As is tradition here, the Headlines staff will be taking a few days off to
serve as elves at Macy's (where our motto is: If you can't find it here,
check Gimball's). There will be no CRH service Wed 12/23 -- Fri 1/1. We will
be back Monday January 4, 1999.
TELEVISION
Charting the Digital Broadcasting Future (NTIA)
Gore Panel Takes Middle Ground (B&C)
Networks Battle Nielsen as Young Viewers Turn Up Missing (NYT)
Fifth Annual Report on Competition in Video Markets (FCC)
Remade DBS Braces for '99 (B&C)
SPECTRUM
FCC Mulls Wider Commercial Use of Radical Radio Technology (NYT)
Wireless Provider Boosted By 3Com (WP)
Motorola to Buy Lucent Technologies' Consumer Wireless
Phone Operations (WSJ)
France Telecom Joins Communications Pact For Global Platform (WSJ)
COMPETITION
AT&T, Known for Its Gentlemanly Ways, Gets Tough (WSJ)
TCI/AT&T likely to dodge unbundling (B&C)
JOURNALISM
Less Pressure From Wall St. for Cutbacks in Newsrooms (NYT)
PHILANTHROPY
Prospectus: Silicon Alley Companies Help Nonprofit Groups (NYT)
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TELEVISION
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CHARTING THE DIGITAL BROADCASTING FUTURE
Issue: Digital TV
From the Media Advisory
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/press/piac121898.htm: Today, the Advisory
Committee on the Public Interest Obligations of Digital Broadcasters
submitted its final report to the Vice President. The report, "Charting the
Digital Broadcasting Future" is available on the Advisory Committee's
website at www.ntia.doc.gov/pubintadvcom/pubint.htm. Copies of the report
are also available from the Government Printing Office (GPO) by calling
(202) 512-0132 and requesting stock number 003-000-00685-9.
[SOURCE: NTIA]
www.ntia.doc.gov/pubintadvcom/pubint.htm
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/pubintadvcom/piacreport.htm
GORE PANEL TAKES MIDDLE GROUND
Issue: Digital TV
The public service recommendations made by the 22-member Gore Commission go
beyond what most broadcasters are willing to offer, but fall short of
public interest advocates' demands. Four members refused to endorse the
report; three broadcasters thought the recommendations too specific. They
include Harold Crump, VP Hubbard Broadcasting; Robert Decherd, President,
A.H. Belo Corp; and William Duhamel, President, Duhamel Broadcasting. The
FCC will consider the recommendations early in 1999.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting & Cable (p.7), Author: Paige Albiniak]
NETWORKS BATTLE NIELSEN AS YOUNG VIEWERS TURN UP MISSING
Issue: Television Economics
The relationship between broadcasters and Nielsen Media Research (the
ratings company) are, at best, tense. Nielsen reports that viewership in the
18- to 34-age group has dropped 6% over last year have started an angry
debate between the company and its clients. One network executive has
accused Nielsen of flawed measurements: "If we don't get an answer soon,"
about how Nielsen intends to correct its data, Nick Schiavone of NBC said,
"then they are in breach of their contract with us." The reports are costing
the broadcast networks tens of million of dollars and arrive at a time when
NBC's profits are already falling because of the los of "Seinfeld" and the
higher costs for "E.R." and "Mad About You." Nielsen contends that the
numbers are good -- but the targeted television audience may have dropped by
as much as 10%.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C1), AUTHOR: Bill Carter]
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/nielsen-ratings.html
FIFTH ANNUAL REPORT ON COMPETITION IN VIDEO MARKETS
Issue: Competition
From the News Release: "The Commission has adopted its fifth annual report
on competition in markets for the delivery of video programming. This Report
will be submitted to Congress in accordance with Section 628(g) of the
Communications Act. The Report provides updated information on the status of
competition in markets for the delivery of video programming, discusses how
the regulatory changes enacted in the 1996 Act have affected the competitive
environment, and describes barriers to competition that continue to exist.
This is the last annual report the Commission will publish on the state of
cable competition prior to March 31, 1999, the date on which the
Commission's authority to review increases in rates for cable programming
service tiers sunsets. The Report finds that competitive alternatives and
consumer choices are still developing but that cable television continues to
be the primary delivery technology for the distribution of multichannel
video programming and continues to occupy a dominant position in the
multichannel video programming delivery ("MVPD") marketplace. As of June
1998, 85% of all MVPD subscribers received video programming service from
local franchised cable operators compared to 87% a year earlier. The cable
industry has continued to grow in terms of subscriber penetration, channel
capacity, the number of programming services available, revenues, audience
ratings, and expenditures on programming."
[SOURCE: FCC]
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Cable/News_Releases/1998/nrcb8024.html
REMADE DBS BRACES FOR '99
Issue: Direct Broadcast Satellite; Cable
While the DBS industry is soaring, due in part to recent consolidations
(DirecTV-USSB merger and EchoStar-News Corp. deal), 1999 may be a tough
year due to the cable industry accelerating its digital cable rollout.
"Will digital cable have an impact? Yes, but... the more they talk about
it, the more broadly it comes to people's minds they can get 200 channels.
Cable still has to prove they can deliver on that," said DirecTV President
Eddy Hartenstein. A recent FCC study shows DBS subscriber counts
increasing 43% for the year (as of 6/30/98), compared to less than 2%
growth for cable. But DBS lacks the two-way bandwidth capability of cable
that provide high-speed data and telephony features. An additional factor
that may influence DBS's success in 1999 are regulatory-legislative issues
including local-into-local programming, and the phasing in of must-carry rules.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting & Cable, 12/21/98, p. 4; AUTHOR: Price Colman]
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SPECTRUM
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FCC MULLS WIDER COMMERCIAL USE OF RADICAL RADIO TECHNOLOGY
Issue: Spectrum
The Federal Communications Commission is considering changing its rules to
make way for wider commercial use of ultrawide band radio or digital pulse
wireless. The technology helps create low-power communications systems that
are impossible to jam, can penetrate physical obstacles easily and are
invulnerable to eavesdropping. "When you take its attributes and compare it
to the competition, you have very interesting technology that could lead to
awesome possibilities," said Paul Turner, executive director of
PricewaterhouseCoopers' Global Technology Center in Menlo Park (CA). The FCC
will have to change rules because ultrawide band uses certain frequencies
set aside for civilian aviation and military agencies.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C1), AUTHOR: John Markoff]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/12/biztech/articles/21time.html
WIRELESS PROVIDER BOOSTED BY 3COM
Issue: Info Tech
3Com Corp. is investing $6 million in Aether Technologies Inc. to support
wireless delivery of news, information and stock quotes to 3Com's
popular Palm hand-held organizers. Aether, a start-up firm, will use the
money to expand network operations and customer service. In March Aether
launched a service called MarketClip which delivers real-time stock quotes
and other financial data to stockbrokers and others. The service requires a
wireless modem that attaches to a Palm or similar device. The companies
plan to expand Palm capability to include order placement, inventory control
and monitoring specific business activities.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (F6), AUTHOR: Mike Mills]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-12/21/022l-122198-idx.html
MOTOROLA TO BUY LUCENT TECHNOLOGIES' CONSUMER WIRELESS PHONE OPERATIONS
Issue: Wireless/Merger
Motorola is expected to announce the purchase of Lucent Technologies'
consumer wireless phone operations. Analysts estimate the value of
the purchase at $100 million to $200 million. Lucent will drop a service
that is less important since a joint venture with Phillips Electronics for
cellular operations ended. Motorola is interested in the research and
development of handsets for wireless calls. Observers say Motorola fell
behind in the move to digital communications and is rushing to catch up.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B8), AUTHOR: Rebecca Blumenstein & Quentin Hardy]
http://www.wsj.com/
FRANCE TELECOM JOINS COMMUNICATIONS PACT FOR GLOBAL PLATFORM
Issue: Wireless
France Telecom is joining the world-wide push to standardize
third-generation mobile telecommunications. In joining forces with a group
of other international companies including Germany's Deutsche Telekom and
Japan's NTT Mobile Communications Network, France Telecom will push
early implementation of International Mobile Telecommunication-2000 networks
to keep pace with consumer demand. The companies are pushing for the ITU to
set up key radio-transmission parameters by March 1999 to promote reduction
of the number of radio-transmission technologies.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A4), AUTHOR: Dow Jones Newswires]
http://www.wsj.com/
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COMPETITION
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AT&T, KNOWN FOR ITS GENTLEMANLY WAYS, GETS TOUGH
Issue: Telephony
AT&T has traded in its white shoes for boxing gloves. The company's efforts
are much more aggressive under its current management as it tries to
influence state and local telecommunications policy where today's major
telecommunications battles are being fought. AT&T is fighting mergers such
as Bell Atlantic Corporation and GTE Corp. while promoting its own purchase
of TCI. "Since Mike Armstrong's arrival [as Chairman] and the appointment of
Jim Cicconi [as general counsel], AT&T has been noticeably more aggressive
and creative in its pursuit of pro-competition policies," says Jonathan
Sallet, MCI WorldCom's chief policy counsel.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B4), AUTHOR: Rebecca Blumenstein & Stephanie
N. Mehta]
http://www.wsj.com/
TCI/AT&T LIKELY TO DODGE UNBUNDLING
Issue: Telephone Regulation
The Federal Communications Commission is likely to require AT&T to create a
strict schedule for rolling out local telephone competition to all customers
in its market as a requirement for its acquisition of Tele-Communications
Inc. For AT&T this approach is preferable to the request of some other
companies that it be required to open its high-speed data network to
Internet competitors. During an FCC hearing last week on pending
telecommunications mergers, FCC Chairman William Kennard indicated that
committing to a firm schedule might be the quid pro quo AT&T must provide.
The FCC could address the unbundling issue in a later ruling that will apply
to the entire industry. The Commission's apparent enthusiasm to approve the
deal worries consumer activists, who urged the panel to put a damper on cable
rates by barring AT&T from subsidizing its foray into local phone service
with higher prices. "Consumers have received too many empty promises of
competition tomorrow in return for rate increases today," says Gene
Kimmelman, co-director of Consumers Union.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting and Cable (16), AUTHOR: Bill McConnell]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
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JOURNALISM
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LESS PRESSURE FROM WALL ST. FOR CUTBACKS IN NEWSROOMS
Issue: Journalism/Ownership
Pressures from Wall Street have usually meant trouble and cut backs for
newspapers. But of late, Wall Street seems like an ally of the newsroom.
Douglas Arthur of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. said recently, "If you
invest in color presses and you invest in editorial, it sells papers and
drives circulation, and that's the point." One analyst is often asked, What
does Wall Street think about Pulitzer Prizes? "The quick response I usually
give is, 'For the most part, they don't care, unless it involves the paper
they're reading,"' said Merrill Lynch's Lauren Rich Fine. "Then they care a
lot." New York Times Co., she added, "has been able to get away with lower
margins because it's universally accepted that we don't want the paper to
cut back on the newsroom because it offers in-depth analysis." Another
analyst reminded that colleagues "tend to be reflecting more quantitatively
than qualitatively. You're not recommending one stock over another because
you think their newspaper is better," he said. "You're recommending it
because the earnings growth is better."
[SOURCE: New York Times (C1), AUTHOR: Felicity Barringer]
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/newspaper-finances.html
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PHILANTHROPY
===========
Prospectus: Silicon Alley Companies Help Nonprofit Groups
PROSPECTUS: SILICON ALLEY COMPANIES HELP NONPROFIT GROUPS
Issue: Philanthropy
Silicon Alley companies are showing a growing commitment to share time and
cash with nonprofits set up to distributing the benefits of technology.
"Many of the people in the community don't have the ability to write a big
check," said one non profit head speaking of an industry full of cash-short
start-ups. "But they can leverage something more valuable; they can leverage
their expertise." "The companies need to realize there aren't any customers
if people can't get online," he continued. "They have to help create their
future customers and their future employees. You have to light a fire, and
then the customers will demand it."
[SOURCE: New York Times (C3), AUTHOR: Janel Stites]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/12/biztech/articles/21pros.html
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