May 2008

The number of Americans being secretly wiretapped or having their financial and other records reviewed by the government has continued to increase as officials aggressively use powers approved after the Sept. 11 attacks. But the number of terrorism prosecutions ending up in court -- one measure of the effectiveness of such sleuthing -- has continued to decline, in some cases precipitously. The trends, visible in new government data and a private analysis of Justice Department records, are worrisome to civil liberties groups and some legal scholars. They say it is further evidence that the government has compromised the privacy rights of ordinary citizens without much to show for it.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-na-justice12-2008may12...
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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has denied a request from owners of thousands of low-power television stations to force a ban on government-subsidized converter boxes that can't display their signals. The Community Broadcasters Association contends it is facing a "death sentence" because of a flaw in the government's plan to force broadcasters to shift to digital broadcasting. The CBA in March asked the court to order the Federal Communications Commission to ban all digital set-top converter boxes that are not equipped to receive an analog signal, a request that had the potential to derail the biggest broadcasting transition since color television. As of Feb. 18, 2009, all full-power television stations in the U.S. are required to stop broadcasting an analog signal. Anyone who gets programming through an antenna and does not have a newer-model digital TV set will need to buy a box that converts the digital signal to analog. The government is providing two $40 coupons per household that can be used to buy these boxes. The problem facing the 2,600 low-power television stations represented by the association is that they are not subject to the deadline. Most of the converter boxes now on sale will actually block the low-power analog signal from those stations, while the full-power digital signals will display normally. The appeals court's decision said the association failed to adequately make its case that the order, known as a "writ of mandamus," was necessary.
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/politics/story/355590.html

[Commentary] A TV industry trying its best to keep up with nimble new-media competitors may have an expensive new albatross to deal with: the Federal Communications Commission’s series of proposals to promote localism. Among the proposals the commission offered up last December was one requiring TV stations to locate their main studios in their cities of license. But network executives fear that the industry already spent billions of dollars on new facilities that are now in jeopardy if the FCC forces stations to move those facilities back to their home markets. The moves could lead to a hefty tab for those stations. National Association of Broadcasters spokesman Dennis Wharton called derailing the studio proposal a “huge priority” for the association. He pointed out that more than 120 House members and 28 senators sent letters to the FCC expressing their concern, which he called “reflective of the broad, bipartisan concern of members of Congress.”
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6559549.html?rssid=193

After the writers' strike was settled in February, television broadcasters resolved to rethink how the coming upfront week would proceed. The networks are ordering far fewer pilots, test episodes of new series that are expensive to produce. They also intend to broaden the presentations beyond what will be on TV, to include programming in new media like the Internet and mobile devices. And the networks will expand their horizon from the usual nine-month season — running September through May, with most new series brought out en masse in the fall — to a year-round perspective, known in industry parlance as a 52-week season. The senior executives at media agencies who help marketers determine which shows to buy commercials in — and which to avoid — welcome the changes. They say they would like the revamped upfront week to become normal, rather than entering the record books with an asterisk: temporary changes because of a strike-battered season.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/12/business/media/12adcol.html?ref=todays...
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