BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 17, 2008
For upcoming media policy events, see http://benton.org/calendar
THE TRANSITION
Groups Differ on How to Pull Off Obama's Broadband Goal
Broadband: Not for Kids Only
Obama taps Arne Duncan for secretary of ED
'Tis the Season for Transition Meetings
Will FCC lighten up on indecency under Obama?
FCC Reform Expected On Obama's Agenda
Failure at the FCC
Privacy groups ask Obama for stronger FTC
E-Government Ball Already Rolling At Commerce
Wireless companies warn of US inauguration delays
JOURNALISM
News You Can Lose
How long can newspapers keep delivering the news?
Whom Do We Trust? Online News and Newspapers
Traditional News Sites Dominate, But The Small Can Survive
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Telstra gets the boot out of multi-billion Australia broadband project
Broadband Economics 101 - Focus on the economics, not the technology
NAI Overhauls Privacy Principles For Online BT Ads
FCC REFORM
Failure at the FCC
BROADCASTING/CABLE
Another DTV Opportunity Missed by the FCC
Cable Ops Agree To Short Digital Migration Freeze
FCC Gives 10 Stations More Time to Boost DTV Coverage Area
NAB To Launch National DTV Hotline
Boehner Voices Concern Over Eshoo's Fairness Doctrine Comments
Cable Gets Biggest Ratings' Lift From Time-Shifting: Nielsen
WIRELESS
Clearwire's WiMax Rollout Faces Steep Hurdles
Mobile phone market to shrink in 2009
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THE TRANSITION
GROUPS DIFFER ON HOW TO PULL OFF OBAMA'S BROADBAND GOAL
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
President-elect Barack Obama's call to bring high-speed Internet to all Americans has set off a scramble among service providers for a piece of the action. Building out networks to rural and underserved urban areas -- with possible help from the economic stimulus plan being crafted by Congress -- could create hundreds of thousands of jobs and enrich telecom, wireless and cable companies whose businesses have suffered as households tighten spending. Within the well-funded world of telecom lobbying, even fierce opponents are in rare agreement that Obama's plans to expand networks would boost the economy with jobs digging trenches for fiber lines and designing complex networks. But the interest groups differ on how that ambition should be executed, and that has sparked a race that one lobbyist calls a "telecom takefest." [much more at the URL below]
http://benton.org/node/19950
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BROADBAND: NOT FOR KIDS ONLY
[SOURCE: The Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Marty Kaplan]
[Commentary] President-elect Obama has singled out children as particularly in need of broadband access, but what about adults? It's parents who are being laid off and who need all the information they can get about job alternatives and emergency assistance. And it's parents and grandparents who need the Internet to participate in political movements, to pry information out of governments and hold officials accountable, to give voice to community concerns and give reach to minority views. Like it or not, broadband has become the spine of our economy and the glue of our society, and every American adult who can't easily get online is as disenfranchised as every kid who doesn't have access to broadband is disadvantaged.
http://benton.org/node/19942
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OBAMA TAPS ARNE DUNCAN FOR SECRETARY OF ED
[SOURCE: eSchool News, AUTHOR: ]
President-elect Barack Obama has picked fellow-Chicagoan Arne Duncan to be Secretary of Education. Duncan has served for the last seven years as CEO of the Chicago Public Schools. In 2004 Duncan launched a program called Renaissance 2010, which aims to open 100 new schools by 2010. In the program's first four years, 55 schools have opened, including a public school known as the Virtual Opportunities Inside a School Environment (VOISE). The school opened in the fall and touts the latest in education technology. VOISE students are given wireless-enabled laptops in the classroom and students without home access to a computer are provided with one. The school started with 150 freshmen, and Chicago education officials plan to increase enrollment by 150 each year until there are 600 VOISE students. Attendance and graduation rate have proven higher at Renaissance 2010 schools compared to other Chicago public schools. Students are also less likely to transfer out of the new, technology-focused Chicago schools, according to district statistics. [more at the URL below]
http://benton.org/node/19949
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'TIS THE SEASON FOR TRANSITION MEETINGS
[SOURCE: PublicKnowledge, AUTHOR: Gigi Sohn]
[Commentary] On Tuesday, individuals representing two dozen public interest organizations and foundations attended an intense and deeply substantive meeting with Federal Communications Commission Agency Review Team Co-Chairs Susan Crawford and Kevin Werbach, who were joined by Larry Strickling of the Presidential Transition Team. The topics ranged from improving access to broadband to spectrum reform, to Network Neutrality, to text messaging to how to improve the FCC's processes. A second meeting with Alec Ross of the Technology, Innovation and Government Reform Policy Working Group focused on "Public Media 2.0," with presentations by independent media and technology producers and distributors such as the Independent Television Service (ITVS), Public Radio Exchange and the National Public Lightpath Initiative. The groups urged the transition to think of public media as more than PBS and NPR, and to provide opportunities for more grassroots oriented public media.
http://benton.org/node/19948
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WILL FCC LIGHTEN UP UNDER OBAMA?
[SOURCE: MSNBC, AUTHOR: Michael Ventre]
For better or worse, the Federal Communications Commission has become best known during the eight years of the Bush Administration for a one-second glimpse of Janet Jackson's right breast. It represented an effort by the federal government to draw a clear line in the sand when it came to any type of obscenity over the public airwaves. But in January a Democratic administration under President-elect Barack Obama will take over, and many eyes will be on the FCC to see which direction it goes. Will it pursue strict or even stricter enforcement than the previous administration, or will it loosen the reins?
http://benton.org/node/19947
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FCC REFORM EXPECTED ON OBAMA'S AGENDA
[SOURCE: InfoWeek, AUTHOR: W. David Gardner]
Key industry players and public interest groups will discuss proposed Federal Communications Commission reforms in managing spectrum, Network Neutrality, and media ownership at a January conference. The event, to be held at the National Press Building in Washington, is sponsored by the public interest organization Public Knowledge and Silicon Flatirons, the University of Colorado's Center for Law, Technology, and Entrepreneurship. Silicon Flatirons asked rhetorically, "Is the Federal Communications Commission truly equipped to deal with immediate challenges that it will face? That question is being asked today by policymakers from Capitol Hill and around the country." Participants and speakers will include former FCC Chairmen Reed Hundt and William Kennard, Gigi Sohn, Public Knowledge president, and Professor Phil Weiser, executive director of the Silicon Flatirons Center. Other former FCC commissioners scheduled to participate include Kathleen Abernathy and Nick Johnson.
http://benton.org/node/19946
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FAILURE AT THE FCC
[SOURCE: Philadelphia Inquirer, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] Kevin Martin's reign of terror as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission can't end soon enough. Martin has abused his position of power to go after cable companies while treating telecommunications firms with kid gloves. While cable giants like Comcast are far from perfect, such uneven treatment makes it appear that Martin has other motives beyond the best interest of consumers.
http://benton.org/node/19939
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PRIVACY GROUPS ASK OBAMA FOR STRONGER FTC
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Stephanie Condon]
About a dozen leading privacy and consumer groups met with members of President-elect Barack Obama's transition team Tuesday to discuss the Federal Trade Commission's role in protecting consumer privacy. While participating organizations addressed a range of problems and potential solutions, the underlying message was clear: the FTC has for too long allowed industries to self-regulate their online privacy practices--to the detriment of consumers. "The FTC keeps moving the goal post on what privacy advocates need to prove" before it provides substantive regulation, said Chris Jay Hoofnagle, director of the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology's Information Privacy Programs. "The commission has taken this posture that allowed business interests to win by just showing up. Self-regulation in online privacy has gotten more than a fair shake." Hoofnagle took part in Tuesday's meeting, along with representatives from the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, the Consumer Federation of America, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Center for Digital Democracy, the World Privacy Forum, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, the Privacy Times, the Privacy Journal, the Consumers Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and U.S. PIRG, the federation of state Public Interest Research Groups. The groups met with Susan Ness and Phil Weiser, the FTC review team leaders for the Obama transition team.
http://benton.org/node/19945
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E-GOVERNMENT BALL ALREADY ROLLING AT COMMERCE
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: David Herbert]
The US Department of Commerce has long been viewed as a sprawling, almost ungovernable bureaucracy, but over the last few years it has seen significant advances in areas both small (online video) and large (the 2010 census). Sec Bill Richardson's challenge won't be starting from scratch, but maintaining the brisk pace of Web innovation already under way at the department. On his watch as governor, New Mexico has "done a reasonable job" of establishing a presence online, said Jane Hill, director of the New Mexico Internet Professionals Association, though she added that the state's telecommunications infrastructure is "lousy." Access to broadband service in the Land of Enchantment still lags behind the national average.
http://benton.org/node/19944
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WIRELESS COMPANIES WARN OF INAUGURATION DELAYS
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: ]
In case you are planning to use your phone to videostream the inauguration of President Barack Obama, the wireless industry is warning customers to expect delays and advising users to help keep the lines clear by texting instead of calling and snapping videos but not sending them right away. Mobile phone companies are bracing for a surge in capacity in wireless calls, texting and video sharing, with up to 4 million people expected in DC next month.
http://benton.org/node/19943
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JOURNALISM
NEWS YOU CAN LOSE
[SOURCE: The New Yorker, AUTHOR: James Surowiecki]
The perfect storm of readers and advertisers who are migrating away from print, added to a steep recession, is threatening to destroy newspapers as we know them. Papers now seem to be the equivalent of the railroads at the start of the twentieth century: a once-great business eclipsed by a new technology. But even as big papers have become less profitable they've become more popular. The blogosphere, which piggybacks on traditional journalism's content, has magnified the reach of newspapers. People use papers more than they did a decade ago. The difference is that today they don't have to pay for them. Because of that, we will soon see fewer newspapers in existence. Some big American cities will have no local newspaper. More importantly, we're sure to see a sharp decline in the volume and variety of content that newspapers collectively produce. In the near future, we're going to start getting what we pay for, "and we may find out just how little that is."
http://benton.org/node/19933
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HOW LONG CAN NEWSPAPERS KEEP DELIVERING THE NEWS?
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: James Rainey]
[Comentary] This might go down as the week that they took paper out of the newspaper business. Detroit's two daily newspapers announced Tuesday that they plan to reduce home delivery to just three days a week. The Detroit papers are gambling that these core readers will stick with them at least to receive the paper on Thursday, Friday and Sunday, the days it will still land on the doorstep. And the trade organization for newspaper editors scheduled an April vote on whether to drop "paper" from its name. The idea in both cases is to fully embrace the shift of many readers and advertisers to the Internet, where many news executives believe the business must stake its future, and to finally begin to break away from a 400-year-old delivery system. Bosses at the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News said they will save millions of dollars they would have spent to print and deliver their newspapers, which have been steadily losing circulation. Better to alter the delivery system, they argued, than to further cut the news staffs.
http://benton.org/node/19932
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WHOM DO WE TRUST? ONLINE NEWS AND NEWSPAPERS
[SOURCE: AdAge, AUTHOR: ]
A study by TNS finds that consumers don't trust personal blogs, but they trust the news they get online at least as much as what they read in newspapers. "It's heartening to see how well online users are able to gauge their media," said Don Ryan, VP-technology and media at TNS, in a statement describing the results. "Whether using new or traditional media, trust of the source of information is paramount. Online blogs clearly have no real accountability. Although they may be a great source of entertainment and a useful source of information and reviews, they are clearly highly subjective. The move of traditional news media into the online space has ensured that the trust of traditional media has spread into online-only sources, too." The web and newspapers, however, got the highest scores of any media included in the research. TV news has the trust of 33%, according to TNS. Product-comparison sites have the trust of 31%. And in a blow to those who believe the future of media lies in all news being available gratis, just 15% said they trust free newspapers.
http://benton.org/node/19931
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TRADITIONAL NEWS SITES DOMINATE, BUT THE SMALL CAN SURVIVE
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Mark Walsh]
More unwelcome news for The New York Times Co.: A new report suggests the embattled newspaper would have to increase page views sixfold on its Web site--roughly on par with msnbc.com and Yahoo News--in order to equal revenues on the print side. The analysis is part of a broader study on news and political sites by Lauren Rich Fine, director of research for ContentNext Media--which also found that traditional properties still dominate online news, with the exception of a few breakthroughs like The Huffington Post and Slate. Still, smaller sites can provide a decent living. "While being bigger helps attract larger advertisers, small works just fine," states the report. "Talking Points Memo is generating a good living for its founders and operating with a small staff."
http://benton.org/node/19930
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
TELSTRA GETS THE BOOT OUT OF MULTI-BILLION AUSTRALIA BROADBAND PROJECT
[SOURCE: FierceTelecom, AUTHOR: Doug Mohney]
Australia's newspapers are aflame over Telstra's disqualification for participation in the country's $6.7 to $10 billion (US) national broadband network project. Australia's broadband minister said Telstra has "excluded itself" from the RFP process for failing to respond to one of five mandatory requirements in the process, whereas other participating bidders managed to meet all the requirements and conditions for participation. Telstra reportedly submitted a light-on-details eight page document at the last minute that neglected to include a small-to-medium enterprise (SME) build-out plan. In comparison, other bidders have produced thousand page documents in response to the RFP. The multi-billion dollar project involves replacing copper with fiber for 98 percent of Australia's network; Telstra was believed to have an overwhelming advantage over its rivals, since it owns the central coffers where all the current copper comes from.
http://benton.org/node/19941
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BROADBAND ECONOMICS 101- FOCUS ON THE ECONOMICS, NOT THE TECHNOLOGY
[SOURCE: FierceWireless, AUTHOR: Andrew Seybold]
[Commentary] Some ideas and attempts to provide broadband for the 100 million people (33 percent of the US population) who either do not have access to broadband or cannot afford today's offerings are well meaning, but they miss the mark. Someone has to pay for free access. Someone has to pay for the infrastructure, the devices and connection to the Internet. For someone to invest the money for all this, there has to be a reasonable return on the investment, OR the investment has to be paid for from some other source such as the federal government or with tax incentives for those who build the system. I believe we can achieve the goal of broadband to everyone only if we put together a government/private partnership and only if this partnership works together to expand wired, cable, fiber, wireless, microwave, and satellite technologies in a way that makes sense for those who invest and for those who are underserved. It makes no sense to me to keep throwing out portions of the wireless spectrum and hoping someone will finally figure out an economic model to make it work. It would be far better to find a way to use some common spectrum and share the cost of deployment with all of the parties concerned. Those who say the U.S. is behind much of the world in broadband deployment are correct. But it is not because of technology. It is because of economics. Many countries where broadband is more widely available are making government/private partnerships work. Isn't it about time we focus on the real issue -- the economics -- rather than the technology?
http://benton.org/node/19940
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NAI OVERHAULS PRIVACY PRINCIPLES FOR ONLINE BT ADS
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Wendy Davis]
In the first major overhaul of its guidelines in eight years, the self-regulatory group Network Advertising Initiative issued new privacy principles for online behavioral advertising, or serving ads to people based on their Web history. The new code of conduct in many circumstances requires ad companies that target Web users anonymously--that is, without collecting names, addresses or other personal information--to notify users of the practice and allow them to opt out. Network Advertising Initiative members that serve ads based on so-called "sensitive" information--including social security numbers, financial account numbers, real-time geographic location and some types of medical data--must now first obtain users' explicit consent, even when the targeting is anonymous. In addition, member companies that use behavioral targeting techniques on children under age 13 must first obtain the verifiable consent of a parent. The blueprint also says that companies should not retain data longer than necessary. The revisions come almost one year after the Federal Trade Commission issued its own new proposed self-regulatory principles for behavioral targeting. The agency has yet to finalize those guidelines. The Center for Democracy and Technology says the NNI principles all short on several issues, leaving holes in consumer protection that must be plugged by federal privacy legislation. [more at the URL below]
http://benton.org/node/19929
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BROADCASTING/CABLE
ANOTHER DTV OPPORTUNITY MISSED BY THE FCC
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Charles Benton]
[Commentary] Last Friday, with about just two months left until the digital television (DTV) transition is completed, Sen Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Rep Henry Waxman (D-CA) sent Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin a letter asking him to confine his last FCC actions to smoothing the DTV transition and matters that "require action under the law." In response, Chairman Martin canceled the FCC's scheduled monthly meeting on December 18. That's a bad idea and another lost opportunity for digital television.
http://benton.org/node/19923
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CABLE OPS AGREE TO SORT DIGITAL MIGRATION FREEZE
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
In a letter to Congress Tuesday, National Cable & Telecommunications Association President Kyle McSlarrow announced an industry plan to stop moving nearly all channels from analog to digital tiers during the first two months of 2009 to minimize potential consumer confusion about the federally mandated shut off of over-the-air analog TV signals on Feb. 17, 2009. Under the NCTA plan, cable operators that still have an analog tier in service plan to offer a low-cost basic tier as a one-year promotion, probably something akin to Comcast's $10 a month basic tier offer to new subscribers for one year. Consumers need to sign up for NCTA's low-cost plan from Dec. 31, 2008 to June 30, 2009. NCTA's plan also addressed analog-only consumers who are upset about renting a digital box to see migrated channels. NCTA's cable operator members intend to offer subscribers one free device (set-top box or adapter) to view analog channels that have been moved to digital. The device is free for one year for analog-only consumers who request one from March 1, 2009 to June 30, 2009. The channel migration freeze will begin on Dec. 31. Exceptions to the freeze include cable operators that need to free up channels to comply with FCC rules that require carriage of some local TV stations in analog and digital after Feb. 17.
http://benton.org/node/19938
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FCC GIVES 10 STATIONS MORE TIME TO BOOST DTV COVERAGE AREA
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Federal Communications Commission has granted 10 stations more time to boost their digital television coverage area before satellite operators get to test the signals and potentially import similar signals into those TV stations' markets. The FCC permits satellite subscribers/companies to test TV station signal strength and import similar out-of-market TV stations to viewers who do not get a sufficiently strong signal from the in-market station. But during the DTV transition, the DTV signals of a number of stations are not yet at full strength or coverage for various reasons and the FCC has exempted them from the requirement since that would allow the importation of signals to viewers who will eventually be getting the relevant in-market station. The commission has said it would be flexible about such issues and work with stations making the DTV switch.
http://benton.org/node/19937
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NAB TO LAUNCH NATIONAL DTV HOTLINE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The National Association of Broadcasters says it will create a national hotline to answer calls from viewers during the upcoming digital transition, which it estimates to be at about 2 million for the five days following the Feb. 17 switch, with up to a million on Feb. 18. NAB also said Tuesday it is producing an educational DTV video that stations can loop and run on their analog channels after the transition. A just-passed DTV nightlight bill allows broadcasters to continue an analog signal for 30 days past the Feb. 17 date for DTV education or emergency information.
http://benton.org/node/19936
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BOEHNER VOICES CONCERN OVER ESHOO'S FAIRNESS DOCTRINE COMMENTS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
On Monday, Rep Anne Eshoo (D-CA) told the Palo Alto Daily Post, "I'll work on bringing [the Fairness Doctrine] back. I still believe in it," and adding that she would want it to apply to cable and satellite rather than just radio and TV. On Tuesday, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) responded, saying "The so-called 'Fairness Doctrine' would restrict free speech on the public airwaves, stifling dissent at a time when an open national dialogue about our country's future is essential. The American people do not believe the federal government should be in the business of dictating or restricting the content of political speech. I'm troubled by Rep. Eshoo's comments, and my hope is that President-elect Obama will speak out against efforts by members of his party to use their majority power to limit free speech and dissent." President-elect Obama has on more than one occasion let it be known that he opposed to the return of the doctrine, which required broadcasters to air both sides of controversial issues.
http://benton.org/node/19935
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CABLE GETS BIGGEST RATINGS' LIFT FROM TIME-SHIFTING: NIELSEN
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Linda Moss]
Nielsen ranked TV shows by percentage increase in household rating due to time-shifting and total gain in household audience due to time-shifted playback. Only 3 of the top ten shows on the ratings gain list appear on broadcast TV. There weren't any cable programs among Nielsen's top 10 list of shows with the biggest increases in actual audience from time-shifted playback. Fox's American Idol on Tuesdays, which scores a 2.15 million gain in households, is first by this measure.
http://benton.org/node/19934
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WIRELESS
Clearwire's WiMax Rollout Faces Steep Hurdles
Mobile phone market to shrink in 2009
CLEARWIRE'S WIMAX ROLLOUT FACES STEEP HURDLES
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Amol Sharma]
Though Clearwire Corp.'s recent merger with Sprint Nextel Corp.'s wireless broadband unit put it on more solid financial and strategic footing, the company still faces a steep climb as it tries to best rivals in the rollout of a new generation of mobile Internet access. Building a nationwide network of WiMax towers quickly will be expensive. The deal with Sprint, which was completed late last month, brought an infusion of $3.2 billion from equity investors including Intel, Google and several cable providers. That money will go toward initial build-outs in 2009, beginning with the 46 markets where Clearwire already offers a wireless service similar to WiMax through modems or cards that can be inserted in PCs. But analysts say Clearwire may need $3 billion to $5 billion more to complete the mobile WiMax network. Chris King, a telecom analyst at Stifel Nicolaus, said if the credit markets don't improve, Clearwire would likely have to turn to its strategic equity investors for more capital. A strategy of slowing down the build-out to save costs also has risks, however, because it might wipe out the effect of Clearwire's head-start in next-generation wireless broadband.
http://benton.org/node/19928
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MOBILE PHONE MARKET TO SHRINK IN 2009
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Tarmo Virki]
Mobile phone sales will shrink next year at their fastest pace ever as consumers cut spending, a Reuters poll showed, with analysts increasingly concerned about unsold phones piling up in stores. On average, the poll of 36 analysts shows global market volumes shrinking 6.6 percent next year and 5.7 percent in the fourth quarter -- traditionally the strongest period for the industry due to holiday sales. In a similar poll in early November analysts on average forecast the market to rise 2.6 percent in 2009. But since then Nokia, the world's top mobile phone maker, has warned twice on market growth, saying on December 4 its best guess was for sales to fall 5 percent or more next year.
http://benton.org/node/19927
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