The FCC's Consumer Advisory Committee meets today and there will be two
town meetings on the Future of Media next week. For these and other
upcoming media policy events, see http://www.benton.org/calendar.htm.
Headlines will publish again THURSDAY JUNE 24.
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.
INTERNET
Eroding E-rate
MEDIA
Senate Judiciary Approves SHVIA Legislation
Outside Audit: TV Networks May Not Be 'Upfront'
QUICKLY
The Politics of Spam
House Panel Passes Spyware Permission Bill
Weather Radios Will Carry More Kinds of Alerts
Broadcast Indecency Bill
Video Competition NOI Released
ONE LAST THOUGHT: Juneteenth
INTERNET
ERODING E-RATE
With a House oversight hearing on the e-rate this week, C-Net posted this
long look at the charges of fraud associated with the program to wire
schools and libraries to the Internet. Consumers contribute about $1/per
month to the program which has distributed about $13 billion since 1998 in
the form of discounts for telecommunications services. As of 2001, 87
percent of all classrooms in public schools have Internet access, including
81 percent of all classrooms in schools with minority enrollment of 50
percent or more. And as of 2002, about 95 percent of all public libraries
provide Internet access. "Ten years ago, most classrooms didn't even have
phone lines, much less Internet connectivity," says Sam Simon, chairman of
the Telecommunications Research & Action Center, a consumer advocacy group
in Washington, D.C. "That's changed, and I don't think the country would
have gotten there without E-rate.
This articles chronicles both the program's successes and failures. Take a
look at the URL below.
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Marguerite Reardon]
http://news.com.com/Eroding+E-rate/2009-1028_3-5236723.html?tag=cd.lede
Also see link to House hearing
http://energycommerce.house.gov/108/Hearings/06172004hearing1291/hearing...
Additional coverage in
USA Today http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20040618/6299634s.htm
NYT http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/18/education/18computer.html
MEDIA
SENATE JUDICIARY APPROVES SHVIA LEGISLATION
The Senate Judiciary Committee approved a version of the Satellite Home
Viewer Improvement Act (SHVIA) on Thursday that had similarities to a
version moving in the House Judiciary Committee, but it appeared not to be
as restrictive on satellite broadcasters. The bill's provisions would 1)
raise royalty rates and require a Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel
(CARP) to review the rates, 2) apply simpler rules to allow DBS
broadcasters to broadcast out-of-market significantly-viewed stations similar
to the rules placed on cable for significantly-viewed stations, and 3)
allow viewers who either don't receive a local broadcast signal, or receive
a grade B signal, to receive both the local signal and a distant signal.
[SOURCE: Communications Daily, AUTHOR: Terry Lane]
(Not available online)
Also see coverage in:
Multichannel news
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA428012?display=Breaking+News
OUTSIDE AUDIT: TV NETWORKS MAY NOT BE 'UPFRONT'
The TV broadcast networks have claimed that $9.5 billion in advertising has
been committed for the next TV year, but does this highly touted number
have anything to do with reality? In trying to link upfront numbers in past
years to actual results, "I couldn't find any correlation whatsoever to
reality," says Tom Wolzien, a senior media analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein
& Co. According to Mr. Wolzien, total 2002-2003 upfront commitments were up
21% compared with the previous upfront. The 2003-2004 upfront was up 13%.
In a sign that those figures have little to do with real activity, Mr.
Wolzien wrote in a recent research note that broadcast-network revenue rose
only 1% in calendar year 2003, which spanned parts of two TV seasons, while
the overall ad market for that calendar year rose a mere 2.8%. Although
advertisers make commitments in the spring, deals are not secured in
contracts until August or September. Advertisers often have options to
cancel a portion of their commitments if a network kills off a program and
swaps it for something that the advertiser doesn't think is right for its
products or brand. This happens more often than not -- about 80% of new TV
programs fail. When a show to which an advertiser had committed is
canceled, the network and the advertiser must agree on an alternative. So
then what is the upfront good for? It's still a great way to gauge
advertisers' interest in the effectiveness of broadcast television. This
year, skepticism has been high, with marketers fighting not to pay higher
prices for the networks' dwindling audiences. Consider that for 2003-2004,
the upfront process was completed in a matter of days, while for 2004-2005,
marketers took a trip first to top-tier cable outlets, and bought time
there before starting to negotiate with the broadcast networks in earnest.
This year, the broadcast-net work negotiations took several weeks showing
that advertisers are growing disenchanted with traditional media, such as
TV commercials.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Brian Steinberg
brian.steinberg( at )wsj.com]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB108750553903140525,00.html?mod=todays...
(requires subscription)
QUICKLY
THE POLITICS OF SPAM
This brief piece begins: "It's bracing to encounter a rare government
agency that knows when it has met its match. So a tip of the hat to the
Federal Trade Commission, which this week declined to go mano a mano with
spam." The WSJ appreciates the opportunity to say, "understand that there
are some problems in life that don't have a government solution."
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: WSJ Editorial Staff]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB108751408723841011,00.html?mod=todays...
(requires subscription)
HOUSE PANEL PASSES SPYWARE PERMISSION BILL
The House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade
and Consumer Protection approved legislation (H.R. 2929) Thursday that
would regulate computer "spyware," forcing software makers to notify
consumers before installing some kinds of monitoring programs on their PCs.
The bill was introduced by Reps Mary Bono (R-CA) and Ed Towns (D-NY).
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: John Borland]
http://news.com.com/House+panel+passes+spyware+permission+bill/2100-1028...
WEATHER RADIOS WILL CARRY MORE KINDS OF ALERTS
The Department of Homeland Security and the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a branch of the federal government that
oversees the National Weather Service and operates the emergency network
that broadcasts messages to weather radios, have agreed to use the radio
network to notify the public of terrorist attacks and a change in the
color-coded national threat level. About 15-20% of households own a weather
radio which is designed to alert people of an emergency even when the
devise is not turned on.
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR:Traci Watson]
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20040618/6299661s.htm
BROADCAST INDECENCY LEGISLATION
Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) has reportedly decided to offer his indecency
bill as an amendment to the Department of Defense authorization bill.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA428022?display=Breaking+News
(requires subscription)
VIDEO COMPETITION NOI RELEASED
The FCC released its Notice of Inquiry for its Annual Report to Congress on
Video Competition. It is now available online at the URL below.
[SOURCE: FCC]
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-136A1.doc
ONE LAST THOUGHT: Juneteenth
From "Losing Ground Bit by Bit: Low-Income Communities in the Information
Age" (1998)
http://www.benton.org/publibrary/losing-ground/intro.html
When Tony Riddle, executive director of Manhattan Neighborhood Network,
wants to emphasize the importance of information to social welfare, he
tells the story of "Juneteenth."
June 19 commemorates the day in 1865 when slaves in Texas first learned
that Abraham Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln
actually signed the proclamation much earlier in 1863. But the Texas
slaves, deprived of this information, had to wait two and a half more years
before finally achieving freedom.
Today, it's hard to imagine anybody being denied information so vital to
his or her well-being for so long. Yet in ways more subtle but nevertheless
insidious, some people lack access to the emerging information resources of
the digital age. By 1998, we may assume that every American has at least
heard of, if not used, the global computer network called the Internet. But
while kids in wealthier households may now take access to technology at
home, at school, or at the local library for granted, the lack of access to
up-to-date computers in low-income communities and to affordable Internet
service in rural areas leaves many people cut off from good jobs and the
chance to participate in the affairs of the broader society.
Indeed, even as digital technologies are bringing an exciting array of new
opportunities to many Americans, they actually are aggravating the poverty
and isolation that plague some rural areas and inner cities. Advances in
telecommunications are speeding the exodus of good jobs from urban areas to
the suburbs, leaving inner cities and rural areas more isolated than ever
from the kinds of jobs, educational opportunities, quality health-care
services, and technological tools that they need to be able to contribute
to the overall economy.
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Enjoy the holiday. We'll be back June 24.
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