Back to business in DC with comments due this week on broadcast localism
and unlicensed use of spectrum; forums on universal service and
intellectual property; and the Supreme Court considering cable modems and
media ownership rules. For these and other upcoming media policy events,
see http://www.benton.org/calendar.htm
MEDIA, ELECTIONS & GOVERNING
$1.6 Billion Spent on Political TV Ads in 2004
In a Sign of the Times, Ukrainian TV Interpreter Makes Bold On-Air Move
Anchor's Ouster Stirs Furor Over Berlusconi's Oversight of Media
MEDIA POLICY
Boxing Bill Has Congressional Telecom Work in Clinch
FCC Reiterates Tougher Smut Rules
In Battle Over Values, Will the Family PC Be the Next Target?
Comcast: FCC Should Ease Regulation
TV, Today and Tomorrow
TELECOM POLICY
FCC Warns SBC on Net Phones
Adelstein's Supporters Helped Win Renomination
QUICKLY TV Lobbying; Cingular to Sell Assets; Film Studios Win Suit Against
Web Site;
"Serious" Video Games; Europe Stalls ContentGuard Deal
MEDIA, ELECTIONS & GOVERNING
$1.6 BILLION SPENT ON POLITICAL TV ADS IN 2004
Candidates, parties and independent groups spent more than $1.6 billion on
television ads in 2004, a record for any campaign year and double the
amount spent in the 2000 presidential election. A total of 1,950,737
political spots aired this year on 615 stations in the nation's top 100
markets. At 30 seconds each, that would be the same as 677 solid days of
advertising. The deluge of ads swamped the meager campaign coverage that
most local stations offered this fall. According to the Lear Center Local
News Archive, in presidential battleground states, a half-hour of local
news averaged almost six minutes of campaign advertising, but only three
minutes of campaign news. Forty-five percent of all campaign stories were
about strategy or horserace, while only 29 percent focused on campaign
issues. Ad watch stories, which truth-check the political commercials, made
up less than one percent of campaign stories in the study's sample.
"Television air time is the number one cost center for candidates in
competitive races," said Meredith McGehee, president of the Alliance for
Better Campaigns. She characterized the heavy ad spending as "an enormous
election-year windfall for broadcasters, who receive free licenses to
operate on the publicly-owned airwaves."
[SOURCE: Alliance for Better Campaigns Press Release]
http://bettercampaigns.org/press/release.php?ReleaseID=65
See also:
http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=6800
IN A SIGN OF THE TIMES, UKRAINIAN TV INTERPRETER MAKES BOLD ON-AIR MOVE
Ukraine's state TV channel wasn't broadcasting demonstrations by hundreds
of thousands of supporters of Viktor Yushchenko, the pro-Western candidate
who believes that the presidency was stolen from him through
government-sponsored fraud, so the channel's sign-language interpreter
adopted guerrilla tactics to break the information blockade. Conspiring
with her makeup artist, Ms. Dmytruk tied an orange ribbon inside her
sleeve. Orange is the color of Mr. Yushchenko's campaign, and of the
spreading protest movement that many Ukrainians now call the Orange
Revolution. Then after interpreting the news broadcast for the deaf on Nov.
25, Ms. Dmytruk bared her wrist. "Everything you have heard so far on the
news was a total lie," she says she told viewers in sign language.
"Yushchenko is our true president. Goodbye, you will probably never see me
here again." But a funny thing happened on her way to oblivion... she was
greeted with hugs from her shocked colleagues and even the station's
technicians and the staffs of the daily children's show and other
nonpolitical programs decided to join the strike over the coverage, some of
them inspired by Ms. Dmytruk's broadcast. A few hours later, the evening
newscast opened with a pledge to resist censorship in the future. Ms.
Dmytruk was also back on the air the next morning. Management at the two
other main television networks caved in the same day and allowed balanced
reporting. The break of the government's stranglehold over mass media
proved a turning point in Mr. Yushchenko's campaign to annul the official
results of the Nov. 21 election.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Yaroslav Trofimov
yaroslav.trofimov( at )wsj.com]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110168408811185171,00.html?mod=todays...
(requires subscription)
See also:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/28/international/29media.ready.html?oref=...
ANCHOR'S OUSTER STIRS FUROR OVER BERLUSCONI'S OVERSIGHT OF MEDIA
When he first started running for public office more than a decade ago,
Silvio Berlusconi, the billionaire media tycoon who became prime minister,
was often ribbed as Sua Emittenza -- "His Broadcastership." Allegations
that his vast television and publishing empire posed a serious conflict of
interest with running the country have followed him ever since. The latest
controversy surrounds the dismissal of one of Italy's most popular and
respected anchormen, Enrico Mentana, from the nightly newscast on the
Berlusconi-owned Channel 5. After 13 years, Mentana was taken off the air,
given other duties and replaced by the editor of Panorama, a
Berlusconi-owned magazine. Mentana's removal immediately raised concerns
that Berlusconi was acting to assure the media's bland obedience. Mentana
was known for independence and for occasionally airing reports critical of
the prime minister or his right-wing party.
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR:Tracy Wilkinson]
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-fg-media29nov29,1,4...
(requires registration)
MEDIA POLICY
BOXING BILL HAS CONGRESSIONAL TELECOM WORK IN CLINCH
The spectrum relocation trust fund, enhanced 911 (E-911), junk faxes, and
the universal service fund anti-Deficiency Act modification. All these
items are being held up because of boxing. No, I'm not being metaphorical.
The House has passed legislation dealing with all these issues, but the
Senate has not acted because Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain wants
ensure action on a bill designed to give boxers more protection and lessen
the influence of promoters. The House has considered, but not acted on, a
similar bill. Sources supportive of either Sen McCain or his House
counterpart, Rep Joe Barton (R-TX) used harsh rhetorical language to pin
blame on the other. Each source said the opposing politician's stubbornness
would lead to schools losing E-rate funding, safety lapses due to no E-911
funding and a dearth of spectrum for wireless services.
[SOURCE: Communications Daily 11/26, AUTHOR: Terry Lane]
(Not available online)
FCC REITERATES TOUGHER SMUT RULES
In a proposed fine against Beasley Broadcast Group's WQAM(AM) Miami, the
FCC took pains to reiterate its toughened indecency standards for radio and
TV. Beasley argued that the broadcast in question "makes use of 'innuendo
and double entendre' that would not have an 'inescapable and understandable
sexual or excretory import' to children, and cannot therefore give rise to
a finding of indecency." The FCC disagreed, saying they "clearly relay
sexual images that are patently offensive." Beasley also argued the
excerpts were short and out of context and that they did not violate the
community standards of Miami. The FCC countered that they were long enough,
were clearly intended to pander and titillate, and that they did violate a
"reasonable person" standard. The Commission wrote, "We reiterate our
recent statement that multiple serious violations of our indecency rule by
broadcasters may well lead to license revocation proceedings. We also
remind broadcasters that separate utterances within a single broadcast may
be considered separate violations for purposes of determining forfeitures
under our indecency rules."
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA483315?display=Breaking+News&...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
IN BATTLE OVER VALUES, WILL THE FAMILY PC BE THE NEXT TARGET?
[Commentary] If the country goes on a values campaign, how long will it
take for the Internet-enabled PC to become a target? Politicians,
especially conservative ones, regularly take on "Hollywood values" as
shorthand for a poisonous social force; that was part of the dynamic of the
recent political campaign. But they haven't yet in great numbers taken what
could be considered the next logical step: moving from the living room to
the den to do the same with the Internet and the computer. There was a
Senate Commerce Committee hearing in Washington this month about Internet
pornography at which witnesses made the case that the situation with erotic
material online was analogous to the worst sort of drug epidemic. Using the
language of addiction would make an anti-porn crusade a matter of public
health rather than public morals. Yet it's hard to see anything close to a
social consensus developing around that issue, the way there might be for
one involving ultraviolent video games. Right now, the U.S. television
networks are very busy looking over their shoulders as they decide the
sorts of things they should put on the air. It isn't hard to imagine a
similar kind of response occurring among people responsible for various
parts of the computer industry, even if they don't have anything like the
same sort of direct control over content that broadcasters do. The computer
and the Internet have established themselves as an integral part of many
homes; small wonder if some people will begin to wonder what is being let in.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Lee Gomes lee.gomes( at )wsj.com]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110168430408285177,00.html?mod=todays...
(requires subscription)
COMCAST: FCC SHOULD EASE REGULATION
With the Federal Communications Commission nearing release of its annual
pay-TV-competition report to Congress, Comcast is urging the agency to roll
back rules that the cable giant said are inconsistent with a competitive
pay TV market. Specifically, Comcast wants a rule that would totally
deregulate all cable systems in a state where direct-broadcast satellite
penetration exceeds 15%. Current rules require cable operators to prove
that an individual franchise area has 15% penetration by pay TV rivals.
Comcast's proposal would result in total cable deregulation in 41 states,
according to data the National Cable & Telecommunications Association
submitted to the FCC July 23. Comcast also urged the FCC to "initiate a
review" of its program-access rules, which require Comcast to sell its
satellite-delivered programming to EchoStar and DirecTV. The FCC, Comcast
said, should eliminate the rule prior to its October 2007 sunset, or at
least allow the company to withhold programming from EchoStar and DirecTV,
which are allowed to secure exclusive program rights with affiliated and
unaffiliated programmers and not sell those services to cable operators.
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA483302.html?display=Breaking+News
(requires subscription)
TV, TODAY AND TOMORROW
BusinessWeek has a special report on digital television this week and
identifies three drivers for DTV adoption: broadband Internet, wireless
home networking, and high-definition broadcasting. Included in the package
of articles is a look at the "spectrum showdown." Broadcasters received
free electronic airwaves -- which are technically owned by the public and
controlled by the federal government -- for digital transmissions. In
return, they had to give back the airwaves they now use for their old
analog broadcasts, which had been doled out over several decades. But they
didn't have to return it until 85% of U.S. households receive digital
signals or the year 2006, whichever came later. Now patience is running out
for the broadcasters to turn in that valuable piece of the sky. The year
2006 is just around the corner, and carriers are now sending digital
signals that reach 85% of households in just about all of the nation's 210
TV markets (even though not all those households have digital-ready TVs).
The spectrum is very valuable to wireless technologies from cell phones to
wireless, high-speed Internet access. But regulators and lawmakers have
lacked the political will so far to boot the powerful broadcasters out of
their analog space.
[SOURCE: BusinessWeek]
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/tc_special/tc_04hdtv.htm
TELECOM POLICY
FCC WARNS SBC ON NET PHONES
The FCC told phone giant SBC Communications to make sure a new pricing plan
it is offering to Internet phone companies isn't a back-door attempt to
levy higher fees on an emerging technology, or the company could face an
investigation. In a statement released Friday, FCC Chairman Michael Powell
said it appears that a new tariff SBC last week said it would charge
doesn't necessarily raise questions because it's not mandatory and Internet
phone companies can continue to use lower-cost alternatives. But, he added,
"should we conclude that this tariff is being used to justify the
imposition of traditional tariffed access charges on [Internet phone]
providers or to discriminate against SBC's competitors, the commission will
take appropriate action including, but not limited to, initiating an
investigation."
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110150508756684437,00.html?mod=todays...
(requires subscription)
See also:
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Reuters]
http://news.com.com/FCC+is+watching+SBCs+VoIP+charge/2100-7352_3-5468448...
Statement by FCC Chairman Powell:
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-254681A1.doc
ADELSTEIN'S SUPPORTERS HELPED WIN RENOMINATION
The renomination of FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein to another FCC term
surprised many industry observers who thought his chance to stay on the FCC
ended with the defeat of his mentor, Senate Minority Leader Thomas Daschle
(D-SD). But apparently Daschle's defeat itself jump-started Adelstein's
stalled nomination. Commissioner Adelstein's strong focus on rural issues
helped him win the support of rural commercial interests and Republicans in
rural states around the country -- including John Thune (R-SD), the man who
defeated Daschle. Before the election, Adelstein's main foe appears to have
been President Bush's chief political adviser Karl Rove who did not want to
do anything that could appear to be a help for Daschle. Several sources
questioned why President Bush would re-appoint a commissioner who held
opposite views on several issues -- particularly media ownership -- but one
offered a well-known saying to describe Bush's rationale: "The devil you
know is better than the devil you don't." Several sources speculated that
while other candidates for the Democratic seat may have offered a change
from Adelstein on some fronts, the Administration still needed to find a
Democrat for the seat who would be supported by Senate Democrats. As one
industry source told us, once the political war of the elections ended,
both Republicans and Democrats had interests in putting the fighting aside
and moving nominees that both could agree on. Adelstein was just one of
the more than 170 nominees that the Senate agreed to.
[SOURCE: Communications Daily 11/29, AUTHOR: Terry Lane]
(Not available online)
QUICKLY
RETURNING TO THE GENRE HE STARTED
A look at the godfather of TV lobbying, Ben Goddard. In 1993, several chief
executives of health insurance companies approached Goddard and his partner
in media consulting, Rick Claussen. President Bill Clinton had just
proposed a sweeping health care program. If he got his way, one of the
executives told Goddard, "I'm out of business." Goddard suggested a radical
solution -- an advertisement nicknamed "Harry and Louise" after the
fictional couple that did all the talking. To the shock of many insiders,
it killed the president's initiative and launched a lobbying-by-television
wave. Goddard now says he foresees rapid growth in the already widely used
method. He also expects an increasing use of innovative formats, especially
via the Internet.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Jeffrey H. Birnbaum]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18417-2004Nov28.html
(requires registration)
CINGULAR TO SELL ASSETS TO ALLTEL AS PART OF AT&T WIRELESS DEAL
Alltel, the country's sixth-biggest cellular carrier with 8.2 million
subscribers, will buy licenses, network equipment and subscribers from
Cingular Wireless for $170 million to help Cingular meet federal
divestiture requirements as part of its purchase of AT&T. Roughly 200,000
customers will be transferred to Alltel as part of the deal which will need
approval by federal regulators.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Jesse Drucker jesse.drucker( at )wsj.com]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110147884694084250,00.html?mod=todays...
(requires subscription)
FILM STUDIOS WIN $24 MILLION AGAINST WEB SITE
Hollywood's major movie studios said they won a $23.8 million judgment
against a California company and its Malaysian owner for operating a Web
site that charged customers to download illegally copied movies.
[SOURCE: Reuters]
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=H5TNDIUFKQ4G2CRBAE0C...
VIDEO GAMES TEACH MORE THAN HAND-EYE COORDINATION
Video games, often maligned as having little or no redeeming value, are
becoming a way for firefighters, soldiers, currency traders and college
administrators to hone their skills. See more about "serious games" at the
URL below.
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Andy Sullivan]
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=CU1XBRYWMAJP0CRBAEKS...
EUROPE STALLS CONTENTGUARD DEAL
Since April, Microsoft and Time Warner have been trying to purchase
ContentGuard, a pioneer in digital rights management (DRM). But, in an
indication of just how important the world of digital rights has become,
the deal has been stalled while the European Commission considers whether
the purchase would give Microsoft a monopoly in the digital-rights
management market.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Victoria Shannon]
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/29/technology/29newecon.html
(requires registration)
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Communications-related Headlines is a free online news summary service
provided by the Benton Foundation (www.benton.org). Posted Monday through
Friday, this service provides updates on important industry developments,
policy issues, and other related news events. While the summaries are
factually accurate, their often informal tone does not always represent the
tone of the original articles. Headlines are compiled by Kevin Taglang
(headlines( at )benton.org) -- we welcome your comments.
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