June 25, 2009 (TV Everywhere)
Chicago broadcast TV legend John Callaway dies
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for THURSDAY JUNE 25, 2009
Please note that today's planned meeting of the FCC's Consumer Advisory Committee has been postponed. But Satellite TV and Spectrum Use will still have their day -- see http://www.benton.org/calendar/2009-06-21--P1W
DIGITAL CONTENT
Time Warner, Comcast test approach to more TV on Web
TV Everywhere: Innovation or control?
FTC, DoJ Should Investigate TV Everywhere
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
US urges China to revoke Internet filter requirement
Lawsuit Filed Over FBI Surveillance Docs
TELEVISION
New SHVERA Draft Would Enable Satellite Carriers to Put Local Stations HD Signals on Separate Dish
Genachowski: Timely Resolution of Carriage Disputes a Priority
Second Circuit Appeals Court Rejects Cablevision's Must-Carry Challenge
Nielsen Says 2.1 Million Still Unready
TELECOM
Sen Rockefeller Gives Nod To Republican FCC Nominee
CenturyTel, Embarq Merger Cleared by FCC
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Despite economy, broadband use rises in California
Chicago launches new push for broadband
US sees 'broadband boom' this decade
HEALTH & MEDIA
Back to the drawing board on meaningful use
Panel meets to map meaningful use standards
Prescription drug fight goes before appeals court
MORE ONLINE
Global ad spend revised down again
Leahy Offers Patent Office Bailout Bill
More Newspapers Drop Print Editions -- And Now Online Must Carry the Day
Free riding: a deeply embedded media tradition
A Media Guy Asks: Why Do They Hate Us?
Microsoft's Ballmer: Traditional media will not bounce back
The Case for Creating a White House Office of Innovation Policy
DIGITAL CONTENT
TIME WARNER, COMCAST TEST APPROACH TO MORE TV ON WEB
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Paul Thomasch]
Time Warner Inc and Comcast Corp have banded together to test ways to allow people to watch more TV shows over the Web, while making sure they keep paying for their traditional cable or satellite TV services. The partnership of two major media companies underscores the pressure the TV industry is under to protect its revenue but also satisfy consumers who want to watch their favorite drama or comedy at a time and place of their choosing. Time Warner and Comcast are banking on an approach that would essentially allow viewers to see any show at any time over any sort of device they wanted -- whether that is a TV set, computer or cell phone. One catch: they must first prove they are a cable or satellite customer, meaning they already pay a monthly subscription fee for TV. In announcing the partnership on Wednesday, Time Warner Chief Executive Jeff Bewkes stressed that he viewed the plan as a "free gift" for consumers that simply "expands" their entertainment choices.
http://benton.org/node/26126
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TV EVERYWHERE: INNOVATION OR CONTROL?
[SOURCE: TelephonyOnline, AUTHOR: Sarah Reedy]
[Commentary] TV Everywhere is clearly aimed at lessening the Internet's potential — although not yet realized — cannibalizing impact on pay-TV services. Web sites such as Hulu, which makes its ad-supported content available online for free, are a thorn in pay-TV providers' sides. If cable companies were to counter by giving away their content away free as well, the likelihood of video cord-cutting would increase ten-fold. So, instead, they are extending that content online "free" to paying subscribers. You can't blame them for wanting to protect their investment in programming rights, and it's just as understandable that content providers would want to protect theirs, too. All pay-TV providers run the risk of becoming a dumb pipe — a scenario they are looking to avoid. Still, by requiring authentication to ensure subscribers are paying for cable, they are controlling how their consumers watch content online. They could even potentially convert already free content online into their portal for paid subs only. For consumers, they could end up limiting choice. According to Craig Moffett, senior analyst with Bernstein Research, the announcement underscores important themes in the Web TV debate that it outlined in recent reports as vital to the future of TV. "First, the content companies will take steps to protect their dual revenue stream and in the process will not just respond to, but will shape the evolution of Web video consumption," Moffett said. "And second, the cable MSOs will not be disinterested bystanders in this debate, but instead will themselves be active participants, further shaping the evolution."
http://benton.org/node/26125
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FTC, DOJ SHOULD INVESTIGATE TV EVERYWHERE
[SOURCE: PublicKnowledge, AUTHOR: Harold Feld]
[Commentary] TV Anywhere is just a bunch of broadband Internet service providers, who also happen to be cable operators, coming together with the handful of other vertically integrated content companies like Viacom and DIRECTV/Liberty Media to create a common standard so that everyone who has already paid for this content can now also get it online. Ultimately, as long as you subscribe to any cable or satellite system, you will get access to the programming through any Internet provider. How could this possibly be anti-competitive? While everyone is fixated about cable operators trying to keep customers from "cutting the chord," and noting how this ties in with the efforts to impose metered pricing and capacity caps, the anticompetitive impact goes way, waaaayyy beyond locking subscribers into obscenely profitable video bundles. TV Everywhere works to (a) prevent the emergence of "virtual cable" competitors such as Netflix, and (b) protect the current cable programming network business model (as explained by Mark Cuban). It also jeopardizes innovation and further fragments Internet content, as demonstrated by the Hulu/Boxee.tv dust-up back in February.
http://benton.org/node/26124
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
US URGES CHINA TO REVOKE INTERNET FILTER REQUIREMENT
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: ]
Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and US Trade Representative Ron Kirk urged China Wednesday to abandon its proposal to require Internet filters installed on personal computers starting next month, warning the step could violate world trade rules. "China is putting companies in an untenable position by requiring them, with virtually no public notice, to pre-install software that appears to have broad-based censorship implications and network security issues," said Sec Locke. Locke and Kirk voiced their concerns in a joint letter to their Chinese counterparts after China Daily reported Tuesday that Beijing "will not back away" from the July 1 requirement for the filter to be installed on computers produced and sold in China.
http://benton.org/node/26122
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LAWSUIT FILED OVER FBI SURVEILLANCE DOCS
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Andrew Noyes]
A high-tech watchdog group filed a lawsuit against the Justice Department on Wednesday demanding the public release of the surveillance guidelines that govern investigations of Americans by the FBI. The protocols took effect in December 2008 and detail the bureau's procedures and standards for implementing the attorney general's guidelines on approved surveillance strategies. The Electronic Frontier Foundation's complaint comes after DOJ failed to respond to a Freedom of Information Act request for a complete copy of the document. FBI General Counsel Valerie Caproni has acknowledged that "the expansion of techniques available [to the bureau] has raised privacy and civil liberties concerns."
http://benton.org/node/26121
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TELEVISION
NEW SHVERA DRAFT
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Satellite carriers would be able to put local TV station HD signals on a separate dish, according to a new draft of the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act. That is one of a few changes to the original June 12 draft of the bill. The latest draft still does not address getting local-into-local service to the remaining un-served markets-about 30-or delivering adjacent-market signals to so-called short or split markets. But that could all change when the bill is marked up Thursday. The newest version says that a satellite operator can import a high-definition, distant-signal network affiliated TV station so long as it also carries the HD version-where supplied-of the local affiliate of that network. The bill requires all local stations to be carried on the same antenna, but says that the HD versions can be on a separate antenna, which was not part of the original draft. The new draft also has additional language about how the FCC determines who qualifies for a distant signal.
http://benton.org/node/26114
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GENACHOWSKI: TIMELY RESOLUTION OF CARRIAGE DISPUTES A PRIORITY
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Potential Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski says enforcing program carriage rules is an "important task" and the FCC needs to resolve disputes "in a timely manner." His remarks come in answer to Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller's suggestion that the FCC "rarely resolves carriage disputes in a timely way." Genachowski said he would work with the committee to help the FCC be a "more efficient forum" (Rockefeller's term) for resolving those complaints.
http://benton.org/node/26115
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2ND CIRCUIT REJECT'S CABLEVISION'S MUST-CARRY CHALLENGE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected a must-carry challenge and gave a shout-out to the rule as meant to help TV stations do more than just survive. The court this week rejected Cablevision's challenge to an FCC order requiring carriage of WRNN New York in some Long Island communities under the market-modification provisions of must-carry. In the process, it took an expansive view of the benefits of the must-carry rule, citing the Supreme Court's Turner decision and concluding that it did not mean to limit must-carry to the minimum of replicating a DMA. The FCC had added the communities to WRNN's market for must-carry purposes. Cablevision balked, saying the station was shopping for beachfront property, and took the decision to court. Oral argument was held in April 2008 in what was just the latest in an ongoing tug-of-war between the station and Cablevision over carriage.
http://benton.org/node/26113
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NIELSEN SAYS 2.1 MILLION STILL UNREADY
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Nielsen estimates that, as of June 21, 1.8% of US TV households (2.1 million overall) are unable to receive digital television signals. That is down 400,000 homes since June 14, two days after the switch to all-digital full-power broadcasting.
http://benton.org/node/26112
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TELECOM
SEN ROCKEFELLER GIVES NOD TO REPUBLICAN FCC NOMINEE
[SOURCE: Dow Jones, AUTHOR: Fawn Johnson]
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Rockefeller (D-WV) won't stand in the way of Robert McDowell, a Republican nominee for Federal Communications Commission, even though he expressed concerns about Commissioner McDowell last week. Commissioner McDowell sent Chairman Rockefeller a letter promising strong support for a phone subsidy fund that wires up schools and libraries, called the E-Rate. Chairman Rockefeller has long ties to the E-Rate, having been one of the principal sponsors of the program. Chairman Rockefeller still has concerns that McDowell may be too closely tied to the phone and Internet companies to act on behalf of consumers.
http://benton.org/node/26123
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CENTURYTEL, EMBARQ MERGER CLEARED BY FCC
[SOURCE: Dow Jones, AUTHOR: Fawn Johnson]
The Federal Communications Commission has signed off on a merger between CenturyTel and Embarq, marking the last regulatory hurdle for the companies to complete the transaction, according to a person with knowledge of the deal. The companies announced their intention to merge in October. In the context of the recent market freeze, the deal is a significant transaction and could signify further consolidation of midsize phone companies. As part of the merger, the two companies agreed to build high-speed Internet connections to 80% of their customer base within three years, which will require considerable resources because the two companies cover many rural areas.
http://benton.org/node/26119
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
DESPITE ECONOMY, BROADBAND USE RISES IN CALIFORNIA
[SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle, AUTHOR: Alejandro Martínez-Cabrera]
A slumping economy didn't stop an increasing number of Californians from accessing the Internet in their homes using broadband, but the digital divide along ethnic and income lines persists. The Public Policy Institute of California survey interviewed more than 2,500 people and found that 62 percent said they had broadband at home, a seven-point increase from last year. The results mirrored the national average reported last week by the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project: 63 percent. In the Bay Area, 84 percent of respondents said they owned a home computer and 73 percent said they used broadband, significantly more than any other large metropolitan area in the state. But the number of broadband users is drastically lower than what the state's infrastructure can sustain. Last year, a broadband taskforce found that 96 percent of the state's households had access to broadband, meaning that approximately 34 percent of them can have broadband but are not using it.
http://benton.org/node/26120
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CHICAGO LAUNCHES NEW PUSH FOR BROADBAND
[SOURCE: Crain's Chicago Business, AUTHOR: ]
Chicago is angling for about $100 million in federal stimulus money to build a high-speed Internet network that would reach some of the city's poorest neighborhoods. City officials have seized on the stimulus program as a second chance to bring broadband service to underserved areas like the South Side, after a more ambitious proposal to blanket the city with a wireless Internet signal fizzled in 2007. In the next few months, they plan to apply for federal funds to provide high-speed Internet access to tens of thousands of Chicago residents and a multitude of businesses. An expanded high-speed wireless network would help fulfill a goal of Mayor Richard M. Daley and others who long have argued that the lack of affordable broadband in some areas is an obstacle to education and economic development. The city estimates that broadband penetration in 23 of its 77 neighborhoods is lower than that in rural areas.
http://benton.org/node/26107
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HEALTH & MEDIA
BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD ON MEANINGFUL USE
[SOURCE: HealthITNews, AUTHOR: Diana Manos]
The federal advisory policy committee on health IT sent its workgroup back to the drawing board on Tuesday with recommendations the workgroup had made earlier in the day to outline the criteria. The HIT policy committee's workgroup, composed of members of the private sector, government and nonprofit organizations, have been pulling together criteria for a meaningful use definition over the past month. The criteria were presented at a Tuesday meeting of the full policy committee for a vote of approval, with a public comment period open for the next 10 days. After a "lively discussion [on the criteria] and considerable input on meaningful use, we decided to send the workgroup back to work on another set," David Blumenthal, MD, national coordinator for health information technology, said. The policy committee expects to receive a new set of recommendations from its workgroup at its July 16 meeting.
http://benton.org/node/26109
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PANEL MEETS TO MAP MEANINGFUL USE STANDARDS
[SOURCE: GovernmentHealthIT, AUTHOR: Peter Buxbaum]
The Department of Health and Human Services Health Information Technology (HIT) Standards Committee took aim at a moving target Wednesday as it began to discuss how to apply specifications and certification criteria to the definition of "meaningful use" of health information technology. "Meaningful use" is the formula used in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to describe criteria for qualifying hospitals and practices for Medicare incentive payments for adopting health IT systems. Last week, the HIT Policy committee unveiled a first draft of a definition for meaningful use. In the end, it tabled its initial recommendations in favor of a more ambitious plan that would move forward elements of the health IT adoption plan from 2013 to 2011. "The definition of meaningful use will be evolving in the next 60 days," noted John Halamka, the chief information officer of Harvard Medical School and co-chairman of the standards committee, at Wednesday's meeting in Washington. "This will require the standards committee to coordinate their work with "a set of evolving criteria."
http://benton.org/node/26106
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PRESCRIPTION DRUG FIGHT GOES BEFORE APPEALS COURT
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Larry Neumeister]
So-called data-mining companies that collect information about the drugs doctors prescribe asked an appeals court Tuesday to stop Vermont from enacting a law next week restricting their work. Attorney Thomas Julin told a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that it would violate the First Amendment rights of the companies if the law is enacted on July 1. He asked the appeals court to block implementation of the law until it decides whether to uphold a lower court ruling that concluded the law did not violate the Constitution. Both sides were expected to submit written arguments in the wider appeal case within two months. The court did not immediately rule, but Judge Barrington Parker called it a fascinating case.
http://benton.org/node/26118
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