Sept 9, 2008 (What happened in Wilmington?)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 9, 2008
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DIGITAL TELEVISION
Wilmington Crosses the Digital Divide
Getting a clearer picture of challenges in digital TV rollout
Call Centers Buzzing in Wilmington
Stations Need To Boost DTV Ed Scores
FCC NEWS
FCC Announces Tentative Agenda for Sept 25 Open Meeting
Senators To Martin: Avoid A La Carte Mandates
ELECTIONS & MEDIA
The Palin Phenomenon
Hiding Sarah Palin behind 'deference'
McCain Powered Up Online Ad Spending in August
Convention Speeches May Define Parties' TV Ad Strategies
Think Obama and McCain really care about tech? Yeah, right
Media Bias? Not if This Web Site Can Help It
DIGITAL CONTENT
Internet-fueled Panic Rocks United Stock
Google to Re-Publish 244 Years of Newspaper Articles?
NBC Universal in pact for Google to sell its TV ads
DIGITAL DIVIDE
The US Closes the Mobile Innovation Gap
Start-Up Seeks to Link 3 Billion to Net
COMPETITION & MONOPOLY
Justice Department Issues Report on Antitrust Monopoly Law
Justice's Monopoly Guidelines Assailed
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Court to Rule on Thai Leader's TV Role
DIGITAL TELEVISION
WILMINGTON CROSSES THE DIGITAL DIVIDE
[SOURCE: tvnewsday, AUTHOR: Jim Barthold]
On Monday, Sept 8 at 12 noon, Wilmington North Carolina's commercial broadcasters turned off their analog transmissions and broadcast digital signals only. The Wilmington analog cut-off is an experimental first step toward the national transition to digital that it set for Feb. 17, 2009, just 162 days from today. The Federal Communications Commission and broadcasters are eager to learn what impact the DTV will have on the public. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin was on hand in Wilmington along with Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo to flip the ceremonial switch on analog TV - -actually a prop eight-foot-high light switch. "Wilmington ... has transitioned to DTV," said Hank Price, president, North Carolina Association of Broadcasters, after the switch was moved to the on position. "North Carolina ... First in flight; now first in digital." "You are actually writing the playbook for the rest of America," said FCC Commissioner Michael Copps, speaking during the pre-switch proceedings.
http://benton.org/node/16650
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GETTING A CLEARER PICTURE OF CHALLENGES IN DIGITAL TV ROLLOUT
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Jim Puzzanghera]
The Federal Communications Commission said Monday that it has already learned from Wilmington's apparently successful transition about how to reach vulnerable groups that depend on free over-the-air TV. "The success of Wilmington is not what happens at 12 noon today when we flip the switch," FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin told a festive gathering at City Hall awaiting what's been dubbed here The Big Switch. "The measure of success . . . is what's going to happen next February and what we're going to be able to learn from what occurs here in Wilmington that we can take around the country." The FCC plans to analyze the results of the test and report to lawmakers this month.
http://benton.org/node/16670
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CALL CENTERS BUZZING IN WILMINGTON
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Michael Malone]
NBC affiliate WECT-TV Wilmington (NC) may win the prize for most upset viewers on day one of the transition to digital-only broadcasting. Raycom Media's WECT had 82 calls by 5:30 p.m. General manager Gary McNair, who told B&C a few weeks back that he'd be "completely surprised" if the shutdown wasn't a slam-dunk, said the bulk of them were probably viewers who lived close to the station's analog transmitter, which is no longer functioning. He was surprised to hear the number of callers to the various call centers, but he was confident that the kinks would work out over time. Louis Signals, the Federal Communications Commission's program manager for the Wilmington test, had no comment on the volume of calls, saying that those numbers were being collected back in Washington.
http://benton.org/node/16669
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STATIONS NEED TO BOOST DTV ED SCORES
[SOURCE: tvnewsday, AUTHOR: Arthur Greenwald]
[Commentary] According to the latest National Association of Broadcasters survey, 90 percent of U.S. households are "aware that broadcast television signals and programming will switch to a digital format on Feb 17, 2009." The NAB's press release calls that "near-universal awareness." But even if viewer awareness swells to 95 percent by February 2009, that still leaves 5 percent of viewers. Now from this clueless remainder, let's subtract a generous 85 percent to cover those connected to cable or satellite service. That still leaves 3/4 of 1 percent of broadcast TV's audience with no signal. In the 200th market, that translates to roughly 350 households with no picture. In the 100th market, over 2,200 households will go dark. In market number 10, over 15,000 households will lose their signal. And each of those households equals at least one angry phone call. And those folks may be the least of broadcasters' problems. Awareness, after all, is just the first step towards understanding. Altogether, that "tiny" fraction of the audience could devour 100 percent of your staff time for weeks and weeks. The public relations migraine will last even longer, as broadcasters take a predictable pounding at the hands of opportunistic members of Congress -- egged on by critical cable and satellite ads. Wouldn't it be better to minimize this abuse and even make some money doing it?
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FCC NEWS
FCC ANNOUNCES TENTATIVE AGENDA FOR SEPTEMBER 25TH OPEN MEETING
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin has circulated a number of items for consideration by his fellow FCC Commissioners as part of the tentative agenda for the next open meeting scheduled for Thursday, September 25, 2008. Items include: 1) Public Safety Airwaves (D-Block/700 MHz Auction) - A Third Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking addressing the D Block and a nationwide interoperable broadband public safety network in the 700 MHz Band. 2) Video Relay Service (DVRS) - Addresses a request for limited waiver of interim emergency call handling rules that would enable DVRS providers to give emergency response authorities the caller's 10-digit callback number, before the new emergency call handling rules take effect on December 31, 2008.
http://benton.org/node/16667
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SENATORS TO MARTIN: AVOID A LA CARTE MANDATES
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), Sen Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and Sen Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) wrote Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin on Monday trying to persuade him to focus on the digital television transition instead of his battles with the cable television industry. The said the FCC's overriding mission, through actions undertaken by its Media Bureau, was a smooth DTV transition scheduled for Feb 17, 2009. "Pursuing contentious policy initiatives, such as the unbundling of wholesale subscription television channels, would divert attention of the bureau at this critical time," Chairman Inouye said. In their letter, the senators said the FCC's focus on the TV transition was vital because not all stations were ready to shut off their analog transmitters and because "too many consumers" were totally unaware of the DTV transition or were uncertain about how many digital-to-analog converter boxes they would need. "We find these facts troubling," the senators concluded. "In order to ensure both broadcaster and consumer readiness, we suggest that in the months ahead you focus the FCC Media Bureau's resources on managing the switch from analog to digital signals."
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ELECTIONS & MEDIA
THE PALIN PHENOMENON
[SOURCE: Project for Excellence in Journalism, AUTHOR: Mark Jurkowitz]
For the first time in the three months since the general election campaign began, Sen John McCain last week generated more coverage than Sen Barack Obama. But he was still outshone by another newsmaker during the GOP convention -- his own running mate. Gov Sarah Palin, the first woman on a Republican ticket, was the focus of feverish attention as the media tried to find out more about her, convey her record and biography, and calculate her impact on the race. For the week of Sept. 1-7, Gov Palin was a significant or dominant factor in 60% of the campaign stories, according to the Campaign Coverage Index from the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. Sen McCain was fairly close behind, a significant or dominant factor in 52% of the stories. Put another way, Gov Palin enjoyed more coverage as a VP candidate during the GOP convention than Sen Obama did a week earlier when he became the first person of color to accept the nomination for president of a major party.
http://benton.org/node/16665
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HIDING SARAH PALIN BEHIND 'DEFERENCE'
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: James Rainey]
[Commentary] John McCain's campaign essentially confirmed over the weekend what some had suspected: Media access to Sarah Palin, would-be vice president of the United States, will be tightly controlled. Troublemakers need not apply. And how will we know those troublemakers? They will be the ones unwilling to treat the governor of Alaska with what campaign manager Rick Davis called "some level of respect and deference." Deference? The dictionary definitions I find begin with "respectful submission" and "yielding." It would be wrong -- maybe even sexist -- to suggest that Sarah Barracuda is too meek for a little back-and-forth with the denizens of the Fourth Estate. The McCain-Palin camp can only play hide-the-candidate for so long before they'll look like they don't think their vice presidential pick is ready to lead on Day One.
http://benton.org/node/16664
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MCCAIN POWERED UP ONLINE AD SPENDING IN AUGUST
[SOURCE: TVWeek, AUTHOR: Daisy Whitney]
With cash that needed to be burned, Sen John McCain (R-AZ) amped up his Web video advertising in August while Sen Barack Obama (D-IL) decreased his online ad spend, according to data released today from Nielsen Online. Sen McCain increased his "image-based" impression by 254% over the prior month while his sponsored search links rose by 43%. Meanwhile, Sen Obama decreased the number of image-based impressions by 48% and sponsored links by 18%. Nielsen did not cite a reason for the change. Meanwhile, as Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is generating the headlines, online buzz remains focused on the candidates, Nielsen said. Sen Obama has a slight lead when it comes to online consumer discussion, followed by Sen McCain, then Gov Palin, then Sen Hillary Clinton.
http://benton.org/node/16663
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CONVENTION SPEECHES MAY DEFINE PARTIES' TV AD STRATEGIES
[SOURCE: TVWeek, AUTHOR: Ira Teinowitz]
The Republican and Democratic national political conventions may foreshadow the two parties' approach to television advertising in the eight weeks running up to the election. For the GOP, it's likely to be about the candidates. The Democrats are more likely to advertise their policy positions. Political consultants last week suggested it won't take long to see those messages translate into competing ads from each party. They expected those spots to break over the weekend following the Republican gathering. Those messages are expected to carry over into ads for Senate and Congress races, which are expected to roll out starting this week.
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THINK OBAMA AND MCCAIN REALLY CARE ABOUT TECH? YEAH, RIGHT
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Charles Cooper]
[Commentary] You might think the Democrats and Republicans are eager to raise the banner on behalf of their friends in Silicon Valley. The assumption is that the two major parties will cater accordingly. After all, the industry has so much money to spend and all those political action committees, and they naturally want to get their rightful share. Right? Not so fast. Sure, the Democrats and Republicans are eager to court deep-pocketed donors. But the power broker image exists more in the minds of the people living between San Jose and San Francisco than it does with the movers and shakers guiding the Obama and McCain campaigns. With the candidates hitting the road after the wrap-up of the political conventions, this much is certain: The resolution of policy issues like Net neutrality may be near and dear to folks from the likes of Cisco and Google. But neither Barack Obama nor John McCain plans to give impassioned speeches urging passage or rejection of this, or other pieces of, tech-related legislation over the next couple of months.
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MEDIA BIAS? NOT IF THIS WEB SITE CAN HELP
[SOURCE: BusinessWeek, AUTHOR: Jon Fine]
In a development that could titillate political partisans of all stripes, a new Web application promising to spot bias in news stories will launch on Monday, Sept. 8, just as this ferociously contested election season shifts into high gear. A beta version of SpinSpotter, initially accessible only through the Firefox browser, goes live at spinspotter.com on Sept. 8, as does a downloadable toolbar application the company call Spinoculars. When turned on in a user's Web browser's toolbar, Spinoculars scans Web pages and spots certain potential indicators of bias. The toolbar also will allow its users to flag phrases in news stories and opine on those called out by other Spinspotter users. The application's algorithms work off six key tenets of spin and bias, which the company derived from both the guidelines of the Society of Professional Journalists' Code Of Ethics and input from an advisory board composed of journalism luminaries. The tenets are: reporter's voice (adjectives used by a journalist that go beyond the supporting evidence in the article); passive voice (example: a story says "bombs land" without stating which party is responsible for them); a biased source (a quoted source's partisanship is not clearly identified); disregarded context (a political rally's attendance is reported to be "massive," but would it have been so huge had the surviving members of the Beatles not played?); and lack of balance (a news story on a controversial topic gives much more credence to one side's claims).
http://benton.org/node/16660
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DIGITAL CONTENT
INTERNET-FUELED PANIC ROCKS UNITED STOCK
[SOURCE: Chicago Tribune, AUTHOR: David Greising]
A nearly- 6-year-old article circulating on the Internet as breaking news caused a brief 75 percent drop in United's stock Monday, highlighting a potential peril about how information travels in the modern world. The steep sell-off in United's shares came after a news service in Florida distributed an old story posted on the South Florida Sun Sentinel Web site six years ago. The story was distributed by Income Securities Advisors to a market information site operated by Bloomberg. The story made it appear that United had filed for bankrupcy protection again. The original story was first published by the Chicago tribune on Dec 10, 2002. Tribune Co., the owner of the Sun-Sentinel, initially pointed a finger at Google, saying it appeared that the search engine highlighted the story out of the Sun-Sentinel's archives over the weekend, which generated traffic and caused the newspaper's computer to move the story to a page of most-viewed articles. But Google said the only reason its search engine "crawler" bothered with the story was that it was listed on the Sun-Sentinel page of most-viewed stories -- and with the weekend date on it, instead of the 2002 date. To the crawler, "it was a new item that said, 'Hey, look here,' " Google spokesman Gabriel Stricker said.
http://benton.org/node/16659
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GOOGLE TO RE-PUBLISH 244 YEARS OF NEWSPAPER ARTICLES?
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: ]
Google Inc. is trying to expand the newspaper section of its online library to include billions of articles published during the past 244 years, hoping the added attraction will lure even more traffic to its leading Internet search engine. The project announced Monday extends Google's crusade to make digital copies of content created before the Internet's advent, so the information can become more accessible and, ultimately, Google can make more money from ads shown on its Web site. As part of the latest initiative, Google will foot the bill to copy the archives of any newspaper publisher willing to permit the stories to be shown for free on Google's Web site. Google is touting the program as a way to give people an easier way to find a rich vein of history. The initiative also is designed to provide a financial boost to newspaper publishers as they try to offset declining revenue from print editions that are losing readers and advertisers to online news sources.
http://benton.org/node/16658
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NBC UNIVERSAL IN PACT FOR GOOGLE TO SELL ITS TV ADS
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Paul Thomasch, Eric Auchard]
NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co, is teaming up with Google Inc on a multi-year partnership in which Google will act as a broker to sell TV advertising on some NBC cable channels. In a joint statement, the two companies said NBC Universal will offer advertising time from several of its cable networks for Google to sell advertising through its Google TV Ads service. The deal, set to go into effect in coming months, covers advertising inventory on Sci Fi, Oxygen, MSNBC, CNBC, Sleuth, and Chiller, with more NBC Universal channels possible in the future.
http://benton.org/node/16657
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DIGITAL DIVIDE
THE US CLOSES THE MOBILE INNOVATION GAP
[SOURCE: BusinessWeek, AUTHOR: Olga Kharif]
The competitive balance is shifting. As the focus of the wireless world moves toward Internet communications, the U.S. strength in software, most notably at Google and Apple, is pushing the U.S. ahead as a laboratory for wireless development. American users are catching up, too. In the past year, the U.S. surpassed Western Europe in the number of subscribers to the high-speed networks known as 3G, according to consultancy comScore M:Metrics. "The industry needs to stop talking about the gap between the U.S. and Europe," says Kanishka Agarwal, vice-president of mobile media at Nielsen. "We have caught up, and we have already passed." The change has been dramatic. While a year ago 6% of Americans who bought phones purchased smartphones, capable of Web access and application downloads, their ranks rose to 16% in early 2008, according to consultancy Nielsen Mobile's survey of 70,000 U.S. wireless subscribers. Over the same time, in Western Europe, the jump in recent smartphone buyers was smaller, from 11% to 17%, according to Nielsen.
http://benton.org/node/16656
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START-UP SEEKS TO LINK 3 BILLION TO NET
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Christopher Rhoads]
An entrepreneur's quest to use satellites to bring high-speed Internet service to poor, remote countries is nearing liftoff with a major investment from some big names, including Google. On Tuesday, O3b Networks Ltd., founded and run by 38-year-old telecommunications entrepreneur Greg Wyler, is expected to announce plans to launch as many as 16 satellites that could provide service to Africa, the Middle East and parts of Latin America by the end of 2010. While most of the world's estimated 1.5 billion Internet users reside in developed countries, telecom companies are looking at fast growth in areas like Africa and the Middle East, where the number is jumping by 50% or more each year. "This is about opening the Internet up to the other three billion people" on the planet, says Wyler. The idea of delivering Internet via satellite isn't new, but early projects were bedeviled by high costs and other problems. In the U.S., some companies offer services starting at about $60 a month. But customers have to be willing to spend a few hundred dollars on a satellite dish, and rainstorms can cut off connections.
http://benton.org/node/16655
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COMPETITION & MONOPOLY
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ISSUES REPORT ON ANTITRUST MONOPOLY LAW
[SOURCE: Department of Justice]
Not that the subject of monopoly would ever come up in a telecommunications policy discussion, but if it did, the Department of Justice issued a report informing consumers, businesses and policy makers about issues relating to monopolization offenses under the antitrust laws. The report, "Competition and Monopoly: Single-Firm Conduct Under Section 2 of the Sherman Act," examines whether and when specific types of single-firm conduct may or may not violate Section 2 of the Sherman Act by harming competition and consumer welfare. Section 2 of the Sherman Act prohibits a firm from illegally acquiring or maintaining a monopoly, meaning the ability to exclude competitors and profitably raise price significantly above competitive levels for a sustained period of time. Unlike antitrust laws that prohibit anticompetitive mergers or other agreements among firms, Section 2 particularly targets single-firm conduct, such as decisions regarding whether and on what terms to sell to or buy from others. Although possessing monopoly power is not unlawful, using an improper means to seek or maintain monopoly power is unlawful where it can harm competition and consumers. Members of the Federal Trade Commission were quick to say they do not endorse the report.
http://benton.org/node/16651
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JUSTICE'S MONOPOLY GUIDELINES ASSAILED
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Peter Whoriskey]
The Justice Department issued a report yesterday establishing how and when it will crack down on misbehaving monopolies, but its approach was immediately assailed as too lax and the work of an administration willing to allow big business to run roughshod over consumers. A bipartisan majority of the Federal Trade Commission characterized the report as "a blueprint for radically weakened enforcement" against monopolies that engage in predatory pricing and other illegal tactics. Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee's antitrust subcommittee, called the report an assault on the Sherman Act, the basis for much U.S. law on monopolies. The report comes as the Justice Department has faced criticism for failing to take a more aggressive stance to foster competition and protect consumers in antitrust matters. Notably, the Justice Department has allowed the mergers of the Whirlpool and Maytag appliance companies and of satellite radio providers XM and Sirius. The department is investigating a partnership of Google, the dominant provider of search advertising, and Yahoo, its nearest competitor in the field. Thomas O. Barnett, assistant attorney general in charge of the department's antitrust division, defended the legal outlook outlined in the report as being "pro-consumer" and a synthesis of commonly accepted legal standards.
http://benton.org/node/16654
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
COURT TO RULE ON THAI LEADER'S TV ROLE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Seth Mydans]
A court is scheduled to decide Tuesday whether Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej violated the Constitution when he appeared several times on a television cooking show, "Tasting and Complaining." Cabinet ministers are forbidden from working for private companies, and opponents brought the case against him in the hope that a conviction could force him to step down. "I have done nothing wrong," the prime minister told the Constitutional Court on Monday. "I was hired to appear on the program and got paid from time to time. I was not an employee of the company." A conviction for cooking could bring a quick and farcical end to Mr. Samak's confrontation with protesters who have blockaded his office for nearly two weeks, demanding his resignation. But it is unclear whether it would bring an end to the protests. Protest leaders say they are aiming for an overhaul of Thailand's political system.
http://benton.org/node/16653
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