TELEVISION
FCC's Chief Blasts Broadcasters For Delays in Digital-TV Shift (WSJ)
A Fix for the Broadcast Giveaway (NYT)
The Ad Campaign: Attacking Bush on Pollution (NYT)
In an Ad, Radio's 'Dr. Laura' Says She Regrets
Hurting Gays (NYT)
On a TV Show, Jerusalem is All Anger and Yelling (NYT)
Hunan Style Television: Spicy and Crowd Pleasing (NYT)
SPECTRUM
NextWave Fails to Win Supreme Court Hearing (WSJ)
MERGERS
EU Regulators Back AOL Time Warner (WP)
Why U.S. Giants Are Crying Uncle (NYT)
INTERNET
3 Men Vital to Internet Share Physics Prize (NYT)
JOURNALISM
Court Frees Serbian Journalist Jailed by Milosevic Government (NYT)
PUBLIC HEARINGS TODAY
Forum for Hispanic Consumers (FCC)
Recent Developments in Privacy Protections for Consumers (House)
INTERNATIONAL
China Lists New Rules For Telecom Investment (WSJ)
TELEVISION
FCC'S CHIEF BLASTS BROADCASTERS FOR DELAYS IN DIGITAL-TV SHIFT
Issue: Television/Spectrum
Federal Communications Commission Chairman William Kennard has attacked the
broadcasting industry, charging it with moving too slowly in its conversion
from analog to digital television and trading public-interest duties for
financial interest when it comes to political coverage. Four years ago,
Congress granted broadcasters a second channel to convert from their current
analog channel to digital and offer both high-definition and digital TV. As
part of the deal, broadcasters keep their analog channel until digital TV,
or DTV, penetration reaches 85% or 2006, whichever is later. The value of
the spectrum given to broadcasters for the conversion to digital has been
estimated at $70 billion. "Basically, the broadcast networks were the
beneficiaries of the biggest government giveaway since Peter Stuyvesant
bought Manhattan from the Indians for $24," Mr. Kennard said, adding that
"the networks' business model for the next decade can be summed up by the
slogan of Twix candy bars: 'Two for me, none for you!'" In a move sure to
anger broadcasters, Mr. Kennard wants Congress to require the nation's
television stations to pay rent for the use of their analog channel after
Jan. 1, 2006. The "spectrum-squatters fee," as Mr. Kennard called it, would
increase annually until the digital transition is complete and the analog
spectrum is returned. The revenue from the fee, he added, could be used to
fund digital conversion for public television.
[ SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B12), AUTHOR: Joe Flint And Evan Ramstad]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB971196719351454015.htm)
See Also:
SPEECH: WHAT DOES $70 BILLION BUY YOU ANYWAY?
[SOURCE: FCC]
(http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Miscellaneous/News_Releases/2000/nrmc0044.html)
(http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Kennard/2000/spwek023.html)
A FIX FOR THE BROADCAST GIVEAWAY
Issue: Television/Spectrum
[Editorial] The Times voices support for FCC Chairman William Kennard's
3-prong approach for the lagging rollout of digital television services. In
1996 Congress gave broadcasters enough new spectrum to broadcast either one
channel of super-high-resolution digital programs or several channels that
could be used for digital interactive services or TV programs of high, but
not super-high, resolution. Existing broadcasters were also allowed to keep
the spectrum they now use to broadcast analog programs until at least 2006
-- or until 85 percent of American homes are converted to digital
television, which could be decades from now. Chairman Kennard wants
Congress to eliminate the 85 percent threshold. He wants to impose a tax on
broadcasters that fail to convert to digital broadcasting by 2006. He also
wants to require that TV sets sold after 2002 come with a chip capable of
receiving digital signals, guaranteeing broadcasters and manufacturers a
large audience. The chip would cost about $100 today, but a fraction of
that once it is mass produced.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A30), AUTHOR: NYT Editorial Staff]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/11/opinion/11WED2.html)
(requires registration)
THE AD CAMPAIGN: ATTACKING BUSH ON POLLUTION
Issue: Political Discourse
The Democratic Party started running three attack ads against Gov Bush this
week dealing with education and the minimum wage in Texas -- and Bush's
performance on the environment. "Last year, Houston overtook Los Angeles as
America's smoggiest city," the pollution ad's announcer tells viewers.
Conservationists say Mr. Bush left himself open to attack by showing little
interest in environmental issues until he became a presidential candidate.
Mr. Bush, a former oil executive, is hard- pressed to distance himself from
some of the state's heaviest polluters, but his supporters insist he has
used his ties to reduce certain toxic emissions in a state that is largely
skeptical of environmental regulations.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A28), AUTHOR: Christopher Marquis]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/11/politics/11ADBO.html)
(requires registration)
See Also:
LAZIO RUNS NATIONAL AD CAMPAIGN TO RAISE MONEY FOR HIS SENATE RACE
[SOURCE: New York Times (C20), AUTHOR: Randal Archibold]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/11/politics/11SENA.html)
(requires registration)
IN AN AD, RADIO'S 'DR. LAURA' SAYS SHE REGRETS HURTING GAYS
Issue: Media & Society
"In talking about gays and lesbians, some of my words were poorly chosen,"
says Laura Schlessinger in an ad that will run today in Variety magazine.
"I deeply regret the hurt this situation has caused the gay and lesbian
community." Under heavy pressure from protesters, dozens of advertisers
have suspended their support of her radio and television programs. Kraig T.
Kitchin, president and chief operating officer of Premiere Radio Networks,
which syndicates her highly rated radio program, said nearly 25 percent of
its sponsors had ceased advertising, at least temporarily, in the past few
months.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A18), AUTHOR: Jim Rutenberg]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/11/national/11LAUR.html)
(requires registration)
ON A TV SHOW, JERUSALEM IS ALL ANGER AND YELLING
Issue: Political Discourse
Ted Koppel's "Nightline" taped a town meeting in the Holy Land yesterday,
but the show exploded in arguments that reflected the degenerated state of
the Israeli-Palestinian relationship. Mr. Koppel sat back and let it wash
over him. "I surrender," he said, at one point. Diplomatic solutions, Mr.
Koppel asserted, cannot be negotiated on television.But he was the only
American to have succeeded this week in engineering any kind of talks
between the two sides.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A10), AUTHOR: Deborah Sontag]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/11/world/11NIGH.html)
(requires registration)
HUNAN STYLE TELEVISION: SPICY AND CROWD PLEASING
Issue: Media & Society
While Hunan Satellite TV, the most successful television station in China,
is government-owned, like all stations in China, it managed to break out of
the state television mold. It still formally operates under the Communist
Party's propaganda department, but the station's nightly news features
investigative pieces on corruption and pollution. "Twenty years ago, China
was a planned economy and we were just a propaganda mouthpiece," said Wei
Wenbin, who founded the station and was recently promoted to director of
the Hunan Provincial Broadcast and Television Bureau. As China moves toward
a market economy, government regulators are increasingly willing to bend
rules to allow stations to compete. "In the past, television was part of a
government bureaucracy, but now it's more of a commercial endeavor," said
Mr. Wei.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A4), AUTHOR: Elisabeth Rosenthal]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/11/world/11CHIN.html)
(requires registration)
SPECTRUM
NEXTWAVE FAILS TO WIN SUPREME COURT HEARING
Issue: Spectrum
The Supreme Court refused to hear the case of a wireless-communications
company that is trying to retrieve licenses repossessed by the Federal
Communications Commission. NextWave Personal Communications Inc. had asked
the Supreme Court to uphold a bankruptcy-court ruling that NextWave deserved
the licenses that it won in a 1996 auction, but later lost when it failed to
make timely payments on them. The FCC now plans to re-auction the licenses
on Dec. 12. The Supreme Court's decision Tuesday not to hear the case is the
latest twist in a complicated high-stakes battle over who controls the
limited radio spectrum that can be used for a wide range of wireless voice
and data services.
[ SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B14), AUTHOR: JILL CARROLL and NICOLE HARRIS
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB971220884661526861.htm)
MERGERS
EU REGULATORS BACK AOL TIME WARNER
Issue: Merger
The European Union antitrust authorities have formally endorsed the giant
merger between America Online and Time Warner after extracting concession
from the companies aimed at guaranteeing that they will not unfairly
discriminate against their rivals. The largest barrier to EU approval to the
$183 billion deal disappeared last week when the Warner Music Group abandon
its bid to from a separate joint venture with Britain's EMI Group. EU
authorities feared the union would have given AOL-Time Warner to much
control over digital music on the Internet. Major concessions included AOL's
agreement to dissolve its European partnership with the German media giant
Bertelsmann AG, which has held a 50 percent stake in AOL Europe, and to
revamp the shareholding structure of AOL France. AOL has agreed to make its
service compatible with three different music-player software technologies
used by competing suppliers such as RealNetworks and Microsoft for five years
to reassure EU regulators that it would not seek to maintain a "walled
garden" in online entertainment. The merger, which would combine an Internet
giant boasting 24 million customers with the world's largest media and
entertainment company, still must receive clearance from two regulatory
agencies in the United States.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E01), AUTHOR: William Drozdiak]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47348-2000Oct10.html)
See Also
EU REGULATORS GIVE APPROVAL FOR AOL-TIME WARNER MERGER
[ SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (), AUTHOR: Brandon Mitchener & John Wilke]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB971215521654566002.htm)
WHY U.S. GIANTS ARE CRYING UNCLE
Mario Monti, the European Union's chief antitrust regulator, is expected to
approve the proposed merger between Time Warner and America Online - but not
without sizable concessions. Since Monti became the commissioner in charge
of competition affairs last year, he has gained a reputation of being
hard-hitting on mergers. "People say he is much tougher," said Christopher
Norall, an antitrust lawyer at the firm of Morrison & Foerster here. "But,
to be fair, these cases present new issues where each wave of mergers brings
successive waves of concentration."
[SOURCE: New York Times (W1), AUTHOR: Edmund Andrews]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/11/business/11EURO.html)
(requires registration)
INTERNET
3 MEN VITAL TO INTERNET SHARE PHYSICS PRIZE
Issue: Internet
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the 2000 Nobel Prize in
Physics to three scientists who developed electrical components that allow
for fast communication using fiber optics and satellites and that serve as
the soul of the personal computer. [Surprisingly, not one is Al Gore. Go
figure.] Half of this year's prize money, which totals 9 million kronor or
about $913,000, will go to Jack S. Kilby, a 76-year-old retired engineer
for Texas Instruments in Dallas, for his part in the invention of the
integrated circuit, the miniaturized electronic chip that drives computers.
The other half is to be split by Dr. Zhores I. Alferov, the director of the
A. F. Ioffe Physico-Technical Institute in St. Petersburg, Russia, and Dr.
Herbert Kroemer, a physicist and professor at the University of California
at Santa Barbara.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A23), AUTHOR: James Glanz]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/11/science/11PHYS.html)
(requires registration)
JOURNALISM
COURT FREES SERBIAN JOURNALIST JAILED BY MILOSEVIC GOVERNMENT
Issue: Journalism/International
Miroslav Filipovic, a Serbian journalist, was released from a military
prison in Serbia yesterday after serving five months of a seven year
sentence. Mr. Filipovic's crime was reporting on Yugoslav Army war crimes
in Kosovo. The Supreme Military Court ordered the release pending a
retrial, ruling there had been serious violations of legal procedures in
the first trial. The decision appears to have been influenced by the new
administration of President Vojislav Kostunica.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A8), AUTHOR: Carlotta Gall]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/11/world/11PRIS.html)
(requires registration)
PUBLIC HEARINGS TODAY
FORUM FOR HISPANIC CONSUMERS
Issue: Consumers
The Federal Communications Commission's Consumer Information Bureau will
host a Forum for Hispanic consumers TODAY Wednesday, October 11, 2000, from
1:00 to 3:30 PM. The Forum will be held in the FCC's Commission Meeting
Room, TW-C305, 445 12th Street, SW, Washington, D.C.
The Forum will provide an opportunity for Hispanic consumers to participate
in panel discussions and presentations by industry representatives,
Hispanic leaders and FCC staff on various issues affecting the Hispanic
community, including international billing rates/customer service, low
power FM radio, and the digital divide [broadband/internet and other
services]. Each discussion and presentation will be followed by a brief
question and answer session.
For additional information, please contact Patricia A. Chew, Consumer
Education Office, (202) 418-0514 or e-mail at pchew( at )fcc.gov. For TTY please
contact ShaVonne Morris at (202) 418-2520.
To listen online, see (http://www.fcc.gov/realaudio/)
[SOURCE: FCC]
(http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Consumer_Information/Public_Notices/2000/pnci006
6.html)
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN PRIVACY PROTECTIONS FOR CONSUMERS
Issue: Privacy
TODAY 10:00 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building
The Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Trade, and Consumer Protection has
scheduled a hearing on Wednesday, October 11, 2000 at 10:00 a.m. in 2123
Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing will be entitled: "Recent
Developments in Privacy Protections for Consumers." Witnesses will be by
invitation only.
[SOURCE: House of Representatives]
(http://com-notes.house.gov/schedule.htm)
INTERNATIONAL
CHINA LISTS NEW RULES FOR TELECOM INVESTMENT
Issue: International
China published regulations Tuesday that sets out clearly for the first time
which businesses are defined as "value-added" telecom services. They include
Internet services and content, e-mail and databases, as well as the
reselling of basic telecom services to third parties. The rules also state
clearly for the first time that domestic private investment will be allowed
in this sector. Under the trade deal China signed with the U.S. last
November as part of the country's bid to join the WTO, China had pledged to
open the value-added sector up to as much as 50% foreign ownership. China's
Ministry of Information Industries which oversees the telecom sector, is
fiercely protectionist and inclined to build up domestic players in the
sector. While industry observers welcomed the law as far clearer than an
earlier draft that has been circulating among officials and industry
executives, the regulations still leave unresolved key issues, among them
detailed guidelines for foreign investment in the telecom sector. These will
come in a separate regulation governing foreign investment in telecom
enterprises, which is expected to be passed before the country formally
enters the WTO.
[ SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A21), AUTHOR: Leslie Chang]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB971218570633816951.htm)
--------------------------------------------------------------