March 2009

SNL Kagan TV and radio outlook predicts TV revenues will continue to slide through the rest of this year, but will rebound somewhat in 2010. The report predicts that national and spot TV advertising will drop another 15.7% percent in 2009 after dropping 6.9% to $20.1 billion in 2008. But it forecasts a break in the clouds for 2010, continuing through 2013, which it predicts should offset some of the declines in 2008-2009. That will put the five-year revenue drop between 2008 and 2013 at 2%.

The European Union reached a draft deal on a sweeping reform of the bloc's telecoms rules on Monday to increase competition and drive down prices for consumers. The European Parliament and the bloc's member states, who have joint say, reached agreement after weeks of talks. The reform, which was authored by EU Telecoms Commissioner, Viviane Reding, will be formally adopted by parliament in April or May. It sets up a new pan-EU telecoms body, the body of European regulators in electronic communications (BEREC) taking decisions by majority vote instead of the consensual approach adopted when national regulators in the EU discuss policy jointly. But BEREC is still a watered down version of the powerful pan-EU body that telecoms regulator Reding had envisioned but member states found too threatening to national regulatory sovereignty. The reform clarifies rules on investment in new next-generation networks so that access for competitors to a dominant network for a fee is maintained. A new "last resort" measure also is given to national regulators to increase competition by "functionally" separating an operator's network from its retail arm, a step that was bitterly opposed by telecom giants. The reform also beefs up consumer rights by making it easier to change a provider, including a requirement to be able to switch within one working day.

Companies that bundle music, movies and games with digital rights management software must prominently disclose information about such software to consumers, a Federal Trade Commission official warned last week. "Hard to notice, mouse-print-type disclosures using cryptic terminology is not sufficient," said Mary Engle, acting deputy director at the FTC. "As a market for digital media evolves, it becomes even more important for consumers to know and understand the nature of what they are paying for." The FTC convened the town hall meeting, held in Seattle last week, to explore how digital rights management technology affects consumers. Engle said the FTC wasn't trying to weigh in on the merits of the software, which limits consumers' ability to make copies and, in some cases, play media on their choice of devices. But many of the speakers were anything but neutral about such technology. Corynne McSherry, an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told the FTC that digital rights management software threatens consumers' ability to use media. "Fair use means that you can do things like buy a CD and take it home and play it on various different devices and play it in the background in your kitchen and your toddler can dance to it and then you can put a video of the toddler dancing up on YouTube," McSherry said. "Unfortunately, DRM (digital rights management) can interfere with those expectations."

In January, Microsoft joined Connected Nation's National Advisory Council, and last December, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation donated $7 million to the group. Just a suggestion, but if Microsoft really wants to help improve the nation's broadband fortunes, they might want to start by understanding exactly what they're investing in. Not that "hey guys, schools and libraries need broadband" isn't a really helpful contribution to the broader discourse.