Television stations in Washington (DC and 29 states will conduct the largest analog shut-off test to date on December 17. Times and durations of the tests will vary, but all will be so-called soft tests. In those, stations simulate pulling the plug on analog signals with analog-only viewers getting a message about what they need to do to be ready for the real analog plug-pulling Feb. 17, 2009.
Confronted by an uncertain economy and a sharp decline in current and projected revenues from corporate underwriting, NPR today announced that it will reduce its workforce by 7 percent and cut expenses. The difficult moves come despite NPR reaching near-record audience levels on-air and online, with 26.4 million people listening to NPR programs each week and 8 million people visiting NPR.org each month. A significant number of the personnel cuts result from the upcoming cancellation of two NPR produced programs Day to Day and News & Notes. Both programs, broadcast on NPR Member stations nationwide, will remain on the air through March 20, 2009. Staff and expense reductions will be made in reporting, editorial and production areas; station services; digital media; research; communications and administrative support. A total of 64 filled positions have been eliminated against NPR's current staff of 889, 21 open positions will not be filled and travel and discretionary expenses have been cut across the organization. In July, NPR projected a relatively manageable $2 million deficit for fiscal year 2009. With the rapid downturn in the U.S. economy this fall, corporate sponsorships NPR's second-largest source of funding after fees paid to NPR by stations have declined and projections have dropped precipitously, raising the projected deficit to $23 million, and prompting the need for significant and immediate reductions in expenses.
Attorneys for four Michigan communities have asked the Federal Communications Commission for answers to seven questions requested by a federal judge there to help resolve a suit over the movement of public, educational and government channels by Comcast Corp. The judge in the case, brought by the cities of Dearborn, Meridian, Bloomfield and Warren, Michigan, decided she couldn't conclude the case without direction from the FCC on the dispute. The federal agency has jurisdiction to determine how the federal Communications Act is interpreted, the judge ruled in October. The communities want answers to questions such as whether they can still regulate PEG obligations in a market subject to an effective competition ruling; whether the discriminatory treatment of PEG is an "unlawful evasion" of federal law; and whether Comcast can charge for equipment that is used only to view PEG channels. They also want the FCC to determine if PEG channels are still considered part of a basic tier if they've been translated into digital signals.
[Commentary] An event happened this week that I consider the "Sputnik" of our own age. More than 50 years after the Russians launched the world's first orbiting satellite, HTC on Wednesday launched the HTC MAX 4G -- the world's first WiMax cell phone -- in Russia! Although US carriers are working on 4G and WiMax the nation is way behind in all aspects of mobile broadband. The Japanese, Koreans, Chinese, Europeans and now even the Russians are way ahead of the U.S. in the development of next-generation mobile broadband. The U.S. is plagued by spotty service, incompatible technologies and vast regions where no service is possible. The country that invented both the cell phone and the Internet is floundering as a third-rate cell phone Internet backwater. It's time to stop slouching toward failure. Rather than idiotically following Europe and Asia into the future, we need to leapfrog them and put the U.S. back on top. We need nothing less than a new space race-scale effort to build the next-generation mobile data system in the United States. We put a man on the moon a dozen years after Sputnik. Now we need to put fast Internet into every cell phone, no matter where that phone is. I'm not a big fan of big government or new agencies, but this new network is akin to the national highway system, or universal postal or telephone service -- except much more beneficial and important.
The new Administration must include in its National Broadband Strategy initiatives to eliminate the digital divide through a program of "digital inclusion" - which encompasses access to broadband for all Americans and the skills and tools required to effectively use it. The NBS should foster increased transparency and empower greater participation by citizens, while at the same time implementing more efficient "e-government" practices to generate cost savings in the billions of dollars. Promoting digital inclusion and shrinking the digital divide will stimulate broadband supply and demand, as well as transform and reenergize the federal government, connect policymakers to citizens, generate substantial cost savings, and reinvigorate our democracy. The new Administration must also promote more direct citizen participation in government decision making through the use of broadband applications.
Large companies are accelerating their use of offshore outsourcing and as many as a quarter of IT jobs at Global 1000 firms may be moved offshore by 2010, according to consulting firm the Hackett Group. According to its research, these large firms -- companies with revenues of at least $5 billion -- will move about 350,000 corporate jobs offshore over the next two years. Over half of those jobs will be in IT, with the remainder in finance, human resources and procurement. The data "is a confirmation of a mega-trend" similar to what happened in the manufacturing sector several decades ago, said Michel Janssen, Hackett's chief research officer. And while 25 percent of the IT jobs may head overseas in the next two years, over the longer term that figure could hit 60 percent. In some firms, it could reach 80 percent.
Alan Weinkrantz was an early U-verse customer of AT&T's in San Antonio and has been blogging for some time about that experience. Now he's telling the world that AT&T is willing to dramatically cut prices in order to retain its most valuable customers. Weinkrantz called AT&T customer service and was able to cut his triple-play bill from $164 to $94. That includes a $40 reduction for the top-tier U-verse video service with high definition, a $10 reduction in voice service and a $20 reduction for mid-tier Yahoo Broadband Elite Internet access. The latter reduction reduced the cost of broadband to $10 a month.
In January 2008 a group of interactive producers from news websites gathered at the University of Minnesota for the first Eyetracking Research Consortium, part of the Digital Story Effects Lab project run by Nora Paul and Laura Ruel. Some of the eyetracking studies conducted with the consortium members were comparisons of different design approaches or navigational schemes and their impact on user behavior. Other members just asked for feedback from users about their experience on the website. With the eyetracking we could record not just what someone said about what they did on the site, but to actually see what they did.
IT employment in the U.S. dropped in November after months of bucking national employment trends in other industries, said the National Association of Computer Consultant Businesses (NACCB). However, IT recruiting site Dice.com, in a survey released this week, found that most tech-job recruiters and hiring managers are curtailing hiring plans for the next six months. The Dice survey, which received responses from more than 1,000 hiring managers and recruiters, found that 32 percent of respondents said they are substantially scaling back hiring plans during the next six months, and another 40 percent are slightly scaling back hiring plans.
[Commentary] Most people don't think Silicon Valley billionaires need government subsidies, but Kevin Martin isn't among them. Before he exits his post next month, the Federal Communication Commission Chairman is trying to put in place rules for a wireless spectrum auction that all but guarantee the licenses go to a company backed by venture capitalist John Doerr. Chairman Martin wants to place restrictions on how the spectrum can be used, which will discourage larger, established wireless carriers from participating in the auction and bidding up the price. Yesterday even the Bush Administration whacked Martin, its own appointee, over the auction. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez worried in a letter that Martin is setting rules "favoring a particular business model," and took special exception to a requirement that the winning bidder provide free broadband services at government-regulated speeds. "This mandate would likely lead to congested and inefficiently used broadband, and it would be inconsistent with the Administration's view that spectrum should be allocated by markets rather than governments," Sec Gutierrez said. Prices for broadband are falling rapidly, geographic coverage is growing and new investment continues. Which is to say that the telecom market is highly competitive, and clean auctions for spectrum can keep it that way. The FCC's job isn't to favor the politically connected. The goal should be to ensure that airwaves go to companies with the resources and incentives to best use them. Martin's political favoritism continues the pattern of his unfortunate chairmanship and will cost taxpayers in the end.
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