ADVERTISING
Giant Sponsors Plan to Clean Up TV (WSJ)
INTERNET
Internet Over Cable: Defining the Future In Terms of the Past (FCC)
New Web Resource Packages Campaign Data for the Voter (CyberTimes)
LONG DISTANCE
FCC Consumer Alert: Don't Hang Up on Dial-Around (FCC)
RADIO
Keeping the Local in Local Radio (FCC0
MERGERS
Indiana Opens Investigation of SBC-Ameritech Merger (TelecomAM)
ANTITRUST
Microsoft Ordered to Provide More Antitrust Evidence (NYT)
============
ADVERTISING
============
GIANT SPONSORS PLAN TO CLEAN UP TV
Issue: Television/Advertising
Madison Avenue has embarked on a crusade to clean up network TV programming.
Some of the world's biggest advertisers have joined together in hopes of
influencing the networks to air more family-oriented shows. The Forum for
Responsible Advertisers, which includes Procter & Gamble Co., Johnson &
Johnson, Coca-Cola Co., Sears, Roebuck & Co., and Ford Motor Co., plans to
hold its first meeting in New York later this month. While advertisers claim
to be in search of more wholesome programs, adult-oriented shows like "Friends"
and "Just Shoot Me" continue to draw more advertising dollars than network
shows with strong family or religious themes.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B1, B5), AUTHOR: Brian Stenberg and Tara
Parker Pope]
http://wsj.com/
========
INTERNET
========
INTERNET OVER CABLE: DEFINING THE FUTURE IN TERMS OF THE PAST
Issue: Cable/Internet
FCC Staff Working Paper on Regulatory Categories and the InternetThe FCC's
Office of Plans and Policy (OPP) today released a staff working paper
analyzing the policy issues raised by the delivery of Internet-based
services over cable television systems. OPP Working Paper No. 30, "Internet
Over Cable: Defining the Future in Terms of the Past," was written by
Barbara Esbin, Associate Bureau Chief of the Cable Services Bureau, in
conjunction with OPP. Periodically, OPP issues working papers on emerging
areas in communications; these papers represent individual views and are not
an official statement by the FCC or any FCC commissioner.[SOURCE: FCC]
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/OPP/News_Releases/1998/nrop8001.html
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/OPP/working_papers/oppwp30.wp,
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/OPP/working_papers/oppwp30.pdf
NEW WEB RESOURCE PACKAGES CAMPAIGN DATA FOR THE VOTER
Issue: Internet
The Center for Responsive Politics http://www.crp.org has launched a new
resource on the Web that makes it easier to find detailed campaign finance
info on any congressional candidate in the country. "The real idea here is
to spread the power, on the assumption that information is power and there
is too much of it in Washington and not enough everywhere else" said Larry
Makinson, executive director of the organization. "Every contribution that
comes in to a candidate or political party, we try to categorize it by
industry. Then we try to translate that," Makinson said. "We try to see what
the patterns are. Because if you really want to understand what politicians
are going to do after they are elected, find out who is paying for their
campaign."
[SOURCE: New York Times (CyberTimes), AUTHOR: Jeri Clausing]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/09/cyber/articles/04campaign.html
=============
LONG DISTANCE
=============
FCC CONSUMER ALERT: DON'T HANG UP ON DIAL-AROUND
Issue: Long Distance
As of September 1, 1998, the transition to expanded access codes will be
complete. Consumers are reminded that, to make a "dial around" call, they
must dial an additional "10" before the access code (i.e. 10-xxx is now
10-10-xxx). Access codes enable callers to use a long distance company other
than the company the phone is programmed to use automatically for placing
long distance and local toll calls.
[SOURCE: FCC]
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/Factsheets/da981736.html
=====
RADIO
=====
Keeping the Local in Local Radio
Issue: Radio
"Certainly when the 1996 Telecommunications Act was passed, most of the
focus was on telephone and video. But while those markets haven't changed as
much as people predicted, radio is another story. In radio, the '96 Act has
had a clear and dramatic impact. The '96 Act made two key changes: it
eliminated the cap on the number of radio stations companies could own
nationally, and it raised the limit on the number of stations that could be
owned in local markets. Those two changes set off an unprecedented wave of
consolidation that has dramatically reshaped the radio industry."
[SOURCE: FCC]
http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Tristani/spgt811.html
=======
MERGERS
=======
INDIANA OPENS INVESTIGATION OF SBC-AMERITECH MERGER
Issue: Mergers
The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission will open an investigation of the
proposed merger of Ameritech into SBC Communications. Competitors and
consumer interest groups are concerned about the effects of the deal on
telephone competition, employment levels, service quality and rates.
September 14 is the deadline for intervening parties to register and file
questions they want the companies to answer, and a September 30 deadline for
questions from the commission staff. All three of the Ameritech states with
jurisdiction over the merger -- Illinois, Ohio and Indiana -- have formal
investigations underway.
[SOURCE: Telecom AM]
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
=========
ANTITRUST
=========
MICROSOFT ORDERED TO PROVIDE MORE ANTITRUST EVIDENCE
Issue: Antitrust
U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson has ordered Microsoft to
give the Department of Justice additional evidence in the antitrust case.
The software giant threatened to ask for a six-month delay if it was forced
to defend itself against the new evidence. The DOJ countered by saying it is
common and only natural to come upon new evidence during pretrial discovery.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C4), AUTHOR: Joel Brinkley]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/yr/mo/biztech/articles/04microsoft.html
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
We are outta here. Have a great holiday weekend and we'll see you *Tuesday*.
Any bets Mark gets the recond by then?