(Put on your seatbelts for a plethora of Monday summaries - what happened
this wkend?!?!)
Digital TV
B&C: Fox Gets DTV Space in NY
B&C: Digital Cable: When, Not If
Cable:
NYT: Cable Industry Ready to Fight to Offer Internet Access
B&C: Wireless Cable Pins Hopes on Internet
B&C: Washington Advisers
WSJ: Cable Companies May Remove ESPN From Basic Tier
B&C: Cable Having a Capital Time
Radio
B&C: Low-Power Radio Brings High-Intensity Response
Wireless:
B&C: Satellite Rewrite Stalled by Must-Carry Debate
B&C: Washington Watch
Media/News Coverage
B&C: FCC Rejects Denver License Challenge
NYT: Why Today's News Is No Longer What Happened Yesterday
Internet
NYT: U.S. Is Urged to Offer More Data on Line
NYT: Legislation on On-Line Copyrights Advances
B&C: Casting a Narrow Net
Antitrust/Microsoft
NYT: As U.S. Spars With Microsoft, Federal Offices Use Its System
NYT: What Antitrust Is All About
WP: Microsoft Warns Wall St. in Letter
WSJ: Microsoft Warns of Potential Harm from U.S. Action
Telephony
WSJ: MCI Withholds Some Access Payments to Bells
WP: MCI Finds New Life in Old Technology
Lifestyle
NYT: The On-Line Choice for People's Most Beautiful: Angry Hank
** Digital TV **
Title: Fox Gets DTV Space in NY
Source: Broadcasting & Cable (p8)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Chris McConnell
Issue: Digital TV
Description: Television broadcasters scrambled last week to make the
Friday, May 1 deadline to file applications for permits to construct
digital broadcasting stations in time for their promised November 1 start
date of broadcasting digital programming. Only slightly more than half of
the 40 stations made the deadline, and several are asking the FCC for
extensions. In the meantime, Fox Broadcasting Stations will join CBS and
King Kong up on top of the Empire State Building for broadcasting digital
to New York City residents.
Title: Digital Cable: When, Not If
Source: Broadcasting & Cable (p42,46)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com
Author: Price Colman
Issue: Digital Cable
Description: Most estimates say digital will replace advanced analog within
seven to ten years, indicating a switch in attitude from "if" to "when."
** Cable **
Title: Cable Industry Ready to Fight to Offer Internet Access
Source: New York Times (D9)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/05/biztech/articles/04cable.html
Author: Saul Hansell
Issue: Internet Access
Description: The cable industry today plans to introduce an organization to
promote its own modem technology. The group, called the Cable Broadband
Forum, will be formally presented at the industry's largest conference of
the year in Atlanta. This is the cable industry's attempt to "mass their
forces for a protracted war" over which group, cable or telephone, will
provide high-speed Internet access to people's homes.
Title: Wireless Cable Pins Hopes on Internet
Source: Broadcasting & Cable (p60,62)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com
Author: Bob Diddlebock
Issue: Internet Access
Description: The struggling U.S. wireless cable industry, with membership
stalled at the 1 million mark for the past few years, are turning their
attention to providing high-speed Internet access. But the industry needs
about $1.6 billion to fund capital expenditure efforts through 2001,
something which might be difficult in light of DBS' 7 million subscribers
and cable's 70 million.
Title: Washington Advisers
Source: Broadcasting & Cable (p16)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Issue: Regulation/Pricing
Description: House Telecommunications Subcommittee Chairman Bill Tauzin
(R-LA) asked ABC President Bob Iger and ESPN President Steve Bornstein how
to keep cable rates down without re-regulating cable or forcing operators
to sell subscribers high-priced cable networks "a la carte." No good
answers were forthcoming; they did promise that Disney's $9.2 billion NFL
package will not contribute to rising cable rates, although ESPN *is*
asking cable operators to pay 20% more for ESPN as a result of the NFL
deal. [Huh? Who's going to pay for that 20%? -- See next story!]
Title: Cable Companies May Remove ESPN From Basic Tier
Source: Wall Street Journal (B6)
http://www.wsj.com
Author: Leslie Cauley
Issue: Pricing
Description: In a good example of why it pays to read more than one
newspaper, WSJ reports that cable companies, frustrated by continuing rate
increases from cable-sports network ESPN, are considering setting up two
programming tiers-- one with sports and ESPN, and one without-- aiming to
give customers a choice and passing along the higher costs to sports fans
who want the programming. [What's next?] In response to ESPN's claim that
a la carte services increase costs to consumers, cable executives say that
federal legislation is needed to solve the problem conclusively.
Title: Cable Having a Capital Time
Source: Broadcasting & Cable (p92,93)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com
Author: Chris McConnell
Issue: Regulation
Description: Despite rising rates, scarce competition, and screaming
consumer groups, lawmakers show no signs of changing next year's sunset of
cable rate regulation, and attempts to have the FCC even study the root of
increased rates have failed to get off the ground. Despite claims that
there is less concern expressed about rates and service, the FCC released a
report in late December (1997) showing rate hikes of 8-10% during 1996,
followed by another reporting showing the cable industry controls 87% of
the multichannel video market. Rep. Markey's (D-MA) bill to extend cable
regulation beyond the March 1999 deadline imposed by the Telecommunications
Act has gone nowhere fast, and FCC's information-gathering effort has also
been stalled.
** Radio **
Title: Low-Power Radio Brings High-Intensity Response
Source: Broadcasting & Cable (p22,26)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com
Author: Chris McConnell
Issue: Community Broadcasting
Description: Irate radio listeners are intrigued and commercial
broadcasters are horrified by a series of proposals to establish a
low-power radio service. Supporters of the proposals cited media
consolidation and lack of local service as reasons to move the proposals
forward. Comments included "large corporately owned, profit-driven
stations are not interested in the individual towns and geographical areas"
and "radio listeners find increasingly that listening formats decrease in
diversity." Meanwhile, commercial conglomerates made an implied threat
that low-power radio would cause commercial stations to start charging,
claiming it "would have a disastrous impact on full-power stations' ability
to continue to provide free, over-the-air interference-free service to the
public," said Cox Radio. Greater Media challenged whether low-power radio
would improve economic opportunities for minorities or women, and a
collection of state broadcast associations insisted that local communities
are served despite the spate of radio mergers since the 1996 Telecom. Act,
and encouraged supporters of the petitions to seek other outlets for their
viewpoints -- such as seeking out available time on full-power commercial
and noncommercial stations and for expressing their views over the Internet.
** Wireless **
Title: Satellite Rewrite Stalled by Must-Carry Debate
Source: Broadcasting & Cable (p20)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Issue: Satellite Regulation
Description: Any chance for a rewrite of the satellite law this year could
be killed by broadcasters' demand that satellite TV providers carry all
local broadcast signals in markets they serve. Congress faces a dilemma
because non-basic cable tiers are due to be deregulated next March (1999).
Lawmakers prefer market pressure over re-regulation as a means to set
prices, but two years after the 1996 Telecommunications Act, only DBS is
prepared to compete with cable. Current bills being consider include:
McCain's (R-AZ) which would give DBS companies at least one year before the
FCC writes a rule setting must-carry requirements; Coble (R-NC) and Hatch
(R-UT) both have bills requiring DBS companies to offer all local signals
in all local markets they choose to serve as soon as they enter that
market; Hatch's bill would give satellite TV providers a permanent
copyright license for local broadcast signals, but extends the satellites'
license for imported signals for three years, and it does nothing to change
increases in copyright rates implemented by the US Copyright Office earlier
in 1998.
Title: Washington Watch
Source: Broadcasting & Cable (p26)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com
Author: Chris McConnell & Paige Albiniak
Issue: Legislation & Regulation
Description: House Telecommunications Subcommittee Chair Billy Tauzin
(R-LA) plans to introduce his long-awaited public broadcasting bill at the
PBS national conference in Miami June 15. The bill explores ways to create
a public broadcasting trust fund. Tauzin is also working on two other
bills: a cable bill designed to give consumers greater choice in monopoly
markets, and a direct broadcasting satellite bill to resolve the
local-into-local controversy. Direct satellite broadcaster EchoStar is
lobbying Congress that requirements to carry local programming are too
harsh and will hurt consumers. The National Association of Broadcasters
isn't happy with deregulation alone; it now wants a stop to the rising FCC
fees required by television and radio stations. The FCC reported to
Congress on its efforts to make sure that the Year 2000 computer problem
won't disrupt satellite, telephone and broadcasting's Emergency Alert
System. Last week the FCC fined two Chicago stations $10,000 each for
exceeding limits on the amount of commercials aired during children's
programming.
** Media/News Coverage **
Title: FCC Rejects Denver License Challenge
Source: Broadcasting & Cable (p20)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com
Author: Chris McConnell
Issue: TV Content/First Amendment
Description: The FCC rejected Rocky Mountain Media Watch's contention that
the government should pull four TV licenses because the stations aired too
much violence in local news coverage. The group's study found that stories
about crime, disasters, war and terrorism accounted for up to 55% of each
newscast, under-represented women and minorities as authority figures and
devoted a higher-than-average portion of their evenings newscasts to
commercials. But regulators found the group's analysis irrelevant to a
license renewal application, and also cited First Amendment protection.
Licensees are afforded broad discretion in scheduling, selection and
presentation of programs aired.
Title: Why Today's News Is No Longer What Happened Yesterday
Source: New York Times (D8)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/news-timewarp.html
Author: Dylan Loeb McClain
Issue: Media
Description: A study of the news media in the past two decades conducted by
the Project for Excellence in Journalism, a nonprofit research center, found
that today's media is producing fewer straight news reports of the
traditional "what happened today" variety than 20 years ago, and devoting
less coverage to government and foreign affairs. The project, which is
affiliated with the Columbia Univ. Graduate School of Journalism and finance
by the Pew Charitable Trust, found that features that touch on human
interest, life style, health, crime, entertainment, scandal and celebrities,
are much more prevalent now. Without judging whether this journalistic shift
is for better or worse, the study observed that "the news media are clearly
now covering more of the society, moving away from institutional coverage of
buildings and trying to make the news more relevant to audiences." You can
judge for yourself by accessing this article at the above link and comparing
a sampling of broadcasts and articles from 20 years ago last week.
** Internet **
Title: U.S. Is Urged to Offer More Data on Line
Source: New York Times (D6)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/05/biztech/articles/04database.html
Author: John Markoff
Issue: Internet Content
Description: Last week, Carl Malamud, Internet pioneer and president of the
Internet Multicasting Service, a nonprofit organization that has undertaken
a variety of Internet publishing efforts, sent a letter to Vice President Al
Gore and Commerce Secretary William Daley challenging the federal government
to make the nation's patent and trademark database readily available. If the
government fails to respond, Malamud, who also put data from the Securities
and Exchange Commission online four years ago at no cost to computer users,
has threatened to undertake the project himself as a guerilla effort to make
the database information publicly accessible. "Malamud's crusade throws new
light on a continuing dispute between those who advocate widely distributing
government databases that are created at taxpayer expense and the thriving
private-information industry that remarkets and resells the information to
business customers and libraries."
Title: Legislation on On-Line Copyrights Advances
Source: New York Times (D12)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/yr/mo/biztech/articles/04internet-copyr
ight.html
Author: Jeri Clausing
Issue: Copyright/Internet Regulation
Description: Congress is in the process of completing legislation that would
expand copyright protections to online material in hopes of taking "global
leadership" on the largely disputed issue of protecting creative works
online. The legislation, which is meant "to put into force an international
treaty on digital copyrights, seeks to protect intellectual-property holders
while limiting the liability of Internet access providers that unwittingly
store, transmit or link Web surfers to illegally copied material."
Title: Casting a narrow net
Source: Broadcasting & Cable (p96)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com
Author: Richard Tedesco
Issue: Local Content
Description: Cable's high-speed Internet services are cultivating new
subscriptions with localized content with such services as ( at )Home and
InYourTown.com providing local arts, entertainment, dining, real estate and
education information. [See any public interest content here?]
** Antitrust/Microsoft **
Title: As U.S. Spars With Microsoft, Federal Offices Use Its System
Source: New York Times (D1,D6)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/05/biztech/articles/04microsoft.html
Author: Steve Lohr
Issue: Antitrust
Description: While the Justice Dept. continues in its pursuit of Microsoft
Corp., the government, as a whole, is becoming increasingly dependent on the
software giant's products. The U.S. Army, Navy, Social Security Admin.,
Health and Human Services Dept., Defense Logistics Agency, Postal Service,
Coast Guard, and yes, even the Justice Dept. itself, all use Microsoft
software on their thousands of desktop computers. "Microsoft and especially
Windows NT (Microsoft's "industrial- strength" operating system) are just
taking over the desktop in the federal government," said Robert Dornan,
senior vice president of Federal Sources Inc., a research firm in McLean VA.
"And I don't see anything on the horizon that would undermine its success."
While the mass use of Microsoft products by the government might seem to
fall in direct contradiction to its antitrust confrontation, the Justice
Dept. insists that its not attempting to "hobble" the company but to protect
"competition and innovation" in the software industry.
Title: What Antitrust Is All About
Source: New York Times (A23)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/oped/04bork.html
Author: Robert H. Bork
Issue: Antitrust
Description: The antitrust case against Microsoft Corp. is not " one of
politics or ideology; it is one of law and economics." What is the complaint
of the many companies that are urging action by the Justice Dept? "These
companies -- customers as well as rivals of Microsoft -- challenge some of
Microsoft's business practices as predatory, intended to preserve the
company's monopoly of personal computer operating systems through practices
that exclude or severely hinder rivals but do not benefit consumers.
Microsoft's effort to maintain and expand a market dominance that now stands
at 90 to 95 percent violates traditional antitrust principles...We may not
yet know of all of the exclusionary practices, but we do know
many...Netscape and the other companies seeking an end to these practices
are not asking the Justice Dept. to take any action that would interfere in
the slightest with Microsoft's ability to innovate. The dept is simply being
asked to stop Microsoft from stifling the innovations of others. The object
is to create a level playing field benefitting consumers."
Title: Microsoft Warns Wall St. in Letter
Source: Washington Post (A7)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-05/04/072l-050498-idx.html
Author: The Associated Press
Issue: Antitrust
Description: Last night, Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Greg Maffei sent
a letter to about 150 stock analysts, software companies and venture
capitalists. In the letter Maffei wrote that Microsoft wasn't sure whether
the Justice Dept. or state attorneys general will attempt to interfere with
the launch of Microsoft's Windows 98 personal computer software. He said the
purpose of his letter was to "outline the possible financial ramifications
of such regulatory action." The letter was in the same tone as the one
signed last week by executives at 26 of the nation's top technology companies.
Title: Microsoft Warns of Potential Harm from U.S. Action
Source: Wall Street Journal (A6)
http://www.wsj.com
Author: Don Clark
Issue: Antitrust
Description: Microsoft is warning financial analysts about the prospect of
government action against its Windows 98 operating system, predicting "broad,
negative consequences" for the entire personal-computer industry if the new
software is delayed. Despite the warnings, some analysts and economists say
delaying Windows 98 would be more of an annoyance than a disaster because
Windows 98 is not expected to drive new sales as strongly as did Windows
95. Next question: will Microsoft also bundle into Windows 98 (or 99 or...)
its new NetShow 3.0 streaming Internet video technology, in response to the
wild success of "upstart" RealNetworks Inc.?
** Telephony **
Title: MCI Withholds Some Access Payments to Bells
Source: Wall Street Journal (B8)
http://www.wsj.com
Author: Stephanie N. Mehta
Issue: Industry
Description: MCI said it analyzed access-charge invoices and alleged that
the local Bell telephone companies frequently overcharged or failed to
provide detailed information on the charges. Until Price Waterhouse
conducts an independent analysis, MCI plans to withhold some 424 million in
payments. (MCI pays $4.5-5 billion in access fees annually; long-distance
carriers pay about 425 billion in access fees annually.)
Title: MCI Finds New Life in Old Technology
Source: Washington Post (Bus-6)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Author: Jennifer Files (Dallas Morning News)
Issue: New (and Old) Technology
Description: MCI Communications Corp. engineers say they have successfully
applied 160-year-old technology to their telephone network in a test that
"carried voice and data traffic triple the distance of regular networks" at
much reduced costs. The principle they used is called soliton technology,
which refers to the "narrow waves or pulses of light that retain their shape
as they travel long distances along a cable. In optical fiber
telecommunications networks, the waves' ability to keep their shape helps
overcome the problem of lightwave dispersion," which can result in lost
data. MCI believes that using soliton transmitters will help it carry
signals more accurately with fewer electronic parts. "Reducing the need for
electronic components is an important step toward MCI's goal of engineering
the world's first all-optical network," said Jack Wimmer, executive director
of network technology and planning for MCI. MCI hopes to "deploy" the
technology, which could cut transmission costs by as much as 20 percent, by
year end. [Note: The first solitons were documented by Scottish engineer
John Scott Russell in 1834.]
** Lifestyle **
Title: The On-Line Choice for People's Most Beautiful: Angry Hank
Source: New York Times (D1,D6)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/05/biztech/articles/04people.html
Author: Amy Harmon
Issue: Lifestyle
Description: It should come as little surprise that teenage heart-throb
Leonardo DiCaprio was chosen by People Magazine to grace the cover of its
annual "50 Most Beautiful People" issue. What is less explicable is the fact
that Hank, the Angry Drunken Dwarf, whose "scarbrouse, unfailingly
belligerent persona has made him a popular guest on Howard Stern's radio
show," had garnered nearly 208,000 votes on the magazine's online reader
pole at: www.pathfinder.com. That number was about 17 times those received
by the second-place DiCaprio. Some critics dismiss these numbers as a
reflection of the cult following commanded by Stern, while others suggest
that the Net audience does not necessarily reflect mainstream-America. But
many of the electronic campaigners themselves offer a more sophisticated
explanation -- "an attempt to use the new media to challenge the cultural
hegemony of the old media." These "grass-roots guerrillas" contend that it
is an expression of cultural pluralism, that People's parent, the media
giant Time Warner Inc. may not be especially eager to embrace. "The 'media'
tells us what food to eat, what movies to see, what music to listen to, who
to vote for politically and what kind of people are attractive enough to
have relationships with!" one "Internet iconoclast" wrote is a discussion
forum on People's Web site. "Voting for 'Hank the Dwarf' is a reflection of
how the people really feel about media." People's executive editor, Susan
Toepfer, is unapologetic about the magazine's top-down approach of selecting
beautiful people. "We are in the business of selling magazines. And we put
on the cover people we know the most people are interested in," she said.
The Internet," Toepfer added, has a "wackier sensibility." (after a day like
today - you have to have at least one lifestyle story!)
*********