EDTECH
Clinton Says All Classrooms Will Be Wired by 2000 (CyberTimes)
Safe Children's Sites Honored By Cyber-Watch Group (SJ Merc)
INTERNET
More Original Content Found on Web (WP)
Internet Sellers Work To Allay Fears Of Retail Outlets (CyberTimes)
PC Matinee: The Race Is On to Make Web A Cyber-Cinema (WSJ)
AT&T, Motorola And Lucent In Pact On Internet Access (WSJ)
TELEVISION
Children's TV Market May Be Played Out (B&C)
FCC Proposes Upgrading LPTV (B&C)
TELEPHONE
Concessions Sought in SBC Deal for Ameritech (WP)
Virginia Regulators Seek Conditions on Phone Deal (WP)
ADVERTISING
Gore Pushes Code to Combat Ad Bias (B&C)
Hangover Over Alcohol Ads (B&C)
White House Unveils Healthy Dose of PSA's(B&C)
EDTECH
CLINTON SAYS ALL CLASSROOMS WILL BE WIRED BY 2000
Issue: EdTech
More than half of all American classrooms are connected to the Internet,
President Clinton announced on Monday. He pledged to have 100% of the
nations public classrooms connected by the year 2000. The latest wave of
federal subsidies for educational technology, the E-rate discounts, were
announced over the weekend. The program, which has now committed $1.66
billion in aid to schools around the nation, is under attack from Republican
leaders who would like to see major cut backs or elimination of technology
funding to schools and libraries. To illustrate the benefits of the
program, California school teacher Susan Tesada spoke of the impact that
Internet access has had on her students. "They have the opportunity to see
something outside the three-blocks of their neighborhood ... something past
turning on the TV," she said. "They can see places that they'd never get to
see unless education opens up the door and motivates them - and it is."
[SOURCE: CyberTimes, AUTHOR: Jeri Clausing]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/03/cyber/articles/02erate.html
SAFE CHILDREN'S SITES HONORED BY CYBER-WATCH GROUP
Issue: Ed Tech
The Web can be good for both parents and kids. In that spirit Cyberangels
http://www.cyberangels.org, an all-volunteer Internet watch group, on
Monday honored four Web sites for children for their interactivity,
appropriate advertising practices, comprehensive privacy policies and
entertainment and educational value. The four inaugural Cyberangels Kids
Best of the Web Awards went to: 1) Curiocity's FreeZone
http://freezone.com; 2) Sports Illustrated for Kids http://sikids.com;
3) Nickelodeon Online http://www.nickelodeon.com; and 4) Bonus.com
http://www.bonus.com. Youngsters nominated sites, CyberMoms narrowed the
nominees and the executive director of Cyberangels made the final
selections. The group also named a Cyberangel of the Year: Elizabeth
Lascoutx, director of the Children's Advertising Review Group
http://www.caru.org.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Jonathan Oatis (Reuters)]
http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/internet/docs/195287l.htm
INTERNET
MORE ORIGINAL CONTENT FOUND ON WEB
Issue: Content
Original content is growing on the Web at many newspaper and magazine sites.
Steve Ross, a professor at Columbia University's Graduate School of
Journalism, conducted the survey with a New York public relations firm. The
survey found that 58% of newspapers and magazines had a website and
31% of those used original material for at least half their online
content, more than four times the number of publications that did so in
1996. Ross sees the print media's shift toward the Internet as use of a
unique medium rather than use of an alternate distribution system. He also
learned that only 18% of the publications routinely let their Web
sites scoop their printed editions and that 62% prohibited it. The
survey included 1,420 daily newspapers and 2,000 magazines and is available at
http://www.mediasource.com.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (Online), AUTHOR: Chris Allbritton (Associated Press)]
http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WAPO/19990301/V000470-030199-idx...
INTERNET SELLERS WORK TO ALLAY FEARS OF RETAIL OUTLETS
Issue: E-commerce
While companies are rushing to the Internet to hawk their wares, many are
learning that it is hard not to alienate their brick-and-mortar retailers as
they peruse cyber profits. With the price advantage that Internet-only
retailers can offer, many real-world dealers are feeling like they do all
the work, while Internet retailers rake in all the profits. Since, for most
companies, Internet sales only represent a small portion of annual revenues,
manufactures fear the undercutting of their brick-and-mortar merchants. As
companies grapple with the question of whether the Web can actually expand
the size of their market, or just slice it into smaller pieces, they will
walk a tightrope of trying to appease traditional retailers, while competing
in the digital age.
[SOURCE: CyberTimes, AUTHOR: Bob Tedeschi]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/03/cyber/commerce/02commerce.html
PC MATINEE: THE RACE IS ON TO MAKE WEB A CYBER-CINEMA
Issue: Internet/Publishing
Hollywood will have to scramble to catch up with websites that show movies.
Three are
at least three -- ifilm.net deputed last week, featuring independent films;
Trimark, a Santa Monica film producer, has announced licensing its library
to Broadcast.com; and atomfilms.com is devoted to short films and animation.
Although the picture is not great -- nothing like the
experience of sitting in a theater -- Mark Cuban, president of
Broadcast.com, says
it's the access and content issue that matters: "The real point is that the
Net isn't a print medium anymore, and the personal computer is becoming an
entertainment device." The quality of the Web movie will only improve with
the advances in digital media, Shapiro reports. Atomfilms.com executives say
that with the current quality and constraints of the Internet, short films
are "the perfect content for the medium as it exists right now." While these
sites are
legal, Cyveillance, an Alexandria, VA firm specializing in scanning the
Internet for illegal uses of copyrighted material, is looking out for the
stuff that's not. They found a website illegally showing "Saving Private
Ryan," created by someone who had videotaped it in the theater [Oh, imagine
the quality -- a videotape of the film run over the Internet -- that's the
home theater of the future, baby]. A Dreamworks executive, the co-producer
of the film, says they will take "whatever measures necessary" to protect
their copyrighted material. Robert Daly, co-chairman of Time Warner says the
entertainment industry is consumed with figuring out how to deliver music
safely on the Internet and has not moved into distributing video.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B1), AUTHOR: Eben Shapiro ]
http://wsj.com/
AT&T, MOTOROLA AND LUCENT IN PACT ON INTERNET ACCESS
Issue: Internet
A computer may not be necessary to access the Internet. AT&T, Lucent and
Motorola
will announce cooperation on a software language called, VXML that would allow
voice-activated access to the Internet. The companies have been
working separately for several years on the software, spearheaded by a group
working in Bell Labs, the AT&T unit that split off into Lucent, Hardy reports.
If Internet service providers or phone companies install voice-recognition
equipment onto Internet computers, VXML would allow a user to pick up the phone
and receive information from the Internet. Neither the user nor the writer of
the software would need to have voice-recognition equipment, says Bill Meisel,
president of TMA Associates, a speech-recognition consulting and marketing
firm. VXML is deliberately named after HTML, or hypertext markup language --
the widely accessible method of programming information on the Internet --
Hardy reports.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B6), AUTHOR: Quentin Hardy]
http://wsj.com/
TELEPHONY
CONCESSIONS SOUGHT IN SBC DEAL FOR AMERITECH
Issue: Mergers
Long distance companies and consumer groups argue that the proposed SBC-
Ameritech merger will mean that the combined company will continue to freeze
out
competition from its 57 million local phone lines. Sprint, AT&T, MCI Worldcom
and others make their argument in hopes to persuade federal regulators to
extract larger concessions from the combined company even if it many not
block the merger outright. The so-called "big footprint" antitrust theory
has not been tested in court and has not been the grounds for blocking any
merger. Former FCC chief economist Michael Katz said, "The bigger the
footprint they have, the more they can take advantage of that ability to
hurt others." Katz and other opponents say the big footprint theory carries
more weight than in the past because of all the consolidation in the
industry. "It's a total non-issue," said Ameritech chief executive Richard
Notebaert who believes companies need a big footprint to survive. Bob
Harris, an economist working for SBC, said SBC would be on its best behavior
because it wants regulatory approval to get into the long-distance business.
Last week the staff of the Illinois Commerce Commission produced a report
strongly opposing the merger, partly on the big footprint theory.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E1), AUTHOR: Mike Mills]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/daily/march99/merger2.htm
VIRGINIA REGULATORS SEEK CONDITIONS ON PHONE DEAL
Issue: Mergers
Virginia regulators are considering several conditions for accepting the
merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE, both of which offer local
telephone service in the state. The State Corporation Commission staff is
recommending that a cap on Bell Atlantic's basic phone rates that expires in
2001 be extended to 2009 "to mitigate any anti-competitive effect of the
merger." Their recommendations also request that Virginia phone customers be
allowed to share in any savings from the merger, that rates in GTE's
southwest Virginia operating territory be reduced, that caller-ID and
call-waiting be available for all GTE customers, and that the companies
expand local calling areas. Virginia regulators will vote on the merger
later this month.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (Online), AUTHOR: Reuters]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/daily/march99/phone1.htm
TELEVISION
CHILDREN'S TV MARKET MAY BE PLAYED OUT
Advertisers spent more than $1 billion to catch the attention of children in
1998. Will they send that much in 1999? Maybe. Several factors could effect
advertisers spending on children's TV. Both toy makers and cereal companies,
the biggest spenders on kid's TV, have a hard year, and are buying fewer
ads. Also impacting kids programming is the declining viewership among
children ages 2-11, which has dropped 3% in the past decade. Kids viewing
has also shifted from broadcast stations to cable, where it is much more
difficult to have aggregate reach. "Kids' viewing has become the most
fragmented of any demographic," says Brad Adgate of Horizon Media. It
raises the question, can TV effectively reach kids?"
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable (p.20), AUTHOR: Steve McClellan and Richard
Tedesco]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
FCC PROPOSES UPGRADING LPTV
Issue: Television
The Federal Communications Commission is expected to propose within two
weeks that low power television stations be granted status as primary TV
licensees. The FCC proposal is expected to be based on a March 1997 request
by the Community Broadcasters Association, the primary organization for LPTV
stations. If approved the action would prevent LPTV station from being
displaced from their channels by full-power outlets that want to broadcast
on the same frequency. The action is expected to continue Chairman William
Kennard's campaign to open the airwaves and protect LPTV stations since they
include significant numbers of foreign language, religious, and educational
stations. Peter Tannenwald, CBA's Washington attorney, believes between 200
and 700 of the more than 2,000 LPTV stations would qualify for the new
classification helping those stations draw investors. The National
Association of Broadcasters, on the other hand, says the switch to digital
signals will be threatened if full-power stations don't have the flexibility
to push some LPTV operators to other frequencies. The Association for
Maximum Service Television also opposes the LPTV plan because of the digital
rollout. Capitol Hill has some support for LPTV; two representatives have
introduced a bill to grant many LPTV stations primary status and House
Telecommunications Subcommittee Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-LA) has promised to
hold hearings on the plan this year.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable (p.19), AUTHOR: Bill McConnell]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
ADVERTISING
GORE PUSHES CODE TO COMBAT AD BIAS
Issue: Advertising
"We must ensure that our airwaves provide opportunities for all Americans,
and both reflect and respect the full diversity of the country they serve,"
Vice President Albert Gore said last week to the American Advertising
Federation. He urged the advertising industry to develop a code of conduct
that would discourage companies from discriminating against media owned by
or targeted to minorities. A recent FCC study shows that minority-owned and
targeted radio stations earn less revenue per listener than majority-owned
outlets. VP Gore said he was encouraged by the AAF's board of directors
establishment of a task force to determine whether a voluntary code of
conduct is feasible. The AAF is taking a "wait and see" attitude on the
idea of a code for now. The Federal Communications Commission, Federal
Trade Commission, Department of Justice, Department of Commerce and Small
Business Administration will form a joint working group to examine ad
practices and their impact on minority broadcasters and ad agencies. FCC
Chairman William Kennard has also promised to include a new section in the
agency's annual radio report examining small and minority-owned stations.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable (p.18), AUTHOR: Bill McConnell & Paige Albiniak]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
HANGOVER OVER ALCOHOL ADS
Issue: Advertising
"Alcohol is alcohol is alcohol," says Judy Blatman, spokeswoman of the
Distilled Spirits Council of the US, the industry group that has not yet
decided whether to launch its new liquor campaign slotted for late-night cable
TV. The decision comes in the face of pending legislation. The Treasury
Department has called for a law that would require ads to carry warnings about
the risks of drinking alcohol. The Federal Trade Commission is expected to
distribute a report that criticizes alcohol marketing to teens. Local
broadcasters say the warning labels would send ad revenues to cable channels
and other media such as print and billboards, and threaten local sports
programming. Senator Strom Thurmond (R-SC) -- who pushed legislation requiring
warning labels on alcoholic products in 1989 -- is a strange opponent of the
legislation. McConnell and Albiniak report that he is upset with the Treasury
Department's Feb. 5 ruling that allowed two wine makers to taut the health
benefits of drinking wine. Thus, he refuses to support the ad warning
legislation. Industry groups say they are doing ok regulating themselves.
Gladys Horiuchi, The Wine Institute spokeswoman says their code says no,
"athletes, cartoon characters, or rock stars" in their ads to prevent targeting
kids.
[SOURCE: Broadcast and Cable (14), AUTHOR: Bill McConnell and Paige Albiniak]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
WHITE HOUSE UNVEILS HEALTHY DOSE OF PSA'S
Issue: Advertising
The White House has just launched a high profile media campaign aimed at
promoting free health care initiatives for uninsured children. Broadcasters
and cable operators have joined with the administration in an effort to
inform parents of Medicare and other free health care programs for their
children. Several networks and station groups have agreed to air Public
Service Announcements as part of the multi-media campaign. Although CBS
plans to participate in the PSA campaign, they were not present at the White
House's campaign launch. Both CBS and Fox stayed away from the event to
protest the Administration's position on broadcast ownership deregulation.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable (p.17), AUTHOR: Paige Albiniak]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*