1. Monthly archive
  2. September 2016

September 2016

Facebook, World Bank and OECD Link Up to Gather Data

Facebook is teaming up with the World Bank and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to pioneer a new way of collecting data, taking the first step on a path to what they hope will be broader, less expensive and more timely insights into the state of the global economy.

The three partners launched a new measure of business sentiment based on questioning companies that use their Facebook pages to connect with customers. Known as the Future of Business Survey, the report has been in testing since February and received responses to 15 queries from a total of 90,000 small and midsize firms across 22 countries. Its first public release shows that those businesses are more optimistic about their prospects than other companies surveyed by more traditional means.

Brent Nelsen Nominated for CPB Board

President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate Brent F. Nelsen to be a member of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Dr. Brent F. Nelsen is Chair of the South Carolina Educational Television Commission and a Professor of Political Science at Furman University, positions he has held since 2011 and 2002, respectively. From 2003 to 2009, Dr. Nelsen served as Chair of the Department of Political Science at Furman University and has held various teaching positions there since 1990. He is a member of the South Carolina American Political Science Association, where he previously served as President from 2009 to 2010. Dr. Nelsen was first appointed to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in 2013. Dr. Nelsen received a B.A. from Wheaton College and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Cord-Cutting Could Cost Pay TV Industry $1 Billion in a Year, Study Says

Pay-TV providers could lose nearly $1 billion in revenue as 800,000 customers cut the cord over the next 12 months, according to a new study from the firm cg42. The study, which is based on an online survey of 1,119 US customers, estimates that pay-TV providers lose about $1,248 per cord-cutter annually. That’s because the average cord-cutter saves $104 a month—about 56 percent of their bill--from dropping cable TV. Some analysts say that if consumers ditch cable TV they could wind up paying even more for the combination of standalone high-speed Internet and streaming services. But the study found the opposite -- that going without pay TV service yields savings. That’s in part because people tend not to spend much more than $15 on streaming services even after cutting the cord.

A “cord-haver” spends about $187 a month on average prior to cutting the cord, including cable TV, phone, Internet access and streaming services. Meanwhile, a typical “cord-never” -- someone who never had a pay-TV connection -- spends about $71 on streaming services and home Internet combined, and the average cord-cutter spends $83. “The consumer is discovering they don’t need the mean, evil cable company to get the content that they want, and they can get it for a better deal,” said Steve Beck, managing partner at cg42. A $1 billion loss of revenue is small for the entire pay TV industry, but it is a warning sign. According to the survey, the vast majority of people who cut the cord or never had pay-TV in the first place don’t exactly thirst for traditional television, despite the draw of live sports. About 83 percent of cord-cutters surveyed said they can access “most or all” of the content they want to watch without a pay-TV subscription, and about 87 percent of cord-nevers said the same.

Sen Heller Seeks Privacy-Related Set-Top Vote Delay

Sen Dean Heller (R-NV) has called on Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler to delay his planned Sept 29 vote on proposed new set-top box rules. Most of the Hill pushback on Chairman Wheeler's proposal has centered on copyright and app licensing issues, but Sen Heller is pulling out a different stop, saying his main sticking point is consumer privacy, that and the FCC process that produced the plan.

"I have concerns about how the FCC’s proposal requiring this approach will impact my constituents’ privacy and whether it is technology neutral," said Sen Heller in a letter to Chairman Wheeler. The FCC is said to be planning to require device manufacturers to have to comply with cable privacy regulations to get access to pay-TV user data, since the FCC does not have authority over device privacy, but that bifurcated privacy oversight does not appear to sit well with Sen Heller. "[T]his rule will result in [multichannel video programming distributors] handing over consumers’ personal information to third-party developers using their own platforms without addressing how that information can be utilized and what recourse consumers have if there is a data breach of third-party developers," said Sen Heller. "This is not technology neutral and not beneficial to consumers. That is why I request that you delay voting on this proposal until these privacy concerns are resolved." He also has problems with the process. "These issues also stem from the lack of transparency in the process leading up to the final proposal, the text of which has not been released to stakeholders, Congress, and the American public prior to a vote," he opined. There were calls from both sides of the aisle to publish the text before the vote, including in a further notice of proposed rulemaking, which would have had the effect of delaying the vote for weeks if not months.

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