Television
B&C: The big get bigger
NYT: TV Stretches Limits of Taste, to Little Outcry
WSJ: IBM Buttresses Its Media Thrust In CBS, WB Pacts
B&C: HDTV: The real tests start this fall
B&C: Intel, PBS to push integrated digital broadcasting
B&C: Must carry: must settle for DBS
B&C: Commissioners question cable competition
Internet
WP: Internet: Global Good or Evil Empire?
Jobs
NYT: Editors Debate Realism vs. Retreat in Newsroom Diversity
WSJ: AT&T, Unions Expected to Start First Talks Since '96
Deregulation
Universal Service
TelecomAM: Kennard Bothered By Leaks On Universal Service Report
Campaign Finance Reform
NYT: A Sign Up List for Reform
Microsoft
WSJ: U.S. Closes In On New Microsoft Case
** Television **
Title: The big get bigger
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.8)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Sara Brown
Issue: Ownership
Description: "The nation's top 25 TV-station groups own or control 36% of
the commercial television stations in the United States," reports
Broadcasting & cable. The top 25 own or control 432 of the country's 1,202
commercial stations. This concentration of ownership is on the rise due to
the Telecommunications Act of 1996 which removed the numerical cap on
station ownership and allowed a single owner to reach 35% instead of just
25% of the national audience. In 1996, the top 25 owned 25% of the stations;
in 1997 they owned 33%. "This may not even be deregulation; this may be
unregulation -- and that may be of significantly more concern to us," said
the NTIA's Larry Irving. In television there has been no demonstration that
this kind of consolidation is necessary to keep these stations on the air."
Title: TV Stretches Limits of Taste, to Little Outcry
Source: New York Times (A1,A25)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/arts/tv-quality.html
Author: Lawrie Mifflin
Issue: Television
Description: Mainstream television this season "is flaunting the most vulgar
and explicit sex, language and behavior that it has ever brought into
American homes." Since ratings are high, few advertisers are rebelling
against even the most explicit shows. Yet, this season's provocative show
content has re-ignited opposition from some public figures who have long
complained about the vulgarity on TV and the influence it has over "family
values." Some principals and school teachers have sent notes home to parents
alerting them to certain provocative programs. But the outcry seems to be
less widespread than it has in the past. "I'd say there's been a quantum
leap downward this year in terms of adolescent, vulgar language and attempts
to treat sexuality in shocking terms," said Robert Licheter, director of the
Center for Media and Public Affairs, a nonpartisan group in Washington.
"People used to complain that television was aimed at the mind of a
12-year-old. Now it seems aimed at the hormones of a 14-year-old...I don't
think parents have given up caring, but they've almost given up fighting.
Popular culture is so ubiquitous it's almost impossible to combat." Sen.
Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) and William Bennett, the conservative Republican
commentator and lobbyist, plan to speak out against sexually lurid talk
shows at the annual convention of the Nat. Assoc. of Broadcasters in Las
Vegas on Tuesday. "They will urge stations to drop 'The Jerry Springer
Show,' in particular, and to adopt a voluntary 'code of conduct' enabling
them to restrict vulgar programming without fear of losing a competitive
edge." Leiberman said, "If they need an exemption from antitrust prosecution
for that, I bet it would fly through both houses of Congress."
Title: IBM Buttresses Its Media Thrust In CBS, WB Pacts
Source: Wall Street Journal (A23)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Raju Narisetti
Issue: Digital TV
Description: CBS and the WB television network selected IBM for separate
digital-technology projects. CBS will use IBM's News Archive product to
manage digital and videotape archives of the network's news division. With
IBM's product, CBS employees will be able to search, retrieve and order
broadcast content online and from remote locations without physically
sorting through videotapes. WB television plans to use an IBM system to
digitally insert local advertisements and announcements at its cable
affiliates in more than 100 markets. By centrally managing the ad spots, WB
is hoping to expand its reach into smaller markets without creating local
infrastructure.
Title: HDTV: The real tests start this fall
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.18)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Steve McClellan & Glen Dickson
Issue: Digital TV
Description: Digital television broadcasts will begin this fall in major US
markets. The major networks will announce their plans at the National
Association of Broadcasters convention in LasVegas this week. FOX has said
it is "basically taking its digital lab public." There's no way to be
certain yet what digital format will win in the long haul as industry-wide
rollout of digital will take years. The networks are deciding between
interlace and progressive formats and weighing their choices of available
equipment. "People forget it took 10 years to get color across the country.
HDTV will likewise take a long time to saturate the market," said a Sony
executive.
Title: Intel, PBS to push integrated digital broadcasting
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.22)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Richard Tedesco
Issue: Digital Television
Description: The Public Broadcasting Service and Intel Corp are creating an
enhanced digital broadcasting service which will enrich video content with
integrated data transmitted to PCs. "The real point of this collaboration is
doing parallel production: producing digital programming and the content to
go with it," a PBS executive said.
Title: Must carry: must settle for DBS
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.30)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Paige Albiniak
Issue: DBS
Description: Direct broadcast satellite (DBS) operator EchoStar wants to
compete with cable by being allowed to provide local broadcast stations to
their local markets. Congress is willing to allow them to do that as long as
they air all of the local stations in a given market. Without such a
requirement, "lawmakers are sure to run into strong opposition from
broadcasters...[t]hat may delay any bill through this year. But if EchoStar
must offer all the local stations in each market it serves, it will only be
able to serve 5 or 6 markets, CEO Charlie Ergen says. [The Federal Trade
Commission told the US Copyright Office that consumers would benefit from
local into local. See Paige Albiniak's "FTC backs DBS local-into-local"
(p.42) in Broadcasting & Cable.]
Title: Commissioners question cable competition
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.38)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Chris McConnell
Issue: Cable/Competition
Description: Cable rate regulation is set to expire on March 31, 1999 and
Rep Ed Markey (D-MA) is warning of an approaching "cable rate El Nino." He
is urging regulators to address these issues before they reach lawmakers.
Two Federal Communications Commissioners seem to agree that there's not
enough competition. At a hearing on Capitol Hill last week, Chairman Bill
Kennard and Commissioner Gloria Tristani both expressed worries about the
pace of competition in cable.
** Internet **
Title: Internet: Global Good or Evil Empire?
Source: Washington Post (F23)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPcap/1998-04/06/061r-040698-idx.html
Author: Robert O'Harrow, Jr.
Issue: Internet
Description: About a dozen self-described technology critics have begun
arguing that what we need to start applying to the Internet is common sense.
In their manifesto that was recently published on the Web they said, "As
technorealists, we seek to expand the fertile middle ground between
techno-utopianism and new-Luddism." They call for more "nuanced thinking" by
anyone who has anything to do with the Internet and "lament" the rush to
"dogmatic and simplistic" conclusions about the benefits and drawbacks to
recent technological changes. "We really saw this as a kind of starting
point. Here are some of the basic values we share and believe that many
others share," said Steve Johnson editor of the online magazine
FEED. "What are core beliefs?" The manifesto group has drawn criticism from
both sides, an indication that they may be "striking a nerve." You can check
out their views for
yourself at: http://www.technorealism.org/
** Jobs **
Title: Editors Debate Realism vs. Retreat in Newsroom Diversity
Source: New York Times (D1,D8)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/newsroom-diversity.html
Author: Felcity Barringer
Issue: Minorities
Description: Twenty years ago, the nation's newspaper editors set a goal to
increase diversity in the newsroom by the year 2000 to mirror the country's
ethnic mix. Now they are saying that this goal is "untenable" and top
officials of the American Society of Newspaper Editors have proposed that
the deadline be rolled back and the time frame adjusted to what one editor
called "ambitious and realistic." The reaction to this proposal was intense:
48 hours after the proposal was made by the society's board, a group of
dissenting editors declared their intention "to look for a more ambitious
set of goals, while minority journalists' groups expressed dismay, saying
that 'realism' was another word for 'retreat.'" According to a society
survey, about 11.4 percent, or 6,300 of the nation's 54,700 newspaper
reporters, photographers and editors are black, Asian, Hispanic or American
Indian. These numbers are triple the percentage in 1978, when the group
initially set its goal. The boards proposal is set for a vote in the fall.
Title: AT&T, Unions Expected to Start First Talks Since '96 Deregulation
Source: Wall Street Journal (A21)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Stephanie N. Mehta
Issue: Jobs
Description: Labor unions are expected to begin contract negotiations with
AT&T for protecting benefits and increasing membership in the industry's
fastest-growing segments, which tend to be nonunionized. Lucent
Technologies, Ameritech, Bell Atlantic, BellSouth, GTE, SBC Comm., and U S
West will negotiate contracts with their unions this year. To unionize
workers in AT&T's fast-growing business units in new sectors like wireless
communications, the unions favor a system called "card check recognition,"
which called for management to recognize a unit as unionized if more than
half the workers sign union-authorization cards. SBC has agreed to the
systems, but other carriers are wary.
** Universal Service **
Title: Kennard Bothered By Leaks On Universal Service Report
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Universal Service
Description: FCC Chairman Kennard is "very unhappy" with leaked reports that
the Commission is considering requiring companies that carry Internet phone
calls to pay access charges and contribute to universal service. One source
speculated that the draft of the report was leaked to the news media to
generate opposition. An aide to Chairman Kennard to Telecom A.M. that the
Commission
is expected to express "a change in philosophy" in "tentatively"
recommending that phone calls that are transmitted through the Internet be
treated like other long distance calls and be subject to access charges and
universal service obligations. "A phone call is a phone call, no matter how
it is transmitted," the aide said.
** Campaign Finance Reform **
Title: A Sign Up List for Reform
Source: New York Times (A26)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/editorial/06mon1.html
Author: NYTimes Editorial Staff
Issue: Campaign Finance Reform
Description: With only 22 signatures to go on a measure to force the vote on
campaign finance reform, holdouts ought to be "pressed' to explain to
constituents why they "refuse to fix a mess they have been deploring for the
past year and a half." While one of the main provisions is a ban on "soft
money" contributions to political parties by corporations, unions and
wealthy individuals, this is now what is drawing the majority of opposition.
It seems that most Republicans are more concerned about opposition from
anti-abortion groups as the legislation would restrict political
fund-raising for their TV "attack" ads. The National Right to Life Committee
has even said that it will "lower its rating on anyone who supports the
Shays-Meehan bill, because the group claims that the legislation would
violate its free-speech rights. "That is not true. Anyone can still run ads
that name a candidate, but financing them would be governed by the same
rules that apply to candidates and political parties." There are 13
Republicans from "the Northeast alone whose support now for the petition
drive could make the difference. They have either co-sponsored the
Shays-Meehan legislation or signed a letter asking for a vote to ban soft
money. They are Representatives Sherwood Boehlert, Michael Forbes, Amo
Houghton, Sue Kelly, Rick Lazio, Jack Quinn and James Walsh of New york; Bob
Franks and Rodney Frelinghuysen of New Jersey; Philip English and Jim
Greenwood of Pennsylvania and Charles Bass of New Hampshire. Their
constituents should be watching them."
** Microsoft **
Title: U.S. Closes In On New Microsoft Case
Source: Wall Street Journal (A3)
http://wsj.com/
Author: John R. Wilke
Issue: Antitrust
Description: Justice Dept. investigators believe they have enough evidence
to bring a new antitrust case against Microsoft that, if it goes forward, would
allege "illegal maintenance and extension" of Microsoft's control of PC
operating software. This move would also repeat an existing charge that
Microsoft violated a 1995 antitrust settlement by "bundling" Internet
software with Windows. The investigators are taking final depositions from
senior Microsoft officials and issued new civil subpoenas to major PC
makers, like Compaq. If the case moves forward, prosecutors are expected to
ask a federal court for immediate temporary restrictions on Microsoft's
practices plus unspecified permanent sanctions.
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A special Headlines on television's public service to follow later today.