August 22, 2008 (Is this as good as broadband competition gets?)
"The [broadband] market is as competitive as it is ever going to be, as far as we can see. And it could become less competitive."
-- Blair Levin, Stifel Nicolaus
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY AUGUST 23, 2008
Headlines is going on a break (see ya in Kansas City). We will return TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 2. You may see updates from us if you visit http://www.benton.org/headlines, but no e-mail until after Labor Day.
FCC Open Meeting Today
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
The Federal Communications Commission is scheduled to meet this morning AT 10 AM (eastern), but strike from the agenda consideration of 1) roaming fees and 2) new cable television must carry rules (which have already been adopted). The FCC will consider just one item -- on implementing the New and Emerging Technologies 911 Improvement Act of 2008. Everyone is free to leave Washington directly after the meeting. (Or watch it online at http://www.fcc.gov/realaudio/)
http://benton.org/node/16317
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Russia Prevailed on the Ground, but Not in the Media
ELECTIONS & MEDIA
Campaign Advertising Scorecard
Media and Democracy in America Today: A Reform Plan for a New Administration
Levin: ubiquitous, affordable broadband will be a priority for an Obama administration
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Comcast: No new traffic management plan yet
Broadband competition: Is this as good as it gets?
Kennard: FCC on Shaky Ground in Comcast Decision
CABLE/BROADCASTING
Martin: High Cable Prices Consumers' Biggest Problem
FCC Proposes Limiting Wireless Microphones
"This" Is Our Digital Future?
McDowell to Alaska
WIRELESS
Verizon, Google Close To Mobile Search Deal
NY comptroller: ditch $2 billion wireless network
Texting while driving? California Senate says 'GTG'
Sacramento City Council cancels contract for free Wi-Fi network project
MEDIA OWNERSHIP
Disney's rights to young Mickey Mouse may be wrong
CHILDREN & MEDIA
Cigarettes in movies seen to cause teen smoking
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Russia Prevailed on the Ground, but Not in the Media
RUSSIA PREVAILED ON THE GROUND, BUT NOT IN THE MEDIA
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Clifford Levy]
The Kremlin's tight grip on the media in recent years has been readily evident during the conflict in Georgia, right down to the way the television news has presented the Georgian leader's speeches. His voice is dubbed in a shrill Russian intended to suggest a tin-pot despot who has maniacally plunged the region into crisis. Yet for all the government's success at managing the news in Russia, it has seemed ill prepared to press its case internationally. It failed to grasp that the same figure it was mocking on its channels, President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia, was using his fluency in English to dominate coverage in the rest of the world. And the Russians were nowhere, at least early on. It is not just Russia's overall image that is at stake. Russia and Georgia have sought to convince the world that the other side is responsible for starting the conflict, committing atrocities and failing to abide by the cease-fire. While international observers will weigh in on many of these questions, the crisis is also being adjudicated in the court of public opinion, especially in Europe, which has become an arbiter between Washington and Moscow as tensions have grown.
http://benton.org/node/16324
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ELECTIONS & MEDIA
CAMPAIGN ADVERTISING SCORECARD
[SOURCE: Nielsen Company]
In advance of the national conventions, the Nielsen Company released an overview of the presidential campaign so far this summer, providing a closer look at the candidates' online presence and buzz, their advertising campaigns, as well as TV viewership for past political conventions. Among the key findings: 1) Online Audience and Videos Viewed: In July 2008 the number of video streams on JohnMcCain.com more than doubled, possibly due to press coverage around Sen John McCain's ad that compared Sen Barack Obama to Paris Hilton. Despite being behind in total video streams in July, BarackObama.com's unique audience was twice as large as JohnMcCain.com's in both June and July 2008. 2) Top Blogs: The Huffington Post blog includes the most mentions of both Barack Obama and John McCain (June thru Aug 17), while Sen Obama maintains the lead in overall buzz volume on blogs and message boards. 3) Advertising Online: In July, the "Obama for America" image-based online advertising campaign was five times bigger than the previous month -- 417 million impressions in July 2008 vs. 80 million online impressions in June 2008. 4) Top States for TV Advertising: During June and July 2008, both Sens Obama and McCain targeted their local TV spots at key battleground states including Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
http://benton.org/node/16316
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MEDIA AND DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA TODAY: A REFORM PLAN FOR A NEW ADMINISTRATION
[SOURCE: Common Cause]
This new report lays out a plan of action for the next President and Congress to take to ensure the media performs its appropriate role in our democracy. Recommendations focus on protecting the democratic nature of the Internet, supporting community media, increasing diversity of media ownership and improving the digital TV transition process. Common Cause wants it to push for an overhaul of the Telecommunications Act of 1991 with an eye toward "a new focus on promoting diversity and true competition and preventing consolidation." The group also wants the government to mandate three hours per week of civic or electoral programming, as it does for educational children's programming, and to be more specific about what broadcasters' public-interest obligations are, particularly now that the digital-TV transition is opening up more spectrum for broadcaster use. The platform also includes free airtime for candidates; more specific policies for helping women and minorities to own more media outlets; network-neutrality legislation; a more securely funded and transparently nonpartisan public-broadcasting system; and a raft of DTV-transition-related proposals from more funding to more education. "The American public needs diverse sources of news if we are to be able to be educated participants in our democracy," http://benton.org/node/16315
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LEVIN: UBIQUITOUS, AFFORDABLE BROADBAND WILL BE A PRIORITY FOR AN OBAMA ADMINISTRATION
[SOURCE: TelephonyOnline, AUTHOR: Ed Gubbins]
Blair Levin, an analyst with Stifel Nicolaus and former Federal Communications Commission staffer, is rumored to be a potential candidate for an FCC appointment should Barack Obama win the presidency. He said ubiquitous, affordable broadband will be a priority for an Obama administration and Obama's FCC would likely be charged to move very quickly on that agenda. Asked what exactly might constitute "broadband" in that context, Levin said defining the term will be an "interesting challenge" for policymakers because broadband is "constantly evolving." "I think there's a growing consensus that universal service, as it is today, ought to [allow one to] be capable of doing Web-surfing, VoIP, information gathering -- those kinds of things. And we want that to be available in roughly 100% of the country. And we'd like to achieve penetration rates similar to what we've achieved in voice. How do you do that? There are lots of uncertainties and lots of reasonable debate." "Here's the way I think service providers will think about it," he continued. "What is the level of support -- what is the speed which qualifies you that I can achieve but disqualifies some of my potential competitors? In other words, if you can achieve 3m, but your wireless guys are never going to get there, you want that to be, in order to qualify, you want that to be the level."
http://benton.org/node/16314
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
COMCAST: NO NEW TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT PLAN YET
[SOURCE: InfoWorld, AUTHOR: Grant Gross]
Comcast has made no final decisions on how to manage network congestion, despite news reports Wednesday that it will slow traffic for heavy users for up to 20 minutes during times of peak network use. Asked why Comcast doesn't slow all users' traffic during times of congestion, Douglas said it's not fair to subscribers who aren't clogging up the pipes. "It's the heaviest of users that are directly contributing to the degradation of the service for the other people on the network," he said. "It's an interesting reflection on the claim that there is a free market for broadband," said Art Brodsky, a spokesman for Public Knowledge. "If there was competition, could you slow down your best customers?"
http://benton.org/node/16313
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BROADBAND COMPETITION: IS THIS AS GOOD AS IT GETS?
[SOURCE: TelephonyOnline, AUTHOR: Ed Gubbins]
Competition in the broadband space is currently about as good as it's going to get for the foreseeable future, and could even backslide, according to Blair Levin, an analyst with Stifel Nicolaus. "Prospects for the long-heralded 'third pipe' appear dim and dimming," Levin said, referring to the notion of a hypothetical major competitor to both telco and cable companies. "In terms of wireless and broadband buildouts, there's unlikely to be another new national buildout, other than Clearwire, in the foreseeable future," Levin said. At times, municipalities and utility energy providers have been proposed as possible providers of a 'third pipe.' But energy firms retreated en masse from dalliances in telecom during the industry's bubble correction shortly after the turn of the century, and broadband-over-powerline technology has thus far failed to take off. Municipal broadband efforts, meanwhile, have met with mixed results. "There's not that much left to be disruptive," Levin continued. "White spaces could be in rural areas, and a little bit in broadband, but I don't think so. Other things that people are looking to be disruptive I don't think will happen." At the same time, Levin said 4G wireless rollouts in 2010 or 2012 could represent a significant change in the competitive landscape. "That is a far more significant competitive threat than I think people realize," he said, adding that, for wireline providers feeling the sting of wireless substitution, "The worst ... is yet to come."
http://benton.org/node/16312
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KENNARD: FCC ON SHAKY GROUND IN COMCAST DECISION
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Former Federal Communications Commission Chairman and current Obama advisor William Kennard will appear Saturday on C-SPAN's The Communications. He said, speaking as a former FCC general counsel, that if Comcast wants to take the Commission to court over its decision to find the company in violation of its Internet open-access guidelines, it has a "compelling case." While the FCC has said that it has authority to enforce the guidelines, Kennard said that assertion does not necessarily make it so. He said the FCC's jurisdictional basis for the decision is "murky," which is why he, and Sen Obama, favor legislation mandating network neutrality. "Legislation would make it clear to not only network carriers but also the public that network neutrality is enshrined in law, that the FCC has jurisdiction and that it is not going to be subject to years of litigation," he added.
http://benton.org/node/16323
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CABLE/BROADCASTING
MARTIN: HIGH CABLE PRICES CONSUMERS' BIGGEST PROBLEM
[SOURCE: ABC, AUTHOR: Elisabeth Leamy, Vanessa Weber]
The single biggest problem facing consumers in the world of technology is the high cost of cable television, according to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin. "The average family has very little choice as to what channels are included, yet they're having to pay more and more for those same channels," said Chairman Kevin Martin. Martin said subscribers should have more choice for the amount of money they spend. Currently, American cable customers pay an average of about $60 a month, but people watch only about 15 channels, according to Joel Kelsey, a policy analyst with Consumers Union.
http://benton.org/node/16311
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FCC PROPOSES LIMITING WIRELESS MICROPHONES
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
In a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Order released Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission proposed prohibiting low power auxiliary stations, including wireless microphones, to operate in the 700 MHz Band after the end of the digital television transition on February 17, 2009. The Notice also proposes that the FCC prohibit the manufacture, import, sale, or shipment of devices that operate as low power auxiliary stations in the 700 MHz Band after the end of the DTV transition. These actions would ensure that low power auxiliary operations do not cause harmful interference to new public safety and commercial wireless services in the band. Low power auxiliary stations are authorized for such uses as wireless microphones, cue and control communications, and synchronization of TV camera signals. Of the 943 active low power auxiliary station licenses, 156 are currently authorized to operate in the 700 MHz Band. Of those 156 licenses, most are authorized to operate in other spectrum bands as well, and only 30 are authorized to operate only in the 614-806 MHz band, of which the 700 MHz Band is a part. After the end of the DTV transition, low power auxiliary stations would be able to continue operating in additional spectrum bands that allow such operations on a secondary basis, including certain broadcast television channels below 700 MHz. The Order also imposed a freeze, effective upon release of the Order, on the filing of new applications for low power auxiliary station license that seek to operate on any 700 MHz Band frequencies after February 17, 2009. The Order imposed a freeze on granting any equipment authorization requests for low power auxiliary station devices that would operate in any of the 700 MHz Band frequencies. The FCC will hold in abeyance, until the conclusion of this proceeding, any pending license applications and equipment authorization requests that involve operation on frequencies in the 700 MHz Band after the end of the DTV transition.
http://benton.org/node/16310
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"THIS" IS OUR DIGITAL FUTURE?
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Charles Benton]
[Commentary] Chicago has a rich media history, having been the center of the emerging broadcast industry in the early 1920's, home to the first radio station to broadcast the World Series, the "Chicago School of Television," and the city that pioneered the daytime-talk show format. Chicago has been an innovator and provider of high-quality content when new capacity demands new content. The question now is: As broadcast television migrates toward digital technology is Chicago media situated to be an innovative leader again? Unfortunately, the answer is "no."
http://benton.org/node/16304
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MCDOWELL TO ALASKA
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
Federal Communications Commission member Robert McDowell announced he will visit Anchorage and Fairbanks (Alaska) as part of the Commission's digital television awareness tour after the FCC's Office of General Counsel determined that Outer Mongolia is not, in fact, under FCC jurisdiction. Commissioner McDowell will be playing the Anchorage Senior Center Sullivan Room on Wednesday and the Fairbanks Public Library on Thursday. These visits are part of an extensive nationwide initiative the Commission has launched to increase awareness about the upcoming transition to digital television. (Mongolia's DTV transition has been delayed to 2050.)
http://benton.org/node/16318
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WIRELESS
VERIZON, GOOGLE CLOSE TO MOBILE SEARCH DEAL
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Amol Sharma]
Verizon, the 2nd largest wireless carrier in the US, is nearing an agreement with Google, the universes biggest search engine, on a wide-ranging partnership which would make Google the default search provider on Verizon devices and give it a share of ad revenue. The deal is aimed at dramatically simplifying what is now a confusing set of search options for cellphone users. Today, users have to go to different places to look up services such as ringtones, restaurants and Web pages. Verizon wants to create a new search platform that would be a one-stop shop. The deal isn't yet final and the two sides are still negotiating on key issues, such as Google's desire to save information from user cellphone searches. Carriers prize such information and are reluctant to turn it over.
http://benton.org/node/16322
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NY COMPTROLLER: DITCH $2 BILLION WIRELESS NETWORK
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Sinead Carew]
New York should ditch a $2 billion plan for a statewide wireless network for emergency workers unless a Tyco Electronics Ltd unit can fix the already-delayed system's problems, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said on Thursday. The plan was created to improve communications between emergency first responders such as police and firefighters after the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001. But New York's biggest-ever technology contract, awarded to Tyco Electronics unit M/A-COM in 2005, is a year and a half behind schedule and has suffered from technology problems found in a system audit.
http://benton.org/node/16320
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TEXTING WHILE DRIVING? CALIFORNIA SENATE SAYS 'GTG'
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Patrick McGreevy]
Trying to keep pace with advances in technology, a divided state Senate approved a measure Thursday that would outlaw text messaging by motorists in California. The bill was approved on a 25-14 vote, with heavy opposition from Republicans who see the legislation as unnecessary interference in personal behavior. Only two Republicans voted for the measure. Violators of the law would face a potential $20 fine for a first offense and $50 for each subsequent offense. The bill prohibits driving any motor vehicle while "using an electronic wireless communications device to write, send, or read a text-based communication," which includes e-mails. If signed into law, the measure would take effect Jan. 1.
http://benton.org/node/16319
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Sacramento City Council cancels contract for free Wi-Fi network project
SACRAMENTO CITY COUNCIL CANCELS CONTRACT FOR FREE WI-FI NETWORK PROJECT
[SOURCE: Sacramento Bee, AUTHOR: Ryan Lillis]
On Tuesday, the Sacramento City Council voted to terminate a contract with a technology group that planned to blanket the city with a free wireless network. That tech consortium -- Sacramento Metro Connect -- was never able to come up with the money to set up the network, according to a city staff report. City officials said no public money was lost, and that only staff time was spent working on the failed deal, which was originally signed in June 2007.
http://benton.org/node/16306
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MEDIA OWNERSHIP
DISNEY'S RIGHTS TO YOUNG MICKEY MOUSE MAY BE WRONG
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Joseph Menn]
As Mickey turns 80 this fall, the most beloved rodent in show business is widely regarded as a national treasure. But he is owned lock, stock and trademark ears by the corporate heirs of his genius creator, Walt Disney. Brand experts reckon his value to today's Walt Disney empire at more than $3 billion. Acts of Congress have extended Mickey's copyright so long that they provoked a Supreme Court challenge, making Mickey the ultimate symbol of intellectual property. All signs pointed to a Hollywood ending with Disney and Mickey Mouse living happily ever after -- at least until a grumpy former employee looked closely at fine print long forgotten in company archives. Film credits from the 1920s revealed imprecision in copyright claims that some experts say could invalidate Disney's long-held copyright, though a Disney lawyer dismissed that idea as "frivolous." But is it possible that Mickey Mouse now belongs to the world -- and that his likeness is usable by anybody for anything?
http://benton.org/node/16321
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CHILDREN & MEDIA
CIGARETTES IN MOVIES SEEN TO CAUSE TEEN SMOKING
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Julie Steenhuysen]
Tobacco promotions and depictions of smoking in movies cause teenagers to start smoking, according to a sweeping report on tobacco in the media. The report by the National Cancer Institute found the tobacco industry spent more than $13 billion on smoking-related advertising and promotion in 2005. These efforts boosted overall tobacco use, contradicting industry claims that they are intended to build brand loyalty. The report found that even brief exposure to advertising influences adolescent attitudes. Three-quarters or more of hit movies depict cigarette smoking, and specific brands can be identified in about one-third. But the report found that mass media campaigns aimed at reducing smoking do work, especially when combined with other tobacco-control strategies. Health experts at the news conference called for much more money for such media efforts. They said 1969 legislation banning smoking advertising in broadcast media and other curbs, have led tobacco companies to shift marketing tactics. Price discount promotions, which accounted for 75 percent of total tobacco marketing expenditures in 2005, have proved to be highly effective.
http://benton.org/node/16307
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Happy Birthday, Andrea!