The digital TV transition is back on the agenda next week as is the
performance of broadcasters. For these and other upcoming media policy
events, see http://www.benton.org/calendar.htm
A LA CARTE
NCTA, Disney, Viacom, Other Programmers Pan A La Carte
NCTA-Funded Study: A la Carte Hikes Rates
A La Carte Cable Option Benefits Consumers and Creative Artists,
Reduces Indecent Programming and Media Concentration
INTERNET
Common Sense Should be Applied to 'Broadband Gap'
Broadcasters to House: Copyright fees Killing Internet Radio
QUICKLY
D.C. Not High on Regulating Nielsen
A Cellphone Boycott Fails to Produce Sounds of Silence
A LA CARTE
NCTA, DISNEY, VIACOM, OTHER PROGRAMMERS PAN A LA CARTE
The National Cable & Telecommunications Association study below was just a
part of the filings at the FCC yesterday as the Commission seeks input on
an a la carte report to Congress due in the fall. NCTA and some of the
country's biggest TV programming companies offered lengthy economic
analyses as proof that government-mandated a la carte TV would be an
economic debacle for consumers and the companies. The lobbying group also
pointed out that many cable channels are optional as it is: subscribers
don't have to buy expanded basic and a number of premium channels and
packages are offered a la carte already. NCTA's filing included the
opinions of University of Chicago Law Professors Geoffrey Stone and David
Strauss of the U. of Chicago, who found that government-required a la carte
or themed tiers would impinge on cable operators' First Amendment rights.
"There is no government interest of sufficient importance to justify the
substantial burdens of an a la carte requirement. And
even if the government did have a substantial and important interest in
enabling cable customers to lower their bills and keep out unwanted
programming by purchasing only those program networks they wanted, an a la
carte requirement would still fail the test," NCTA said, summarizing the
professors' paper. C-SPAN wrote that it is not insulated from the effects
of an a la carte pricing requirement and that its ability to produce
quality public affairs TV could be destroyed. The Alliance for Community
Media feared the implications of a la carte for public, educational and
government (PEG) access channels. They asked that such channels continue to
be made available to all cable subscribers.
[SOURCE: Communications Daily, AUTHOR: Brigitte Greenberg]
(Not available online)
USAToday reports about the pro-a la carte comments filed by Consumers
Union. The organization wants an a la carte option to be available to cable
operators that want to offer it, which would require legislation striking
down programmer contracts that require their channels to be included in
packages. If consumer acceptance is high, operators might have to offer a
la carte as an option alongside an expanded basic package. That would also
serve viewers offended by indecent programming, Consumers Union says. A la
carte would enable subscribers to drop channels that air shows they deem
offensive. Consumers Union says programmers are exaggerating the effects of
a la carte, especially because expanded-basic packages would still be
offered. Today's programming tiers force subscribers to pay for channels
they don't watch and have helped drive up cable prices 56% since 1996, or
three times the inflation rate, Consumers Union says. The top 10 cable
networks account for 50% of viewing and the top 20 for 75%, according to
Nielsen ratings. And because viewers in the typical household watch just 17
channels, "Consumers are forced to buy a lot of channels they don't watch
in order to get the ones they do want,'' the group says. The system also
shuts out new programmers who don't have the resources to woo cable
companies to put them in their bundles, the group argues, and it favors
channels in which cable operators own a stake.
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: David Lieberman and Paul Davidson]
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20040716/6371927s.htm
NCTA-FUNDED STUDY: A LA CARTE HIKES RATES
To everyone's surprise, a National Cable & Telecommunications
Association-funded study concludes that a la carte pricing is no good.
Under three scenarios, the Booz Allen Hamilton study found, the forced sale
of cable networks a la carte would cause rates to rocket higher and clobber
niche networks denied the scale afforded by highly penetrated tiers. Just
the cost of making a la carte technology available would raise even current
tiered customers rates rise by 7-15%. In all, the NCTA billed the study,
which the lobbying organization filed with the FCC, as a strong refutation
of claims that a la carte would empower consumers to control the cost of
their monthly cable bills.
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA436405?display=Breaking+News
(requires subscription)
NCTA Press Release
http://www.ncta.com/press/press.cfm?PRid=518&showArticles=ok
The a la Carte Paradox: Higher Consumer Costs and Reduced Programming Diversity
http://www.ncta.com/pdf_files/Booz_Allen_a_la_Carte_Report.pdf
A LA CARTE CABLE OPTION BENEFITS CONSUMERS AND CREATIVE ARTISTS, REDUCES
INDECENT PROGRAMMING AND MEDIA CONCENTRATION
Providing consumers with the right to choose which cable and satellite
networks they wish to subscribe to will enhance viewpoint diversity, reduce
media concentration, and promote free, creative, diverse, informative,
important, and entertaining television, the Center for Creative Voices in
Media told the FCC in comments filed Thursday. "Cable and satellite
programming packages and bundles are inherently un-diverse, larded with
networks unwanted by consumers that are in the package only because they
are affiliated with broadcast media conglomerates or cable operators," says
CCVM Executive Director Jonathan Rintels. "These cable network bundles are
shaped not by consumer choice, but by the conglomerates' and cable
operators' demands. Today's status quo chokehold of media conglomerates and
cable operators over cable carriage is not acceptable. It is inherently
anti-consumer, anti-diversity, and anti-creative artist. By restricting
independent networks' access to cable carriage, take-it-or-leave-it cable
network packaging reduces diversity of viewpoints and voices, thus damaging
not only television, but ultimately our democracy and culture."
[SOURCE: Center for Creative Voices in Media Press Release]
http://www.creativevoices.us/cgi-upload/news/news_article/FCCALCComments...
INTERNET
COMMON SENSE SHOULD BE APPLIED TO BROADBAND GAP
Langberg calls the "broadband gap" the overblown concern that other
countries are deploying high-speed Internet access faster than the United
States. The problem is one of demand, not supply. Half of online households
in the United States have broadband, up from less than 10% four years ago.
Almost all residents of suburban and urban America now have access to
either cable modem or DSL service. More people will switch to broadband,
Langberg predicts, when they are enticed with attractive new services that
offer clear benefits to offset the extra cost of broadband. He concludes,
Politicians and regulators should be working hard to remove any unnecessary
barriers to continued broadband growth. But going further -- into subsidies
or policies deliberating favoring one approach to broadband over another --
would be a big mistake. We shouldn't mess with the free market just because
a small number of valley entrepreneurs and venture capitalists are nervous
about how long it will take them to profit from the broadband boom.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR:Mike Langberg]
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/technology/9168618.h...
BROADCASTERS TO HOUSE: COPYRIGHT FEES KILLING INTERNET RADIO
Internet radio webcasters told the House Judiciary Internet & Intellectual
Property Subcommittee that burdensome copyright rules are forcing radio
stations off the Internet, instead of encouraging them. The National
Association of broadcasters offered Congress a five point plan: 1) exempt
the sound recording fee for streams to stations' local,
over-the-air audience; 2) reform the sound recording fee, including the
"willing buyer, willing seller" standard; 3) reform statutory license
conditions to make them consistent with broadcast practices; 4) eliminate
copyright liabilities for ephemeral recordings that exist only to enable a
licensed or exempt broadcast; and 5) ensure that reporting and record
keeping requirements do not preclude broadcasters from streaming. The
recording industry countered that new technologies are making piracy easier
and what's needed is legislation requiring a broadcast flag, encryption or
other copyright protection measure.
[SOURCE: Communications Daily, AUTHOR: Terry Lane]
(Not available online)
QUICKLY
D.C. NOT HIGH ON REGULATING NIELSEN
Although most seem to agree that Nielsen's "Local People Meters" provide
more accurate TV ratings than old-style diaries, they can't seem to how
accurate the sampling is or how to improve it. Speaking at a Senate
Commerce Committee hearing, Communications Subcommittee Chairman Conrad
Burns (R-MT) said that legislation is not the answer, but that more
cooperation and less acrimony is needed for the industry to figure it out.
Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) also said legislation was not the answer but
pointed out that it was tough to separate the issues of ratings accuracy
from the agendas of politics and the billions in advertising dollars at
stake. Fox and Univision were Nielsen's main critics at the hearing,
calling the company a foreign-owned, unregulated monopoly [which sounds
pretty close to Fox, by the way]. Nielsen countered that News Corp. is
bankrolling a campaign of "disinformation and half-truths" that could
itself have the result of skewing the minority viewing sample. [Why can't
we just get along and make lots of money?]
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA436408?display=Breaking+News
(requires subscription)
See links to testimony at
http://commerce.senate.gov/hearings/witnesslist.cfm?id=1269
A CELLPHONE BOYCOTT FAILS TO PRODUCE SOUNDS OF SILENCE
To protest the high rates paid for cellphone service, Lebanon's fledging
consumers union asked subscribers to turn off there phones for one day.
"Our goal is more than just getting people to switch off their phones,"
said Zuheir Berro, the president of Lebanon's Consumer Protection
Association, the main organizer. "The long-term goal is to get citizens to
start feeling responsible for their actions." But for the Lebanese, maybe a
cellphone boycott was not the best place to start. In the region, the
Lebanese are know as cellphone addicts who don't hesitate to take calls
during movies or even funerals. See how the protest went at the URL below.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Neil MacFarquhar]
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/16/international/middleeast/16leba.html
(requires registration)
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...and we are outta here. Have a great weekend and... Go Cubs!
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