Two big events in Washington today. The House Subcommittee on=20
Telecommunications and the Internet will hold a hearing on competition in=20
the communications marketplace and the FCC is holding the Wireless=20
Broadband Forum. For these and other upcoming media policy events, see=20
http://www.benton.org/calendar.htm
Communications-related Headlines is a free online news summary service=20
provided by the Benton Foundation (www.benton.org). Posted Monday through=20
Friday, this service provides updates on important industry developments,=20
policy issues, and other related news events. While the summaries are=20
factually accurate, their often informal tone does not always represent the=
=20
tone of the original articles. Headlines are compiled by Kevin Taglang=20
(headlines( at )benton.org) -- we welcome your comments.
TELEVISION & RADIO
FCC to Audit Broadcasters This Month Under New EEO Rules
Congress Cans a la Carte
The Political Endurance Test
Barton: Cable Indecency Law Coming
Stations Seek Preemption Assurance
Center for Rural Strategies Opposes "Amish in the City"
TELECOM
Rural Telephone Executives Lobby Capitol Hill
SBC Faces Possibility of Strike As Union Gives 24-Hour Notice
MEDIA & POLITICS
Bush's Site Neck and Neck with Kerry's in Traffic Race
TELEVISION & RADIO
FCC TO AUDIT BROADCASTERS THIS MONTH UNDER NEW EEO RULES
Within several weeks, the FCC will send audit letters to about 550 radio=20
stations, 70 TV stations and 70 multichannel video program distributor=20
(MVPD) units, including 5% of cable operators, said Lewis Pulley, Assistant=
=20
Chief of the Policy Division in the FCC=92s Media Bureau, at a National=20
Association of Broadcasters Human Resource Managers meeting Tuesday. The=20
action comes after criticism from the United Church of Christ and other=20
supporters of equal employment opportunity rules. "Given that the new=20
broadcast EEO rules did not go into effect until March 10, 2003, audits=20
conducted in calender year 2003 would not have been productive as=20
broadcasters would not have had ample time to comply and document their=20
compliance with the new regulations,=94 FCC Chairman Powell said. By giving=
=20
broadcasters a year to document
compliance, as broadcast licenses are renewed, they can prepare public file=
=20
reports to the Commission for review, said Chairman Powell. In addition,=20
under the new rules, broadcasters have to adopt supplemental recruitment=20
initiatives over 2 years. It would have been =93extremely difficult=94 for=
=20
broadcasters to comply given the short period
between the effective date of the rules and the audits had they been=20
conducted last year, Chairman Powell said: =93Indeed, for this reason, some=
=20
claim that a truly meaningful audit cannot be conducted until the initial=20
2-year period has passed.=94
[SOURCE: Communications Daily, AUTHOR: Tania Panczyk-Collins]
(Not available online)
CONGRESS CANS A LA CARTE
Rep Nathan Deal (R-GA) announced Tuesday that he is withdrawing the a la=20
carte amendment he planned to offer when the House Commerce Committee votes=
=20
on satellite TV legislation next month. Instead, House Commerce Committee=20
Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX) and House Telecommunications Subcommittee=20
Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) will ask the FCC to study the feasibility of an=
=20
a la carte requirement. Rep Barton told the American Cable Association that=
=20
there was not enough support for a la carte yet.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Bill McConnell]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA419133?display=3DBreaking+News
(requires subscription)
Multichannel news:=20
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA419079?display=3DBreaking+News
THE POLITICAL ENDURANCE TEST
Why, many critics ask, should people have to pay for offensive fare they=20
don't want? Why not let customers buy a =93family-friendly tier=94 of=20
programming or, better yet, customize their own family-friendly tier by=20
choosing a set number of channels on their own via the a la carte model?=20
=93Some networks would not survive in that environment,=94 says Jill=
Luckett,=20
vice president of program network policy at the National Cable &=20
Telecommunications Association. Creating a small tier of 10 or so=20
"family-friendly" channels would mean less viewers for those stations, the=
=20
cable industry argues, and advertisers would demand lower rates. That would=
=20
eventually put upward pressure on license fees, which would trickle down to=
=20
consumers. =93I just don't buy the economic-model argument,=94 says Laura=20
Mahaney, director of corporate and entertainment affairs of the Parents=20
Television Council. Rather than reduce advertising dollars for programmers,=
=20
Mahaney says niche tiers of programming (in which viewers would pay a flat=
=20
rate for a certain number of channels from an a la carte menu) could give=20
advertisers far more targeted information about viewers =97 raising what=
they=20
pay on a per-subscriber basis. It is unclear whether a la carte or=20
mini-tier legislation will become a reality at some point.
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Michael Grebb]
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA417514?display=3DSupplement&promoc...
=3DSUPP
(requires subscription)
BARTON: CABLE INDECENCY LAW COMING
House Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX) is again saying=20
publicly that he expects that the cable industry will need to comply with=20
broadcast-indecency rules in the near future. =93It=92s not something we=92r=
e=20
going to do right away, but it=92s an issue that=92s time has come, in my=20
opinion,=94 Rep Barton said in comments Tuesday to the American Cable=20
Association. =93I think we=92re approaching the time where whatever we apply=
to=20
the broadcasters in some way -- voluntarily or involuntarily -- is going to=
=20
be applied to cable. I know that causes some of you folks heartburn, and it=
=20
probably should. But you deserve to hear the truth from the chairman of the=
=20
committee.=94 Rep Barton has made the point that because cable and satellite=
=20
are viewed in more than 90 percent of U.S. homes, =93most Americans don't=20
differentiate between over-the-air and cable or satellite.=94
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA419180?display=3DBreaking+News
(requires subscription)
STATIONS SEEK PREEMPTION ASSURANCE
The Network Affiliated Stations Alliance believes that affiliation=20
agreements of all big networks but CBS "impermissibly prevent and hinder=20
affiliates from exercising discretion expressly protected" by FCC rules.=20
The television stations are seeking protection of the right-to-reject rule.=
=20
The stations say affiliates they are motivated by their desire to turn down=
=20
shows that would be "unsatisfactory or unsuitable" to local audiences or=20
when an affiliate wants to substitute programming of greater local or=20
national importance. The FCC is likely to decide on a petition from the=20
group in coming months and NASA has been lobbying for support in Congress.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Bill McConnell]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA419221?display=3DBreaking+News
(requires subscription)
CENTER FOR RURAL STRATEGIES OPPOSES "AMISH IN THE CITY"
Advocates for rural America today launched a newspaper advertising campaign=
=20
taking on CBS President Leslie Moovnes and UPN television over a proposed=20
reality show, =93Amish in the City.=94 The Center for Rural Strategies, a=
small=20
nonprofit organization based in eastern Kentucky, is running a quarter-page=
=20
advertisement on the op/ed page of Wednesday Philadelphia Inquirer. The ad=
=20
criticizes Moonves and UPN for attempting to make corporate profits by=20
ridiculing Amish youth and rural Americans. The proposed show would=20
transplant Amish teens to a major metropolitan area, place temptation in=20
their path, and tape the teens=92 ensuing struggles of faith. =93What kind=
of=20
person could relish millions of viewers snickering as vulnerable Amish=20
youth are sent up by TV producers for a humiliating up-close and personal=20
fall from grace?=94 the ad asks. Last year, Rural Strategies helped organize=
=20
a national campaign to stop CBS Television from producing a reality show=20
based on =93The Beverly Hillbillies,=94 in which a rural family=92s staged=
=20
encounters with southern California affluence and pop culture would have=20
served as the plotline. CBS is owned by Viacom, which also owns UPN. =93Thes=
e=20
so-called reality show concepts demonstrate how out of touch media giants=20
like Viacom are from real issues in the United States,=94 said Dee Davis,=20
president of the Center for Rural Strategies. =93To them, rural Americans=20
have stopped being real people and become a laugh track that=92s only there=
=20
to generate corporate profits. Any indignity, even testing the religious=20
faith of young people, is just fine as long as it brings in advertising=20
revenue. Well, Viacom is wrong, again.=94 Rural America comprises 80 percent=
=20
of the land area in the United States and is home to 55 million people, or=
=20
20 percent of the U.S. population.
[SOURCE: Center for Rural Strategies Press Release]
http://www.ruralstrategies.org/amish/5.19.release.html
TELECOM
RURAL TELEPHONE EXECUTIVES LOBBY CAPITOL HILL
Members of the Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small=20
Telecommunications Companies (OPASTCO) are in Washington, DC this week=20
asking Congress to reform universal service. There are four points the=20
organization wants to deliver: 1) Congress should voice =93strong=20
disapproval=94 of the recommendation by the Federal-State Joint Board to=20
restrict universal service funding to one =93primary=94 phone line per=20
customer. 2) Congress should urge the FCC to adopt a universal service=20
funding methodology for new competing telecos that=92s based on their own=20
costs rather than the costs of the incumbents they compete against. 3) The=
=20
Telecom Act should be amended to assess both intrastate and interstate=20
revenue for contributions to the universal service fund; only interstate=20
revenue is assessed now. 4) The base of contributors should be broadened to=
=20
include =93all facilities-based broadband Internet access providers,=94=20
including cable modem and other broadband platforms. While in town, the=20
representatives of small, independently owned local exchange carriers will=
=20
probably also do some shopping and maybe see a show.
[SOURCE: Communications Daily, AUTHOR: Edie Herman]
(Not available online)
SBC FACES POSSIBILITY OF STRIKE AS UNION GIVES 24-HOUR NOTICE
102,000 members of the Communications Workers of America may strike against=
=20
SBC Communications as early as today at 1pm (eastern). Over the last three=
=20
years, SBC has eliminated 29,000 union jobs from its core local-phone=20
business while not allowing union members to take jobs in expanding growth=
=20
areas of the company's business such as digital subscriber lines (DSL);=20
long-distance; and Wi-Fi, which provide wireless Internet connections.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Almar Latour almar.latour( at )wsj.com ]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB108492424805815246,00.html?mod=3Dtoda...
s_personal_journal
(requires subscription)
SJMerc:=20
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/technology/8701598.htm
MEDIA & POLITICS
BUSH'S SITE NECK AND NECK WITH KERRY'S IN TRAFFIC RACE
According to Nielsen/NetRatings, U.S. visitors to the Sen Kerry's campaign=
=20
Web site numbered 1.6 million last month, while President Bush's site=20
attracted 1.5 million visitors. Sen Kerry, according to Nielsen/NetRatings,=
=20
has a huge lead over President Bush in online advertising impressions, or=20
the number of times an online ad is viewed. In April, Sen Kerry's online=20
ads scored 52 million impressions to President Bush's paltry 5,000. But=20
figures for online ads sponsored by candidates' parties show Republican=20
efforts dwarfing those of Democrats, with 113 million impressions for=20
Republican National Committee-sponsored ads and 63,000 for ads sponsored by=
=20
the Democratic National Committee.
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Paul Festa]
http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-5215121.html?tag=3Dnefd.hed
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