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August 2008

NSF and the Birth of the Internet

The birth of the Internet is the subject of this report created by the National Science Foundation. After a brief introduction, visitors can browse through a multimedia site that includes video clips of early pioneers talking about their work on this endeavor, along with maps of Internet growth from the 1960s to the 1990s and documents such as the Lax Report. Interestingly enough the Lax Report, issued in 1982, was influential in the creation of the National Science Foundation's supercomputing centers. The materials are divided up by decade (1960s through the 2000s) and visitors can click on each section to learn about the advances and challenges faced by persons working in this field. Along the way, a small section in the bottom right-hand corner of the site keeps a running total of the baud rate and the Internet users in each decade. Of course, visitors will not want to miss the section dedicated to Mosaic, which was the browser developed at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications in the early 1990s.

NBC builds online audience even as TV ratings soar

For NBC Universal, balancing TV and online coverage of the Beijing Olympic Games has been tricky. After paying $900 million for broadcast rights to this year's Summer Games, NBC Universal executives are determined to protect the television business by drawing viewers to NBC and cable networks like USA. At the same time, they are also resolved to build an online audience through the NBCOlympics.com website, with the aim of drawing in more Internet advertising revenue for future events based on the success of this one. It's a delicate balancing act: Concentrate too much on TV broadcasting, and risk missing the boat on the next generation of Olympic fans online. Or put too much content on the Web, and there's a chance some viewers will ignore coverage on TV, where advertisers have paid NBC top dollar for commercial time.

Cable Shuns NAB's 'Quiet Period' Plan

The cable industry thinks broadcasters' so-called quiet period is a lot of noise, mainly because it wouldn't give cable systems the right to restore carriage of TV stations that were withholding their signals as February arrived. All full-power TV stations are to convert to digital transmission on Feb 17, 2009. Meanwhile, thousands of carriage contracts between cable operators and TV stations are due to expire on Dec. 31, 2008, raising concerns that carriage disputes that ran past Feb 3 would not come to a halt under NAB's quiet period Feb. 4, 2009 to March 4, 2009. For that reason alone, both the National Cable & Telecommunications Association and the American Cable Association want the quiet period to start on or before Jan. 1. "Any voluntary quiet period that does not begin before the agreements actually expire — or which is too brief to preclude potentially confusing messages about broadcast carriage during the time of the actual DTV transition — represents the illusion of a commitment and does not serve the consumer," said National Cable & Telecommunications Association president Kyle McSlarrow.

Why is Cox Moving Those Papers Now? And Will They Sell?

Another major newspaper chain, Cox, has decided to put up for sale several of its properties -- including papers in Texas, Colorado, and North Carolina -- even as other dailies around the country continue to languish on the auction block. The question is: Why?

Aug 22 FCC Meeting Agenda

If there's anything that people in DC love, its Friday meetings in August. Kevin Martin, he's such a crowd pleaser. The Federal Communications Commission will hold an Open Meeting on Friday, August 22, 2008, scheduled to commence at 10:00 a.m. in Room TW-C305, at 445 12th Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. The Commission will consider: 1) roaming obligations of Commercial Mobile Radio Service Providers, 2) implementation of the New and Emerging Technologies 911 Improvement Act of 2008, 3) new digital TV must carry rules. Sunscreen is optional.

August 15, 2008 (McCain Tech Plan & Reaction)


** Participate in Discussion on FCC Policy on Net Neutrality. See http://benton.org/node/16053 for more info. **

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY AUGUST 15, 2008

ELECTIONS & MEDIA
   McCain's Technology Policies
   Personal Security and Privacy in the Digital Age
   Sizing up McCain's & Obama's Technology Plans
   McCain Tech Policy — A First Reaction
   John McCain: The Hero of John McCain's Tech Policy
   Latino media expect ad windfall from presidential race
   Stars come out as media preps for convention
   35 Issues, 35 Nights On CBS News
   Disconnect Between What Voters Expect and How Politicos Spend Online

MEDIA OWNERSHIP
   Philly or DC? It could mean the world to media mergers

BROADCASTING/CABLE
   Wilmington Preps for Aug 19 Digital 'Soft Test'
   False Positive Results Likely in Wilmington
   47% Want Fed-Mandated Media Balance
   Saving TV

QUICKLY -- Mobile Messaging To Increase 15% By 2012; Daily Search Engine Users Closing in On Email Users; Wireless carriers taking longer to answer customer service calls; NYC Councilman Seeks to Ban Text Messaging at Wheel

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ELECTIONS & MEDIA

MCCAIN'S TECHNOLOGY POLICIES
[SOURCE: JohnMcCain.com, AUTHOR: ]
On Thursday, Sen John McCain's campaign released his proposed technology policies. The paper claims John McCain has a broad and cohesive vision for the future of American innovation. His policies will provide broad pools of capital, low taxes and incentives for research in America, a commitment to a skilled and educated workforce, and a dedication to opening markets around the globe. He's committed to streamlining burdensome regulations and effectively protecting American intellectual property in the United States and around the globe. The campaign also says Sen McCain is "uniquely qualified to lead our nation during this technological revolution" because of he is the former chairmen of the Senate Commerce Committee. "Under John McCain's guiding hand," the paper reads, "Congress developed a wireless spectrum policy that spurred the rapid rise of mobile phones and Wi-Fi technology that enables Americans to surf the web while sitting at a coffee shop, airport lounge, or public park." As President, John McCain promises to: 1) Encourage investment in innovation, 2) Develop a skilled work force, 3) Champion open and fair trade, 4) Reform intellectual property protection, 5) Keep the Internet and entrepreneurs free of unnecessary regulation, and 6) Ensure a fully connected citizenry. Speaking for Sen Barack Obama's campaign former Federal Communications Commission Chairman William Kennard, said, "Senator McCain's technology plan doesn't put Americans first -- it is a rehash of tax breaks and giveaways to the big corporations and their lobbyists who advise the McCain campaign."
http://benton.org/node/16125
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PERSONAL SECURITY AND PRIVACY IN THE DIGITAL AGE
[SOURCE: JohnMcCain.com, AUTHOR: ]
On Thursday, Sen John McCain's campaign released the candidate's four-part value statement on making people more confident in the safety, security and privacy protections on the Internet. 1) Sen McCain wants to ensure the personal security and privacy of Americans in the digital age through self-regulation, consumer education, technical innovation and increased law enforcement. 2) Sen McCain writes that there is a need for personal security in the digital age because when threatened, and not met by an appropriate preventive or remedial response, the public's confidence in technology and its economic and societal benefits will lie at risk. The federal government, McCain writes, must display greater leadership to stop digital predators by vigilantly enforcing laws designed to protect Americans' personal security and privacy, promoting educational efforts among consumers and in our schools, providing incentives for continued investment by American industry in the development of more secure technologies, and encouraging personal responsibility in our society to recognize and defuse threats. Industry, he says, must be proactive to help protect individual Americans from the ever-present threats posed by advanced technology through security tools, effective self-regulation, and educational initiatives.
http://benton.org/node/16124
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SIZING UP MCCAIN'S & OBAMA'S TECHNOLOGY PLANS
[SOURCE: SaschaMeinrath.com]
[Commentary] Sen John McCain's plan has good points: supporting research and development, increasing H1-B Visas, tax breaks for R&D, supporting national broadband buildout, increasing government transparency, reforming the patent system. Good points, in fact, that Sen Obama has included in his plan released last November. But there are contrasts, too, on Network Neutrality, Diversity of Media Ownership, Lowering Corporate Tax rates, and their General Worldview Towards Technology. Meinrath notes this nugget: "Offering simple common sense solutions to real problems is at the core of the McCain's innovation agenda." And writes, "[T]his McCain worldview that scares the hell out of me. Technology is complicated -- and the solutions we need are fairly complex -- they require an in depth understanding of the problem if you're going to formulate a solution. And McCain clearly doesn't understand some of the core problems."
http://benton.org/node/16123
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MCCAIN TECH POLICY -- A FIRST REACTION
[SOURCE: Tales from the Sausage Factory, AUTHOR: Harold Feld]
[Commentary] Sen John McCain's campaign had a huge task before it. With people laughing about his computer illiteracy the night before he was to release his long-awaited technology plan, the campaign needed a winner to counter a plan offered months ago from its main rival, Sen Barack Obama. No such luck. The policy proposal is a joke. It reads like some crotchety technophobe knocked over the bumper sticker wrack at an Ayn Rand Reading Revival and tried to rearrange them so it made a policy. Half of it isn't even particularly tech specific.The statements that aren't useless generalities ("America Must Educate Its Workforce For The Innovation Age") are either contradictory or make no sense. But what really astounds Feld is that after two years of campaigning, with less than 3 months until the general election, McCain suddenly realized that telecom and technology are multibillion dollar industries -- infrastructure absolutely critical to our economic development, job creation, national security, education, healthcare, oh heck, just about every aspect of our life these days -- and that wouldn't it be nice to have a policy. This is ready from Day 1? While Barack Obama is reaching out to a new generation of voters through text messaging and social networking, was hailed by Techcrunch back in January as the candidate who "put more time and thought into his digital/technology policies than any other candidate," McCain has only just figured out he needs an actual policy for this stuff?
http://benton.org/node/16154
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JOHN MCCAIN: THE HERO OF JOHN MCCAIN'S TECH POLICY
[SOURCE: OpenLeft, AUTHOR: Matt Stoller]
[Commentary] Seriously, this is approaching Chuck Norris-level aggrandizement. How delusional does this guy have to be to imagine himself the hero of every situation he's in, to the point that he has to frame himself as a white knight on regulating packet shaping over the Internet?
http://benton.org/node/16153
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LATINO MEDIA EXPECT AD WINDFALL FROM PRESIDENTIAL RACE
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR:]
Spanish-language broadcasters in the US project their political advertising sales will soar this year as the presidential candidates woo Latinos in states that have a chance to tip the election. Latinos make up 12% to 37% of the electorate in Colorado, Florida, New Mexico and Nevada, four of the six states that President Bush carried by five points or less in 2004, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, a Washington research group. Entravision has 22 stations in those four states. Entravision's political ad sales will double to $12 million from the last presidential cycle. Univision, the largest U.S. Spanish-language broadcaster, has five TV stations in Colorado, Florida and New Mexico, among a total of 63. Univision expects to take in as much as $20 million in political ads in the second half of 2008.
http://benton.org/node/16152
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STARS COME OUT AS MEDIA PREPS FOR CONVENTION
[SOURCE: Denver Post, AUTHOR: Joanne Ostrow]
Will Barack Obama's nomination acceptance speech become the highest-rated convention TV moment ever? That's what TV observers are asking in advance of the Democratic National Convention. The one to beat is Jimmy Carter's 1976 balloon drop, seen in 22 million homes. In recent years, the audience for political conventions has been shrinking.
http://benton.org/node/16150
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35 ISSUES, 35 NIGHTS ON CBS NEWS
[SOURCE: The Atlantic, AUTHOR: Marc Ambinder]
[Commentary] Over 35 nights CBS Evening News will cover 35 different issues in this year's election. Way. Television journalists are always criticized for focusing too much on style and personality and horse race... And the journalists always complain about finding novel ways to "cover the issues" ... and usually, every cycle, despite the whining, issues aren't covered unless they touch on the political news of whatever say happens to be before the executive producer of the broadcast. Now -- it's up to the producers and their correspondents at CBS to make these segments shine on TV.
http://benton.org/node/16116
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DISCONNECT BETWEEN WHAT VOTERS EXPECT AND HOW POLITICOS SPEND ONLINE
[SOURCE: OnlineMediaDaily, AUTHOR: Tameka Kee]
Almost two-thirds of American voters expect political candidates to use online ads (including rich media and search) as part of their campaign strategy, but only about 10% of campaign consultants believe such ads serve as a highly effective channel for reaching voters. Meanwhile, just 5% think online ads are one of the most effective channels for reaching their candidate's loyal voter base. The stats stem from new research released by the E-Voter Institute and HCD Research, titled "Missing the Boat: How Political and Advocacy Communications Leaders Spend Campaign Funds," and illustrate the sharp disconnect between what voters are expecting and what campaigns are delivering when it comes to information and advertising on the Web.
http://benton.org/node/16122
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MEDIA OWNERSHIP

PHILLY OR DC? IT COULD MEAN THE WORLD TO MEDIA MERGERS
[SOURCE: TheDeal.com, AUTHOR: Ron Orol]
While the distance between Philadelphia and Washington is less than 140 miles down Interstate 95, the federal appeals courts in the two cities are worlds apart when it comes to proposed rules on media mergers. And with the legal battle over the Federal Communications Commission's controversial limits on media ownership one step closer to fruition, media companies and consumer groups are eagerly watching where the challenge will land next. In theory, it shouldn't matter which venue gets the case, but the two circuits with the most experience in media ownership issues have opposite leanings on media consolidation and deregulation. The last major ruling on FCC ownership rules came from the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia, which in 2004 struck down the agency's attempt that year at deregulation. The D.C. Circuit has generally favored loosening media ownership rules, insisting that was the clear intent of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Corporate groups are pushing to bring the case to D.C. while consumer groups want to send it back to Philadelphia. For now, there's nothing to do but wait for a decision from the 9th Circuit on jurisdiction.
http://benton.org/node/16121
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BROADCASTING/CABLE

WILMINGTON PREPS FOR AUG 19 DIGITAL 'SOFT TEST'
[SOURCE: TVWeek, AUTHOR: Michele Greppi]
Four commercial stations in Wilmington (NC), site of the earliest complete switch to digital signals, will turn off their analog signals for one minute starting at 7:30 p.m. August 19. ABC affiliate WWAY-TV, NBC affiliate WECT-TV, Fox affiliate WSFX-TV and CBS affiliate WILM-LP will participate in the test. The test is in preparation for the closely watched real end of analog broadcasting in that market on September 8. Nielsen estimates 8.8% of the Wilmington market, or 15,450 homes, relies exclusively on free over-the-air broadcast TV. In addition, some cable or satellite homes also have additional sets that are receiving only over-the-air analog signals. The nationwide transition won't take place until February 17, 2009.
http://benton.org/node/16120
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FALSE POSITIVE RESULTS LIKELY IN WILMINGTON
[SOURCE: hearusnow.org, AUTHOR: Bob Williams]
[Commentary] On September 8th television stations in Wilmington (NC) will be turning off their old analog signals and going all digital. For such a test to be truly useful it needs to take place in as typical an environment as possible, but in a whole host of ways the Wilmington experiment will be anything but typical. 1) No other community in the country is going to receive anywhere close to the kind of government attention and resources now being thrown at Wilmington. 2) The Wilmington area is tightly packed and basically flat. That means TV signals don't have to travel over very long distances and are not subject to the reception problems caused in other areas by mountains, hills, valleys or even tall buildings. 3) There's also just a small percentage of the Wilmington-area residents relying on over-the-air broadcasting. Expect the FCC, the broadcast industry and others with vested interests in drawing a positive picture of the Wilmington experiment to do just that following the September 8 cutover. Unfortunately, the most likely result of the Wilmington test will be a false positive.
http://benton.org/node/16119
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47% WANT FED-MANDATED MEDIA BALANCE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Joel Topcik]
Nearly one-half of Americans -- 47% -- believe the federal government should mandate equal time for conservative and liberal political commentary on radio and TV stations. However, a majority would exempt the Internet from any enforced balance, according to a new national telephone survey by Rasmussen Reports. The survey further found that 71% believe the current media environment allows pretty much any political view to be expressed.
http://benton.org/node/16118
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SAVING TV
[SOURCE: Portfolio.com, AUTHOR: Mark Harris]
With its traditional business model failing, let's consider some ways broadcast TV might be reborn. 1) Accept the fact that niche is the new normal. 2) Know your brand. 3) Don't count on "flow" ­unless all your programming is aimed at the same audience. 4) Content counts. 5) When you say the TV season is 52 weeks, you have to mean it. 6) Don't break faith with your audience. 7) The notion that the "500-channel universe" is a pie being cut into ever-tinier slivers ignores the fact that the vast majority of what we watch fills the coffers of a small handful of megaliths, just as it always has. 8) Lowered expectations can be your best friend.
http://benton.org/node/16117
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QUICKLY

MOBILE MESSAGING TO INCREASE 15% BY 2012
[SOURCE: OnlineMediaDaily, AUTHOR: Mark Walsh]
Consumer spending on mobile messaging will increase 15% from $65 billion in 2007 to $88 billion by 2012, with North America accounting for a quarter of that total, according to a new study by market research firm Strategy Analytics. While short message service (SMS) text-messaging will continue to dominate the category, the spread of flat-rate, unlimited data plans will accelerate the shift of common PC-based communication methods such as e-mail and instant messaging to mobile phones. E-mail alone is expected to make up 20% of mobile messaging revenue by 2012.
http://benton.org/node/16115
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DAILY SEARCH ENGINE USERS CLOSING IN ON EMAIL USERS
[SOURCE: Center for Media Research, AUTHOR: Jack Loechner]
According to a recently released PEW Internet study, the percentage of Internet users who use search engines on a typical day has been steadily rising from about one-third of all users in 2002, to a new high of 49%. The number of those using a search engine on a typical day is pulling ever closer to the 60% of Internet users who use email on a typical day.
http://benton.org/node/16114
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WIRELESS CARRIERS TAKING LONGER TO ANSWER CUSTOMER SERVICE CALLS
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Alana Semuels]
According to a J.D. Power & Associates study released Thursday, the average wait time customers endured before being connected to representatives at their wireless phone companies in early 2008 was 4.4 minutes, up 34% from the none-too-brief 3.3 minutes they waited in 2003. The study tracked wireless carrier customer care in three areas: calls to customer service, visits to a store and questions via the Internet. Nearly half of all wireless customers contacted customer service within the last year, according to the study, and 75% of these customers did so by phone.
http://benton.org/node/16151
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NYC COUNCILMAN SEEKS TO BAN TEXT MESSAGING AT WHEEL
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Eric Konigsberg]
I M bout 2 crsh! You'll never be able to text that again in New York City. Councilman David I. Weprin (D-Queens) will unveil a measure that would ban the sending or reading of text messages while driving within New York city limits. "It's a risk to drivers, obviously, and also to passengers and pedestrians," Weprin said. "You're not looking at the road and you don't have both hands on the wheel" when engaged in text-messaging. "The probability for accidents is too high to ignore." Weprin said the bill would be modeled on New York State's ban on the use of cellphones while driving, which imposes a $100 fine for the first infraction.
http://benton.org/node/16149
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... and we're outta here. Have a great weekend and GO CUBS!

McCain Tech Policy — A First Reaction

[Commentary] Sen John McCain's campaign had a huge task before it. With people laughing about his computer illiteracy the night before he was to release his long-awaited technology plan, the campaign needed a winner to counter a plan offered months ago from its main rival, Sen Barack Obama. No such luck. The policy proposal is a joke. It reads like some crotchety technophobe knocked over the bumper sticker wrack at an Ayn Rand Reading Revival and tried to rearrange them so it made a policy. Half of it isn't even particularly tech specific.The statements that aren't useless generalities ("America Must Educate Its Workforce For The Innovation Age") are either contradictory or make no sense. But what really astounds Feld is that after two years of campaigning, with less than 3 months until the general election, McCain suddenly realized that telecom and technology are multibillion dollar industries -- infrastructure absolutely critical to our economic development, job creation, national security, education, healthcare, oh heck, just about every aspect of our life these days -- and that wouldn't it be nice to have a policy. This is ready from Day 1? While Barack Obama is reaching out to a new generation of voters through text messaging and social networking, was hailed by Techcrunch back in January as the candidate who "put more time and thought into his digital/technology policies than any other candidate," McCain has only just figured out he needs an actual policy for this stuff?

John McCain: The Hero of John McCain's Tech Policy

[Commentary] Seriously, this is approaching Chuck Norris-level aggrandizement. How delusional does this guy have to be to imagine himself the hero of every situation he's in, to the point that he has to frame himself as a white knight on regulating packet shaping over the Internet?

Latino media expect ad windfall from presidential race

"We are significant players in the battleground states," said Philip Wilkinson, chief operating officer of Entravision Communications Corp., owner of 51 Spanish-language television stations. "Presidential campaign advertising should come at the end of August, and then I think it's going to come fast and furious." Spanish-language broadcasters in the US project their political advertising sales will soar this year as the presidential candidates woo Latinos in states that have a chance to tip the election. Latinos make up 12% to 37% of the electorate in Colorado, Florida, New Mexico and Nevada, four of the six states that President Bush carried by five points or less in 2004, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, a Washington research group. Entravision has 22 stations in those four states. Entravision's political ad sales will double to $12 million from the last presidential cycle, said Lloyd Walmsley, an analyst in San Francisco with Thomas Weisel Partners. Univision, the largest U.S. Spanish-language broadcaster, has five TV stations in Colorado, Florida and New Mexico, among a total of 63. Univision expects to take in as much as $20 million in political ads in the second half of 2008, Chief Financial Officer Andrew Hobson said. That would represent a full-year gain of as much as 78% from 2004.

Wireless carriers taking longer to answer customer service calls

According to a J.D. Power & Associates study released Thursday, the average wait time customers endured before being connected to representatives at their wireless phone companies in early 2008 was 4.4 minutes, up 34% from the none-too-brief 3.3 minutes they waited in 2003. The study tracked wireless carrier customer care in three areas: calls to customer service, visits to a store and questions via the Internet. Nearly half of all wireless customers contacted customer service within the last year, according to the study, and 75% of these customers did so by phone.

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