The National Association of Broadcasters told the Federal Communications Commission to deny the proposed Charter-Time Warner Cable-Bright House merger, and any other pay-TV merger for that matter, unless it reforms its broadcast ownership rules and, in any event, should suspend the review until it completes the overdue quadrennial rule review.
According to data compiled by Kantar Media’s Campaign Media Analysis Group (CMAG), political advertising in Iowa is up more than 300 percent over the 2012 campaign. One reason is that both parties have competitive races. Even more significant for the bottom line: almost every serious contender has his or her own super political action committee, supposedly independent entities that, unlike the candidates, can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money.
Four years ago at this time, there was a handful of outside groups and only one significant outside spender in Iowa: Crossroads GPS, founded by veteran Republican strategists Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie. Today there are 14, compared to just four candidates who have bought TV time so far, and the impact has been dramatic. Between Jan. 1 and Oct. 5, there were 11,597 political spots broadcast, according to CMAG, a 335 percent increase from the same period four years earlier. While it's hard to accurately estimate how much this will mean to the stations' bottom lines, because of the complex record-keeping involved, there's no question that the proliferation of super-PACs will vastly enhance the normal election-year bonanza. The TV stations love the extra super-PAC business, especially since the outside groups often pay some of the highest rates.
The Assistant Secretary and the Chairman met and discussed a range of issues including the FCC and NTIA’s progress in meeting President Obama’s goal of making 500 megahertz of additional spectrum available for wireless broadband by 2020. They noted that they are nearly half way to meeting the President’s target and agreed that identifying the remaining parts of 500 megahertz before the end of the Administration remains a high priority. In addition, they also affirmed their commitment to pursue expanded spectrum sharing between federal and nonfederal users to help reach and exceed this goal and, more broadly, to open up spectrum access opportunities for all users.
In a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler dated Oct. 9, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), vice chair of the House Commerce Committee, joined by a baker's dozen Republicans including Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR), said the FCC's potential entry into the privacy regulation space was "troubling" for a number of reasons:
1. The FTC has been the sole Internet privacy regulator.
2. The Title II reclassification was done unilaterally. They said the FCC's "jurisdictional appetite" was problematic.
3. The FCC does not have the technical expertise to regulate privacy, they argue, citing FTC Commissioner Joshua Wright's testimony to Congress that the FCC's assumption of privacy oversight would create "obstacles to protecting consumers."
Google and Apple have pushed us closer to a world in which we’re freed from the tyranny of wireless carriers.
Declan Ganley, the CEO of Rivada Networks, wants to take us all the way there. With its latest Android phones, Google is offering a wireless service, dubbed Project Fi, that automatically switches between Sprint and T-Mobile, depending upon whose signal is strongest. In every new iPad, Apple now offers a SIM card that lets you try various providers—including Sprint, T-Mobile, and AT&T—before choosing one. In some cases, you can just as easily drop one carrier for another. Wielding the power that comes with building the world’s most popular phones, Google and Apple are moving us toward a world where we can move seamlessly between carriers from month to month, day to day, even moment to moment.
Ganley wants to create a truly free market for wireless service, one in which companies like Apple and Google bid for the use of services from Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, and beyond. Such a market would work much like the electricity market works today.
[Commentary] The future of my community – and of communities all across the region – hinges on our ability to arm every student with the tools needed to compete and thrive in this brave new economic world. All students, regardless of race or income, must have access to a basic toolkit of digital skills and capabilities, starting most fundamentally with access to the Internet and a fluency in its use. This is a steep hill to climb. Currently, African Americans households are 12% less likely than white households to have access to the Internet at home, while poor families are 30% less likely to have a home connection than those making $50,000 or more.
The Obama Administration’s new ConnectHome pilot program, another effort to boost broadband adoption in low-income households, is mirroring the successful model of private-civic partnerships pioneered by Internet Essentials. The digital divide is a solvable problem; we have a proven model that works. It’s now time for public and private sector leaders to scale this effort to match the urgency of the challenge.
[State Rep. Laura Hall is president of the National Organization of Black Elected Legislative Women]
The past and future of the TV cable box is at the center of a big war-of-words at the Federal Communications Commission. The fight has gotten scant press attention, but it's a subject that's fueling strong commentary from the likes of tech giants Google and Amazon and even dividing Hollywood. The Motion Picture Association of America is even going so far as to suggest that a proposal to revolutionize the TV device market would violate both the First and Fifth Amendments to the US Constitution. The Writers Guild disagrees.
Upon direction from Congress, the FCC is looking at new standards for "downloadable security" on set-top boxes. That might sound dry until one realizes that it has something to do with cable boxes currently costing the average household $231 a year, new cheaper devices such as Roku or Amazon's FireTV entering the market, and the fact that Netflix, HBO, CBS and other programmers are delivering "over the top" services. Who controls how television will be presented? Do consumers wants lots of apps to choose from? Or do they want more nimble devices? These are some of the big questions being considered by media regulators.
© 1994-2024 Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. All Rights Reserved.
