on December 11 it granted a
request from C-SPAN to televise the December 20 arguments. Arguments
by broadcasters and the FCC are scheduled for 12 minutes per side,
but could and probably will go longer. The televised coverage is
"uncommon but not unprecedented," said Andrew Schwartzman of the
Media Access Project, which is representing intervenor Center for
Creative Voices.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6399397.html

QUICKLY

FCC RECHARTERS DIVERSITY COMMITTEE
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
The Federal Communications Commission has renewed the charter of the
Commission's Advisory Committee on Diversity for Communications in
the Digital Age ("Diversity Committee") for a period of two years
through December 5, 2008. Lisa M. Fowlkes and Barbara Kreisman are
the Designated Federal Officer and Alternate Designated Federal
Officer, respectively, of the Diversity Committee. The Committee will
meet December 21 at the FCC. Benton Foundation board member Henry
Rivera will chair the Committee.
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-2491A1.doc

MICHIGAN LAWMAKERS SEND BILL ON VIDEO-FRANCHISING TO GOVERNOR
[SOURCE: Technology Daily, AUTHOR: Michael Martinez]
The Michigan legislature cleared to the governor legislation that
would streamline the state's video-franchising rules. The state
Senate passed an amended version of the bill by a vote of 26-12, and
the state House quickly endorsed the changes on what is expected to
be the last day of the legislative session. The bill would allow new
entrants to the state's video services market to bypass localities by
negotiating statewide franchises. The state currently requires
entrants to separately negotiate franchises with localities. Gov.
Jennifer Granholm (D) is expected to sign the bill. Spokeswoman Liz
Boyd said Gov Granholm believes the measure is "good for consumers
and good for Michigan." The measure has been pushed hard by AT&T,
which last month promised to invest $620 million and create 2,000
jobs in Michigan over the next three years as it offers video service
via the fiber-optic network it has built there. The franchising
debate in Michigan has received more nationwide attention than the
debates in other states because of last-minute lobbying by Google and
others to add language about how broadband operators treat online
content. But the version of the bill passed by the Senate on Tuesday
included no language addressing that so-called network neutrality issue.
http://www.njtelecomupdate.com/lenya/telco/live/tb-CNGP1165960454428.html

FAMILY WITH BIG STAKE SEEKS PART OF TRIBUNE CO
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Andrew Ross Sorkin & Katharine Seelye]
The Chandler family, which long owned The Los Angeles Times, has
begun holding talks with several private equity firms about forming a
consortium to bid on part of the Tribune Company. The talks come six
months after the Chandlers pressed to put the Tribune up for sale.
The family, which became a large shareholder in Tribune when it sold
Times Mirror to the company, has been critical of Tribune's
management and its slumping stock price. Frustrated with the muted
interest that the auction of Tribune has so far generated, the
Chandlers are exploring the idea of leading a private equity
consortium as a way to either create value in a leveraged buyout of
the assets or to possibly start a bidding war. Practically no
newspaper companies, with the exception of the Gannett Company, have
expressed interest in Tribune, which in addition to The Los Angeles
Times owns The Chicago Tribune, Newsday and other newspapers, as well
as two dozen television stations and the Chicago Cubs. A few private
equity firms have submitted bids that were much lower than anticipated.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/13/business/media/13tribune.html
(requires registration)

MICROSOFT TELLS FCC WHAT IT WANTS FOR CHRISTMAS
[SOURCE: Lasar's Letter on the FCC, AUTHOR: Matthew Lasar]
Microsoft executives spent much of the first week of this month at
the Federal Communications Commission, meeting with Commissioners and
staff. Not only did they lobby for specific regulatory policies, they
outlined a broad agenda for the FCC to follow in the years ahead. 1)
On December 7th, Microsoft representatives Craig Mundie, Ian Ferrel,
Blair Westlake, and Paula Boyd met with FCC Chair Kevin Martin and
called for the deregulation of the video franchising process. Mundie
argued that such deregulation would "help to expedite the deployment
of new video services." 2) Microsoft has been pushing hard over the
last few months for the FCC to give the corporation easy access to
so-called "white space." The software giant wants this access to
market "unlicensed devices" on such spectrum, such as LAN based home
entertainment systems and "robust" or "community mesh networks" --
interconnected LANs that can share a wide variety of communications
home and office applications. 3) At a December 1st meeting, Microsoft
officials endorsed Comcast's petition for a waiver on the
"integration ban" on TV set-top boxes. Not providing "built-in"
security on such boxes makes it easier for consumers to pick their
own set-top box, rather than the cable provider's preferred equipment.
http://www.lasarletter.net/drupal/node/261

GRANITE BROADCASTING FILES CHAPTER 11
[SOURCE: tvnewsday]
Granite Broadcasting Corp. announced Monday afternoon that it, along
with certain of its subsidiaries, has voluntarily filed petitions for
reorganization under chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code
in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of
New York. Granite owns and operates, or provides programming, sales
and other services to 23 channels in the following 11 markets: San
Francisco; Detroit; Buffalo, N.Y.; Fresno, Calif.; Syracuse, N.Y.;
Fort Wayne, Ind.; Peoria, Ill.; Duluth, Minn.-Superior, Wis.;
Binghamton, N.Y.; Utica, N.Y.; and Elmira, N.Y. The stations include
affiliates of NBC, CBS, ABC, CW and MNT.
http://www.tvnewsday.com/articles/2006/12/11/daily.6/

AT&T SUES TIME WARNER IN TEXAS
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Todd Spangler]
AT&T filed a lawsuit in a Texas county court against Time Warner
Cable's San Antonio division, alleging that the cable operator
engaged in "a methodical invasion of facilities owned, operated and
controlled by AT&T Texas" at apartments and other multiple-dwelling
units in and around the city. As part of installing voice service,
Time Warner "caused damage to physical plant" owned by AT&T,
according to the lawsuit, "solely to gain competitive advantage and
commercial benefit."
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6399398.html?display=Breaking+News
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Way to go, Cass.
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Communications-related Headlines is a free online news summary
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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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