You know summer's over when the FCC starts meeting again. Check out
today's agenda and see other upcoming media policy events at
http://www.benton.org/?q=event
SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
TV Industry Storms Hill, FCC Over White Spaces
Apple Eyes the Wireless Auction
CABLE
FCC Chair Promotes Post-Digital TV Rule
FCC puts 'a la carte' on the menu
MEDIA & ELECTIONS
Insight Runs Ad, Despite Objections from Republicans
CHILDREN & MEDIA
Super Bowl striptease back on stage
MEDIA OWNERSHIP
Insight Communications Sale Off the Table
QUICKLY -- FCC Deletes 2nd Item from Agenda; FCC's Martin To Help
Open NTIA DTV Expo; How Outgunned Broadcom Won a Major Cellphone Battle
SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
TV INDUSTRY STORMS HILL, FCC OVER WHITE SPACES
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Broadcasters and their sports production and TV set manufacturer
allies Monday planned to storm Capitol Hill and the Federal
Communications Commission to oppose allowing mobile unlicensed
devices to share the so-called white spaces between TV channels in
the broadcast spectrum. They argued that allowing unlicensed
spectrum-sensing devices, like personal digital assistants and
laptops, into the TV band threatens the transition to digital TV for
not only an unproven technology, but one that they pointed out has
been demonstrated not to work. In addition to talking with key
legislators and FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, the National Association
of Broadcasters is airing a spot on Washington, D.C.-area English-
and Spanish-language stations that shows a befuddled viewer face with
a pixilated Redskins game.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6477141.html?rssid=193
* See NAB release:
http://www.nab.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Press_Releases1&TEMPLATE=/CM/...
* NAB, MSTV Launch White Space Lobbying Blitz
http://www.tvnewsday.com/articles/2007/09/10/daily.11/
* Broadcasters lobby against tech firms' use of vacant TV channels
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-spectrum11sep11,1,706...
* The Feasibility of Unlicensed Broadband Devices to Operate on TV
Band 'White Space' Without Causing Harmful Interference
A New America Foundation released a policy brief that addresses
"myths" concerning the feasibility of today's "smart radio"
technology to allow low-power broadband devices to detect and utilize
vacant TV channels without causing harmful interference to TV viewers
or wireless microphone systems.
http://www.newamerica.net/publications/policy/feasibility_unlicensed_bro...
APPLE EYES THE WIRELESS AUCTION
[SOURCE: BusinessWeek, AUTHOR: Peter Burrows]
Talk of the government's pending auction of valuable wireless
spectrum has focused largely on one intriguing newcomer to the
bidding: Google. But another tech powerhouse has considered joining
the bidding as well: Apple. The company studied the implications of
joining the auction, which will be held Jan. 16. The winners will get
rights to use the spectrum that analog TV broadcasters are handing
back to the government in 2009, given their mandated move to digital
television. Apple is leaning against participating in the auction.
It's not the money. With nearly $14 billion in cash, the company can
clearly afford the $4.6 billion minimum bid required by the
government, and could probably come up with the $9 billion that's
expected to win a portion of the spectrum to be made available for a
nationwide network. Rather, the risk for Apple is in entering the
generally low-margin, hardscrabble world of running a massive-scale
network. Rather than focus all of Apple's entrepreneurial instincts
on creating the next innovative gizmo, the company would be on the
hook for the massive operational headaches that go with provisioning
traffic, activating new subscribers, and fielding their angry calls
when service glitches occur.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/sep2007/tc20070910_014733...
* Apple may bid for airwaves (Associated Press)
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-apple11sep11,1,223891...
CABLE
FCC CHAIR PROMOTES POST-DIGITAL TV RULE
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: John Dunbar]
Here's the pitch from the cable TV industry: One way or another, all
subscribers will still be able to tune in their favorite shows when
broadcasters shift to digital-only transmission in 2009. Seeking more
than a promise, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin
Martin wants commissioners to require cable companies to provide that
service. "Unless the commission acts, some cable customers may
actually be harmed by the transition and lose the ability to view
some of these channels," Martin told The Associated Press on Monday.
The FCC, which is scheduled to meet Tuesday, has been split over such
a proposal in the past but may be moving toward a compromise.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/D/DIGITAL_CABLE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOM...
* FCC sends signal on must-carry
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3if...
FCC PUTS 'A LA CARTE' ON THE MENU
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Leslie Cauley]
The Federal Communications Commission today plans to begin
considering banning programmers from "tying" -- making cable systems
take less-popular or new channels to get must-haves, such as ESPN or
CBS. Programmers have used the practice to launch scores of
channels. That's why you see all those spinoffs of Walt Disney's ESPN
on basic and digital cable. Operators didn't necessarily want them --
they just couldn't see a cheaper way to get the flagship channel.
Each extra channel adds a fee to customers' bills. "The problem for
consumers is that they have to pay higher rates for a bunch of
channels they may not want or watch," says FCC chief Kevin Martin.
Cable operators routinely cite programming costs as a big reason
they've more than doubled rates over the past decade. Chairman Martin
thinks curbs on tying could ease those costs. "Cable TV rates have
continued to rise above the rate of inflation. I'm hopeful that this
would help control the rate of increase of cable rates."
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/money/20070911/1b_cable11.art.htm
MEDIA & ELECTIONS
INSIGHT RUNS ADS, DESPITE OBJECTIONS FROM REPUBLICANS
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Linda Moss]
Cable operator Insight Communications is running an ad on its
Kentucky systems critical of U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the
display of which was delayed by objections from Republican party
officials. Insight was publicly branded as a censor late last week by
the organization seeking to place the ad, the Public Campaign Action
Fund. That national non-partisan organization, which wants public
financing of elections, linked an initial hesitation to run the ad on
the part of the cable company to donations to McConnell made by
Insight CEO Michael Willner.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6477224.html
CHILDREN & MEDIA
SUPER BOWL STRIPTEASE BACK ON STAGE
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: John Dunbar]
A federal appeals court on Tuesday will consider whether a notorious
"wardrobe malfunction" that bared singer Janet Jackson's breast
during a televised 2004 Super Bowl halftime show was indecent, or
merely a fleeting and accidental glitch that shouldn't be punished.
The case is the second recent test of the federal government's powers
to regulate broadcast indecency. Last June, a federal appeals court
in New York invalidated the government's policy on fleeting
profanities uttered over the airwaves. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals in Philadelphia will hear arguments about the Feb. 1, 2004
halftime show when 90 million Americans watched singer Justin
Timberlake pull off part of Janet Jackson's bustier, briefly exposing
one of her breasts. The episode was later explained as a problem with
her costume.
http://www.al.com/newsflash/washington/index.ssf?/base/politics-4/118944...
* "Wardrobe malfunction" goes to court
http://today.reuters.com/news/NewsArticle.aspx?type=entertainmentNews&st...
MEDIA OWNERSHIP
INSIGHT COMMUNICATIONS SALE OFF THE TABLE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Jon Hemingway]
The sale of Insight Communications will not happen anytime soon as
The Carlyle Group has pulled it off the table. Carlyle, which took
Insight private in 2005, canned the sale after apparently receiving
some underwhelming bids. The market for buyouts is tight because the
ability to raise funds in the debt markets to finance deals remains
limited and expensive for borrowers. Skittish investors are steering
clear of risky debt, and many corporate bond and loan deals have been
shelved, creating a traffic jam in those markets and stalling some
merger-and-acquisition transactions.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6477261.html?rssid=193
* Carlyle Pulls Insight Auction
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6477193.html
QUICKLY
FCC DELETES 2ND ITEM ON AGENDA
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
At today's meeting, the FCC will not consider requests for
forbearance from Title II and Computer Inquiry requirements with
respect to certain broadband services.
http://www.fcc.gov/del_091007.pdf
FCC'S MARTIN TO HELP OPEN NTIA DTV EXPO
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin will be one of the headliners, and the FCC
one of the participants, at the National Telecommunications &
Information Administration's DTV transition Expo Sept. 25. The
public will get to check out the DTV-to-analog converter boxes NTIA
is charged with getting into the hands of viewers who need them as
well as ask questions of the policymakers and industry
representatives in attendance. Also weighing in with progress reports
on DTV education will be a representative of AARP, the American
Library Association and Radio Shack.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6477246.html?rssid=193
* Learn more about the event at: http://www.benton.org/node/6614
HOW OUTGUNNED BROADCOM WON A MAJOR CELLPHONE BATTLE
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Jeffrey H. Birnbaum]
The price of a cellphone might soon get higher because of a
strange-but-true lobbying battle that took place over the past few
months. Without fanfare this summer, Broadcom, a small California
maker of computer chips, bested the better-known and much larger
chipmaker Qualcomm -- as well as the entire wireless telephone
industry. Qualcomm and its deep-pocketed allies spent millions of
dollars in lobbying fees. Broadcom paid a fraction of that. Yet
Broadcom persuaded the International Trade Commission in June to
protect its cellphone patent from infringement by Qualcomm. And last
month the U.S. trade representative upheld the commission's decision.
As a result, cellphone makers are scrambling to avoid a ban on the
importation of the latest generation of wireless phones -- the remedy
prescribed by the commission. Some are also ponying up hundreds of
millions of dollars in licensing fees to Broadcom to pay for its
patented technology -- a move that could end up boosting the cost of phones.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/10/AR200709...
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