August 2012

Republicans and Democrats mull positions on Internet freedom in party platforms

Both Republicans and Democrats are considering staking out positions on Internet freedom in their policy platforms at conventions.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) recently submitted draft text to the Republican National Committee on Internet freedom that he hopes will be included in the party's platform. While the language doesn't delve into any particular set of principles, it stresses that Americans should have unfettered access to the Internet and the government should be restrained from stunting the Web's growth by tacking additional regulations onto it. Meanwhile, early drafts of the Democratic National Committee's platform included text that advocated for Internet freedom globally.

Stations Coping with Political Ad Posting

The ultra-conservative billionaire Koch brothers, Charles and David, will have something to say during the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte (NC) next month. As of Aug. 13, the Koch's Super PAC Americans For Prosperity has spent $127,715 for spots on the four Charlotte stations that will air between Aug. 28 and Sept. 9, overlapping the convention that begins its four-day run on Sept. 3. The breakout: $40,200 for Raycom’s WBTV (CBS); $11,725 for Bahakel’s WCCB (Fox); $20,740 for Belo’s WCNC (NBC); and $55,050 for Cox’s WSOC (ABC).

The buys are just a bit of the information that can be gleaned from TV Stations Profiles & Public Inspection Files — a corner of the FCC's massive website where affiliates of the Big Four networks in the top 50 markets have been obliged under new FCC rules to file political advertising contracts since Aug. 2. In compliance, the broadcasters are currently posting hundreds of political advertising contracts online daily in PDF form. Prior to the FCC adoption of the rules last April, the stations had to place copies only in their paper public inspection files. The only way to see them was to go to the stations. With the contracts now online, campaign finance and media watchdogs groups can remotely access and analyze the buying and selling of political time, and they are seizing the opportunity, but they are struggling with how to digest and make use of the sheer volume of raw data.

Show and Tell for Teachers, Inspired by Reality TV

Great teaching, it is sometimes said, is one of those things where you know it when you see it. Now, teachers in Washington will be able to see a lot more of it. In deference to a world enthralled by shows like “Extreme Makeover” and “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” the public school district in Washington has hired a reality television company to produce videos intended to improve the skills of its teachers.

The 80 videos, 5 to 15 minutes in length, are peppered with quick jump cuts, slick screen labels and a jaunty soundtrack. In short interviews and classroom snippets, the district’s highest-performing teachers demonstrate how they teach a range of lessons, from adding decimal numbers to guiding students of differing ability levels through a close reading of the Marshall Plan. The videos, financed by a $900,000 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, were developed as a complement to Washington’s evaluation system, known as Impact, in which teachers are judged on student test scores and classroom observations.

Apple's New Front in Battle for TV

Apple is in talks with some of the biggest U.S. cable operators about letting consumers use an Apple device as a set-top box for live television and other content, according to people familiar with the matter. Apple doesn't appear to have reached a deal with any cable operators. One obstacle may be the reluctance of operators to let Apple establish a foothold in the television business. Apple would also need to persuade significant numbers of consumers to buy a set-top box for what could be hundreds of dollars rather than rent one from their cable operators for $10 to $15 a month. The talks illustrate that Apple is seeking a less radical path to expand in television than it has contemplated in the past, namely teaming up with existing service providers rather than licensing content to compete with them directly.

Online Streaming Gives Cable Networks a Sporting Chance

NBC's ratings for the London Olympics were gold-medal worthy. But a more remarkable feat for the Comcast-owned network may have been its apparent success streaming the event to digital devices.

Pay-TV customers registered 9.9 million devices on NBCOlympics.com or on the NBCOlympics Live Extra app for mobile devices—believed to be the most ever for a single, "TV Everywhere" event, according to NBC Sports. This allowed pay-TV customers to watch all the games live on digital devices before select events were broadcast on primetime TV. The games' strong ratings backed up NBC's decision to pursue this strategy, despite worries it would cannibalize primetime TV viewership and therefore ad revenue. NBC's experience also demonstrated the rising importance of online streaming to paying cable subscribers as a way of retaining customers in the face of so-called cord cutting.

Streaming music catches fire

Streamed music, like streaming of movies and TV episodes via Netflix and other Internet-based services, is gaining momentum as a preferred way to listen to tunes. About $3.4 billion of the $6.4 billion that consumers will pay for all music in 2012 will be for digital music, says a new report from Strategy Analytics.

That means for the first time ever, the amount spent on digital music will surpass that spent on CDs and other physical formats. Digital music — streamed and downloaded — is up from $2.9 billion in 2011, the firm says. Spending on physical music is expected to fall to $3.1 billion from $3.4 billion. Most spending on digital music — an estimated $2.2 billion this year — will be for PC downloads from iTunes and other online retailers. But Spotify and other PC streaming services, which could bring in about $413 million in 2012, are growing at four times the rate of downloads, the report says. In addition, just over $750 million comes from downloads and music subscriptions used only on mobile devices. Consumers are gravitating to "the Netflix model" for music, where they pay a monthly fee of $5 to $10 for access to a large virtual jukebox, says Ed Barton, director of digital media for the Boston-based research firm.

Facebook tries to speed Instagram deal

Facebook is seeking to expedite the payout of its Instagram acquisition before the deal closes by using an obscure California law to issue stock without registering it with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The tactic is intended to save the company time and money as it issues shares once valued at $700 million to Instagram’s dozen employees and early investors in the photo-sharing application. Those shares are now worth $487 million, with Facebook’s stock price off 44 percent since it began trading in May. By going through the state of California rather than the federal government, Facebook may also insulate the deal from scrutiny around Facebook’s flawed public offering.

Digital Firsts

Three years ago this week, the Federal Communications Commission joined the Twitterverse with our handle @FCC. A few hours after sending our first Tweet, we used Twitter to announce our entry into the blogosphere: “FCC launches first-ever blog, called ’Blogband,’ to chronicle events of the National Broadband Plan. Check it out: broadband.gov/blog.” With the goal of transparency, openness and citizen engagement, this began the FCC’s efforts to connect with our constituencies through social media to keep them informed about FCC events, issues we’re working on and our ongoing efforts to provide access to government data and digital content. Three years and over 2,000 Tweets later, the FCC reaches nearly half-a-million followers on Twitter @FCC, which puts us in the top five among all government entities, behind @WhiteHouse, @NASA, @CDC and @Smithsonian.

Media: This race is a disgrace

Even the media’s had enough. The race for the White House has grown so toxic that it’s become a top topic among reporters and analysts covering the contest — and some are even calling on President Barack Obama and presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney to call a truce.

Wayne Slater of the Dallas Morning News and coauthor of “Bush’s Brain” said on CNN he it’s just par for the course in politics. He said that in 2000 during the GOP primary, Karl Rove directed Bush allies to suggest then-opponent Sen. John McCain, (R-AZ), fathered an illegitimate black child. “This has been going on for 212 years,” Slater said. “I think the media tries to do the job, but I do think that we get caught up in the kind of exciting, interesting and largely irrelevant name-calling that is the modern American political campaign.” He noted that in 1800 Thomas Jefferson against John Adams, “Adams was accused of being a crook, Jefferson of being a coward and an atheist.”

A most poisonous campaign

[Commentary] No one expected Campaign 2012 to be positive or uplifting. The country’s problems are too severe and the battle lines between Republicans and Democrats have been hardened by almost four years of conflict between the White House and Congress. But what is most striking about the campaign at this point is not just the negativity or the sheer volume of attack ads raining down on voters in the swing states. It is the sense that all restraints are gone, the guardrails have disappeared and there is no incentive for anyone to hold back. The other guy does it, so we’re going to do it too.

Negative ads are now one of the growth industries in an otherwise weak economy. How much is being spent? Romney’s campaign briefed reporters last Friday and included the following statistics. The amount of money spent on all advertising since early April in four key states is as follows: Florida, $95 million; Ohio, $92 million, Virginia, $68 million; North Carolina, $50 million. News organizations instituted fact-checking and ad watches in reaction to earlier campaigns, when candidates were getting away with half-truths and worse, with little accountability. These have become robust and increasingly comprehensive. But they are not providing much of a check on the behavior of the campaigns.

Benton

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