For upcoming media policy events, see http://www.benton.org/calendar.htm
BROADCASTING
After Vote of Confidence, CPB Bill May Just Wait
DTV Channel Plan to Get OK
Emergency Repair: FCC Targets EAS
TELECOM
Bells Mount Two-Way Assault On Local Market
Verizon Opposed to Cable Franchises
FTC
Muris Makes It Official
BROADCASTING
AFTER VOTE OF CONFIDENCE, CPB BILL MAY JUST WAIT
On July 22, the Senate Commerce Committee approved a reauthorization of the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting that would cover fiscal years 2007 to
2011. (CPB was last reauthorized in 1992 and it ran out in 1996.) But even
though there was some victory in that action, the prospects for the bill do
not seem great: Congress is in recess through Labor Day and the House has
shown little interest in taking up the bill before October 1 when Congress
may adjourn. Also, some planned amendments to the bill were not voted on
and will have to be added when the full Senate takes up the bill in
September at the earliest. The bill contains the following provisions: 1)
Digital transition aid. The bill calls for add-on appropriations of $50
million for fiscal 2005 and '06, declining to $40 million in 2007, $30
million in 2008 and $20 million in 2009, for digital station equipment and
"acquisition or production" of digital programming. 2) Interconnection
system rebuilds. The bill proposes $250 million for new radio and TV
interconnection systems to be spent over four years. APTS President John
Lawson said pubTV needs $177 million of the proposed sum. 3) Public
Telecommunications Facilities Program grants. The bill calls for $50
million for the Commerce Department grant program in '05, with outlays
increasing about 4%/year through 2011. 5) Terminology update. The bill
would redefine the term "public telecommunications services" to include
web-based and digital multicast content. 6) Recoupment of funds. The bill
would allow CPB to recover part of federal funds provided to pubcasters who
sell their stations to non-pubcasters.
Read more about the bill and reaction to it at the URL below.
[SOURCE: Current, AUTHOR: Jeremy Egner]
http://www.current.org/cpb/cpb0413auth.shtml
DTV CHANNEL PLAN TO GET OK
Digital television is on tomorrow's FCC open meeting agenda. Part of the
item will be approval of a plan intended to alleviate a crunch of demand
for channel numbers when stations finally relinquish their analog channels
and go all digital. Stations theoretically have the right to keep their old
analog numbers in the digital world rather than keep the second number
assigned for their initial digital broadcasts, as long as the permanent
channel is between chs. 2 and 49. But, with the number of channels
available shrinking, many stations will have to settle for another number.
MSTV has proposed a plan for prioritizing which stations get to pick their
permanent assignments first. The agenda item will also cover removal of the
mandate on simulcasting stations' analog broadcasts on their digital
stream. The simulcasting mandate is being dropped in order to give
broadcasters' more flexibility to create new, innovative digital programming.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Bill McConnell]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA441542?display=Breaking+News
(requires subscription)
EMERGENCY REPAIR: FCC TARGETS EAS
The Emergency Alert System (EAS) was created in the 1950s primarily to
facilitate communication from the President to the American people during
an emergency. The system is routinely used now by broadcasters to inform
viewers of weather emergencies and AMBER alerts. The usefulness of EAS as a
more flexible system for communication and coordination in a world where
the cataclysm could be the cumulative effect of repeated terrorist attacks
was called into question in dramatic fashion in the wake of the 2001
terrorist attacks. Now the FCC wants input on making EAS more useful. Also,
the FCC wants information on solving local jurisdictional fights currently
preventing some local weather and Amber alerts from being transmitted
across state lines.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Bill McConnell]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA441532?display=Breaking+News
(requires subscription)
TELECOM
BELLS MOUNT TWO-WAY ASSAULT ON LOCAL MARKET
Eight years after Congress mandated more open competition in the local
phone business, the regional Bell companies are finding the right formula
to ensure they never face competition: they ramping up discounts to attract
customers while seeking to ratchet up the rates they charge rivals using
their networks. The regulatory environment that has shifted in the Bells'
favor. A March decision by a federal appeals court threw out existing rules
about how the regional phone companies must make their local phone networks
available to competition. To clear up the resulting uncertainty, the FCC is
writing new rules that include an automatic 15% increase in wholesale
rates. The Bells are individually soliciting state regulators for
even-higher rates. Meanwhile, Verizon, SBC and BellSouth are trying to win
consumers by slashing prices, to levels even they admit don't cover their
costs. In Michigan, Florida, California and elsewhere, the big Bells are
offering a variety of incentives, including introductory rates of $7.95 a
month for unlimited local phone service or $100 checks to switch phone
companies.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Anne Marie Squeo
annemarie.squeo( at )wsj.com]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB109148373925980944,00.html?mod=todays...
(requires subscription)
VERIZON OPPOSED TO CABLE FRANCHISES
The deregulation dance is getting tougher and tougher for growing companies
as they need to start arguing why, as they enter rivals' markets, they
should not be subject to the regulations you've fought so hard to make sure
they endure. Verizon is getting a taste of this. The telephone giant is
building fiber-to-the-home infrastructure, but wants to make sure it will
not have to obtain franchise licences in each community it serves when it
starts to deliver video over that infrastructure. Verizon is the largest
local and wireless-phone provider in the United States and the
second-largest long-distance company. But Verizon is looking at the video
market to counter cable's planned assault on its local phone business using
voice-over-Internet-protocol technology, a less costly alternative to
circuit-switched networks. The company has announced plans to spend $1
billion this year to pass 1 million homes with fiber-to-the-premises
technology. It plans to add another 2 million in 2005. However, Verizon is
holding back fiber deployment in its Atlantic coast states until the FCC
confirms that it would not have to share fiber facilities with
phone-service competitors.
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA441533?display=Breaking+News
(requires subscription)
FTC
MURIS MAKES IT OFFICIAL
Federal Trade Commission Chairman Timothy Muris is resigning August 15. He
will be replaced by Deborah Majoris who begin her term as chair August 16.
Chairman Majoris will be joined on the FTC by Jon Leibowitz; both will be
recess appointments so their terms will only extend through the end of the
next Congress in late 2005, though they could be nominated and confirmed by
the Senate to full terms before then.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA441221?display=Breaking+News
(requires subscription)
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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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