For upcoming media policy events, see http://www.benton.org/calendar.htm
BROADCASTING
Broadcasting Reform Legislation Introduced
Localism Key to 'Must-Carry' Battle
The Politics of the Transition to Digital Television
NRB Pans 700mHz Plan
Radio Gets Low Ratings from Marketers, Agency Planners
TELECOM
With Ma Gone, Baby Bells Get New Clout
Mergers Raise Concerns Over Internet Access
Calling For Real Competition
Megamergers May Push Others to Seek Partners
Telecom Deals may take Cable Companies Off the Hook
FCC Fee Defeat Looms for AT&T
CONTENT
House to Vote on TV-Indecency Bill
Political Web ads may be Curtailed
Music Sharing Goes Legal On Web Radio
Viacom Seeks to Rejigger AIDS Ads
It's Clear that Homophobia is Reason for Ad's Rejection
Guidelines for Limiting Children's Access to Inappropriate Content
Via Wireless Services
QUICKLY -- Handicapping the race for FCC Chairmanship; FCC Regulatory Fees;
Laurels for Giving the Internet Its Language; Garage door openers near
military bases; Cell phones on planes
BROADCASTING
BROADCASTING REFORM LEGISLATION INTRODUCED
At a press conference held Tuesday to announce the findings of a study on
broadcasters' coverage of the 2004 election cycle, Sen John McCain (R-AZ)
announced the introduction of the "Localism in Broadcasting Reform Act of
2005." The legislation would reduce the license term for broadcasters from
eight years to three years, thereby requiring broadcasters to provide the
FCC with information every three years on why their license should be
renewed. Additionally, the bill would require the full Federal
Communications Commission to review five percent of all license and renewal
applications, and would command broadcasters to post on their Internet
sites information detailing their commitment to local public affairs
programming. The bill also calls for the FCC to complete its open
proceeding on whether public interest obligations should apply to
broadcasters in the digital era. "I believe this legislation is a step in
the right direction," Sen McCain said. "It will have a small impact on
those stations that are currently meeting their public interest
obligations, but it should have a large impact on those citizens whose
local broadcaster is not meeting its obligation to serve the local
community. I refuse to believe that the "public interest" is served by
three minutes of campaign coverage and a 12 second sound bite from a
candidate during a half-hour local news program. Citizens deserve more from
their local broadcaster."
[SOURCE: Senate, AUTHOR: Sen John McCain (R-AZ)]
http://mccain.senate.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=NewsCenter.ViewPressReleas...
* Sen McCain, in part, was reacting to a new study on the performance of
broadcasters in covering the 2004 election. See that research at:
http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/retrieve.cgi?native_or_pdf=pdf&id_doc...
* The National Association of Broadcasters believe the study is flawed. See
the NAB's response at:
http://www.nab.org/Newsroom/PressRel/statements/021505_LearCenterResearc...
*FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein said, "This study cries out for the
need for stronger public interest obligations to make all broadcasters
reach a higher level of accountability."
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-256801A1.doc
* See additional coverage --
- Broadcasting&Cable:
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA504364?display=Breaking+News&...
- Multichannel News:
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA504367.html?display=Breaking+News&...
- TVWeek: http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=7307
LOCALISM KEY TO 'MUST-CARRY' BATTLE
Television station owners, feeling squeezed by what they see as a double
indecency standard that favors cable, the potentially devastating
implications for advertising revenue occasioned by the digital video
recorder, and other factors, say they need regulatory help on one front or
another. Either give us digital must-carry, they say, and let us expand
that way, or let us get bigger through cross-ownership of newspapers and TV
stations or the control of three stations in one market. The FCC sought to
allow the latter options nearly two years ago, but a federal appeals court
blocked those rules and tossed them back to the Commission to reconsider.
Whatever happens, broadcast television is still going to be around, says
Bill Carroll, director of programming at ad sales representation firm Katz
Television Group. "We seem to be a pretty resilient industry, and we seem
to find ways to adapt to the changing environment, and if history is a
gauge, we'll find a way. Many viewers are not able to distinguish between
cable and broadcast, because it often comes into their homes via cable or
satellite. But if the essential information that they count on was not
there, they'd become very aware of the impact and the import of having a
local station as part of the mix."
[SOURCE: MarketWatch, AUTHOR: David B. Wilkerson]
http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7BF58BB4DA-77D8-451E-9E3...
(registration required)
THE POLITICS OF THE TRANSITION TO DIGITAL TELEVISION
A look at key issues in the transition to digital-only TV broadcasting in
the US including: 1) subsidizing poor and elderly consumers so that the
analog broadcasts
can be turned off (thus freeing spectrum for other uses); 2) working out
the relationships between over-the-air broadcasters on one hand and cable
and satellite service providers on the other via "must carry" rules in a
fair and equitable manner; 3) allowing consumers to purchase add-on
services without being forced to purchase unnecessary equipment from
service providers ("plug and play"); 4) protecting the intellectual
property rights of content producers without violating the rights of
consumers to engage in "fair use" of content; and 5) maintaining the
important role of local broadcasters in providing local political
information to citizens.
[SOURCE: Indiana University, AUTHOR: Professor Jeffrey Hart]
http://www.indiana.edu/~globalm/pdf/techconf.pdf
NRB PANS 700MHZ PLAN
At its annual meeting in Anaheim, National Religious Broadcasters
association is calling on the Federal Communications Commission to rethink
its plan to reclaim channels in the 700-MHz band for emergency
communications, and it wants Congress to step in to establish an
"equitable" digital-TV-transition plan. The 700mHz band is home to a number
of religious broadcasters, and the group says the FCC plan will "cause
consumer disruption and detrimentally affect the cultural dialogue." The
group is also considering how to weigh in on the broadcast indecency debate
now in Congress. The House will vote on its version of a bill today.
Finally, the group also called for Hollywood to treat faith more fairly.
NRB cited a Parents Television Council study that found religion was
regularly dissed on prime time TV. PTC President Brent Bozell gave
attendees a personal walk-through of the study, which was released last month
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA504260?display=Breaking+News&...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
RADIO GETS LOW RATINGS FROM MARKETERS, AGENCY PLANNERS
The second phase of an advertiser-perception study released last week at
the Radio Advertising Bureau's 2005 Conference found that marketers and
media-planning agencies rated radio's audience measurement, schedule
integrity and accountability below those of broadcast TV, cable,
newspapers, magazines and the Internet. The interest in attracting national
ad dollars comes at a time when local advertising has been fueling radio's
revenue. While local radio advertising grew 3% in 2004 and makes up 80% of
radio's advertising, national spending remained flat and presents the most
room to grow in 2005. Some of the radio industry's recommendations for
reducing the gap in accountability perception included: offering more
detailed, accurate ratings and a faster system of letting advertisers know
when ads ran; improving schedule integrity; and electronic invoicing, to
speed up verification of when ads were played.
[SOURCE: AdAge, AUTHOR: Abbey Klaasen]
http://adage.com/news.cms?newsId=44322
TELECOM
WITH MA BELL GONE, BABY BELLS GET NEW CLOUT
Rep Joe Barton (R-TX), the Chairman of the House Commerce Committee, want
to pass a bill this summer that would create regulatory parity for cable
companies and telephone companies as they provide the same services.
Although it is tough to guess the future in telecom, BT Group Chief
Executive Ben Verwaayen describes three grand "convergences" now in
progress. The first is the convergence of local, long-distance and wireless
telephone services -- which will be well under way if the latest batch of
mergers is approved. The second is the convergence of data and telephone
services, which, with the advent of Internet-based telephone services, is
on its way, too. The third will be a convergence of networks, such as the
cable and telephone networks, with services, including telephone, data and
television. The trick for lawmakers and regulators is to allow for change
while protecting key constituencies. The purchase of long distance
companies by Baby Bells does not only remove competitors from the playing
field, it removes some players who vie for the hearts and voters of federal
policymakers. That could make it easier for the Baby Bells to achieve their
long-cherished goal of getting Congress to eliminate much of the regulation
those companies now face. And that, in turn, could help the Baby Bells
prevail in their battle with cable companies to become the ultimate
providers of broadband Internet services to households. Cable companies are
building up their lobbying forces in Washington, too. They have some
powerful allies. States and cities are likely to oppose deregulation, for
fear their residents may face higher rates from the newly merged telephone
companies. They also will argue that a "level playing field" should give
them the power to regulate telephone companies, just as they now have power
to regulate cable.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Alan Murray]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110851066133755840,00.html?mod=todays...
(requires subscription)
See also --
* To Meet the Threat From Cable, SBC Rushes to Offer TV Service
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Almar Latour almar.latour( at )wsj.com]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110850903330355785,00.html?mod=todays...
(requires subscription)
MERGERS RAISE CONCERNS OVER INTERNET ACCESS
On the surface, the frenzy of telecommunications mergers in the past few
weeks raises relatively clear-cut questions for lawmakers and regulators
who will be weighing the deals: Will consumers and businesses be harmed if
long-distance choices disappear when AT&T and MCI are swallowed by
telephone giants SBC and Verizon? In many parts of the country, the mergers
would mean that two of the top three providers of long-distance telephone
service are combining, leaving one overwhelmingly dominant player.
Ordinarily, such corporate marriages have trouble getting approved. But
several experts said they expect as many questions to be raised about
whether the phone giants would gain too much power over access to the
Internet, especially for large businesses.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Jonathan Krim]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27724-2005Feb15.html
(requires registration)
CALLING FOR REAL COMPETITION
[Commentary] Over the next several years, an expensive and high-stakes
lobbying and legal war will be fought over the following questions: is the
public best served by allowing companies to monopolize the services that
run over the networks they have built? Or should the companies be required
to allow competitors access to certain parts of their networks, at a
reasonable price, to ensure a more competitive market? The first battle in
this war is likely to be the antitrust review of the SBC's proposed
purchase of AT&T and Verizon's of MCI. Regulators have one last chance to
create genuine competition among phone companies. As a condition for
approving their purchases of companies they were supposed to compete
against, SBC and Verizon should be required to negotiate a contract
allowing each to hook into the other's local network on reasonable terms.
In addition, whatever deal they come up with would have to be offered to
the other two Baby Bells, Qwest and BellSouth. This process wouldn't
immediately require the Baby Bells to compete on one another's turf, as
they promised to do in the past and promptly forgot about. But once the
Baby Bells finish locking up the traditional phone markets in their home
territory, which they are well on the way to doing, they will probably have
no choice but to go elsewhere to meet growth targets. These agreements
would open the door to such competition.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Steven Pearlstein pearlsteins( at )washpost.com]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27725-2005Feb15.html
(requires registration)
MEGAMEGERS MAY PUSH OTHERS TO SEEK PARTNERS
The creation of two dominant telecom titans -- SBC-AT&T and Verizon-MCI --
marks a seismic shift in the telecom industry. It will likely force other
players to seek partners in the next one to three years, some experts say.
They could include the two other Bell companies, Qwest and BellSouth, as
well as smaller phone rivals, equipment suppliers and cable companies. Some
say Qwest and BellSouth are destined to be swallowed by SBC and Verizon.
BellSouth and Qwest might not have the deep pockets to take on cable
giants. Also, SBC and Verizon plan to use their new long-distance units to
target big corporate customers in their territories. Meanwhile, much
smaller phone companies such as XO Communications and Broadwing, will
likely face new pressure from SBC and Verizon in the market for
small-to-midsize business customers. They could merge with each other or
with cable companies that need telecommunications assets to enter the
corporate market. SBC and Verizon will no longer need the networks of
wholesale long-distance providers, such as WilTel and Level 3. They, too,
could be snapped up by cable companies. Finally, the two megamergers leave
fewer customers for equipment suppliers such as Lucent Technologies and
Nortel Networks. They could seek to combine.
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Paul Davidson]
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/money/20050216/telecom16.art.htm
TELECOM DEALS MAY TAKE CABLE COMPANIES OFF THE HOOK
Verizon and SBC terrified many cable and satellite executives last year
when the two phone companies said they'd spend billions to compete for
television customers. Each promised a full array of TV channels and
state-of-the-art services, including video on demand. But the entrenched
providers may get at least a temporary reprieve now that Verizon announced
plans to buy MCI, after SBC's agreement to acquire AT&T. Several analysts
say the mergers will make it hard for the two telecom companies'
managements to devote the attention, and possibly the resources, needed to
quickly turn themselves into video powers. The telecom companies must cut
deals with cable channels, local TV stations and the studios that supply
movies and other shows for video on demand. In addition, the phone
companies may need licenses from thousands of local franchise boards.
Verizon and SBC want lawmakers to streamline the process. But the mergers
could hurt that effort.
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: David Lieberman]
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/money/20050216/cable16.art.htm
FCC FEE DEFEAT LOOMS FOR AT&T
The Federal Communications Commission is prepared to tell AT&T Corp. that
it can't withhold certain long-distance fees and rural phone subsidy
payments on its prepaid calling card. The decision could open up AT&T to
demands for hundreds of millions of dollars in back payments from other
carriers and administrators of the Universal Service Fund, which provides
subsidies for rural areas, schools and libraries. By its own tally, AT&T
has withheld a total of about $340 million in access fees -- charges paid
to other carriers to connect calls -- and $160 million in universal service
fees.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110851661400656037,00.html?mod=todays...
(requires subscription)
CONTENT
HOUSE TO VOTE ON TV-INDECENCY BILL
The House is scheduled to vote on HR310 today. The bill would raise maximum
fines to $500,000 per offense for the broadcast of indecent programming.
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA504134.html?display=Breaking+News&...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
POLITICAL ADS MAY BE CURTAILED
The Federal Election Commission plans to begin reviewing next month whether
the Internet should continue to enjoy its privileged status as exempt from
some of the stricter dictates of a 2002 campaign finance law. In September
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ruled that the FEC's "exclusion
of Internet communications from the coordinated communications regulation
severely undermines" purposes of campaign finance reform law. At the heart
of the dispute is the vague wording of the 2002 law, which regulates
political advertising coordinated with political campaigns that appears on
"any broadcast, cable or satellite communication, newspaper, magazine,
outdoor advertising facility, mass mailing or telephone bank to the general
public, or any other form of general public political advertising." In
2002, the FEC concluded that portion of the law did not extend to the
Internet. Because Congress included the Internet and the World Wide Web
elsewhere in the statute, the omission was intentional, the FEC reasoned.
But Kollar-Kotelly disagreed.
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Declan McCullagh]
http://news.com.com/Political+Web+ads+may+be+curtailed/2100-1024_3-55774...
MUSIC SHARING GOES LEGAL ON WEB RADIO
Peer-to-peer radio way seem to be a legal way to share music online. Like
the file-sharing services that have drawn the ire of record labels, P2P
radio helps people swap free music with each other. But instead of
downloading songs to their PC desktops, users can create playlists of their
favorite music and, with a few clicks of the mouse, "broadcast" them over
the Internet to fellow users . People can also search for music by artist
or by genre, but not by specific song title. When "broadcasters" aren't
online, neither are their "radio stations." P2P radio companies pay annual
fees and royalties to nonprofit groups such as SoundExchange Inc. and the
American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, or Ascap, which pass
royalties along to copyright holders based on the service's estimated range
of listeners.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Vauhini Vara vauhini.vara( at )wsj.com]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110851022683155825,00.html?mod=todays...
(requires subscription)
VIACOM SEEKS TO REJIGGER AIDS ADS
The announcement last week of a rare and potentially virulent strain of HIV
showed that the virus that causes AIDS remains an elusive and dangerous
enemy. With that in mind, Viacom is weighing changes to a public-awareness
campaign aimed at encouraging HIV testing and reducing the stigma of the
disease. The campaign, called KNOW HIV/AIDS (the logo uses colors to also
read as NO HIV/AIDS), uses airtime on Viacom networks such as MTV,
Nickelodeon and Black Entertainment Television to target those at
particularly high risk for contracting the disease: young people and
minorities. By year end, Viacom says, it will have donated $600 million of
television and radio airtime and outdoor-ad space to the campaign, which it
launched in 2003. Under the campaign, about 100 public-service
announcements have been produced for TV, radio and billboards. The ads run
in slots that Viacom reserves for public service announcements. In
addition, about 40 broadcast shows and cable programs have incorporated
HIV/AIDS themes into episodes.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Christopher Windham
christopher.windham( at )wsj.com ]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110851342753155955,00.html?mod=todays...
(requires subscription)
IT'S CLEAR THAT HOMOPHOBIA IS REASON FOR AD'S REJECTION
[Commentary] In rejecting United Church of Christ ads, NBC and CBS are
guilty of censorship and of insensitivity to the considerable suffering of
homosexuals. No doubt, the networks fear a right-wing backlash.
[SOURCE: Accessible Airwaves, AUTHOR: Rev. William Sloane Coffin]
http://www.accessibleairwaves.org/
GUIDELINES FOR LIMITING CHILDREN'S ACCESS TO INAPPROPRIATE CONTENT VIA
WIRELESS SERVICES
FCC Wireless Bureau Chief John Muleta has written a letter to CTIA (the
wireless lobby) President Steve Largent about access to adult content by
minors on mobile devices. Muleta asks for help educating parents about
their options with regard to content access by minors -- letting parents
know that they can block access to pay-per-call voice services and access
to the mobile Internet through their children's handsets; informing parents
of the types of content that children will have access to through download
services; and ensuring that parents are aware of the different types of
services to which their children will have access. He asks the lobby
organization to consider whether the availability of adult content via
mobile devices warrants changes to CTIA's carrier code of conduct to
promote industry self-regulation. Finally, he encourages CTIA to examine
the efforts that are being made by both government and industry in other
countries to address the issue.
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Wireless Bureau Chief
John Muleta]
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-256795A1.pdf
Additional coverage --
Broadcasting&Cable:
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA504248.html?display=Breaking+...
Multichannel News:
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA504365.html?display=Breaking+News&...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
QUICKLY
HANDICAPPING THE RACE FOR FCC CHAIRMANSHIP
[Commentary] Sure, the conventional wisdom is that FCC Commissioner Kevin
Martin will be tapped by President Bush to be the agency's new chairman.
But his voting record has made him an unreliable ally of deregulation and
the high-tech industry. That's why some advocacy groups are backing a
dark-horse candidate: Peter Pitsch, who's currently an Intel lobbyist.
Pitsch was chief of staff to the FCC chairman in the late 1980s and has
spent years navigating the obscure byways of telecommunications policy on
behalf of the world's largest chipmaker, where he's director of
communications policy. Right now he's trying to convince Congress that TV
broadcasters should return a chunk of spectrum real estate to the public
for use by new Wi-Fi-like wireless services. Pitsch also is deeply involved
with the VON Coalition, which seeks to keep 1930s-era telecommunications
laws away from Internet telephony. Whoever succeeds Chairman Michael Powell
will wield tremendous influence during a period that promises to be very
disruptive. Congress is considering rewriting the 1996 Telecommunications
Act to address Internet telephone service -- a process that would, if
history is any indication, dump all the implementation details in the FCC's
lap. Video is another huge area for regulatory rethinking. The next FCC
chairman also will have the chance to do something that Chairman Powell
never did, or perhaps never could, which is to downsize the FCC.
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Declan McCullagh]
http://news.com.com/Handicapping+the+race+for+FCC+chairmanship/2010-1037...
FCC REGULATORY FEES
The FCC released for comment (by March 8) a proposal for collecting
$280,098,000 in regulatory fees for Fiscal Year (FY) 2005. These fees are
mandated by Congress and are collected to recover the regulatory costs
associated with the Commission's enforcement, policy and rulemaking, user
information, and international activities. Multichannel News reports that
cable operators are expected to pay 72 cents per subscriber -- or $46.8
million total -- to help fund the Federal Communications Commission for the
next 12 months.
[SOURCE: FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION]
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-05-35A1.doc
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA504325.html?display=Breaking+News&...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
LAURELS FOR GIVING THE INTERNET ITS LANGUAGE
The Association for Computing Machinery plans to announce Wednesday that
Vinton G. Cerf and Robert E. Kahn will receive the 2004 A. M. Turing Award,
widely considered to be the computing field's equivalent of the Nobel Prize.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Katie Hafner]
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/16/technology/16internet.html
(requires registration)
Your garage door opener may not work if you live close to a military base.
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-05-424A1.doc
The FCC released its plan to examine the ban on using cellular phones on
airborne aircraft.
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-288A1.doc
--------------------------------------------------------------
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.
--------------------------------------------------------------