BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2010
OWNERSHIP
MAP, Free Press, Others Ask FCC To Delay Comcast/NBCU Vote
Nonprofit News May Thrive in Comcast Takeover
BROADCASTING
Travelers Information Stations
How to receive a Broadcast TV Station when Dropped by Cable
INTERNET
Potential Impacts on Communications from IPv4 Exhaustion & IPv6 Transition
65% of Internet users have paid for online content
SPECTRUM
White spaces could expand beyon
OWNERSHIP
COMCAST DELAY SOUGHT
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Public interest groups -- including Media Access Project and Free Press -- have asked the Federal Communications Commission to "defer action" on the Comcast/NBCU joint venture until Comcast makes its programming contracts back to 2006 part of the FCC record in the transaction, the FCC staff can review them, and groups like themselves can view them, subject to protective orders, then comment on them. The FCC's transition team, backed by the chairman, has already given its tentative approval of the deal, subject to mandatory and voluntary conditions, but MAP and company say the FCC promised not to make a decision until it had reviewed the entire record. In a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and the other commissioners dated Dec 28, they pointed to the chairman's testimony in a Mar. 11, 2010 Senate hearing on the deal that the commission's merger decisions are made "only after we compile and review a full record." They point out that Comcast had not complied with the FCC's request that it provide information on "certain programming contracts," specifically all programming contracts struck since 2006. "[I]f opponents are denied access to this information subject to the strict protective orders designed to protect the confidentiality of business information," they argue, "there will not have been a full opportunity for them to file facts and arguments based on that data." The groups concede that the information was provided to the Justice Department--with which the FCC is working closely--and that when they asked John Flynn, senior counsel to the chairman for transactions, whether the FCC staff had reviewed the documents, he said that the FCC staff had access to them and that "it is aware of its obligation to ensure that the Commission's record reflects documents upon which the Commission has relied in its review of the pending applications." But that is not sufficient, they argue.
benton.org/node/47383 | Broadcasting&Cable
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COULD NONPROFIT NEWS GET BOOST FROM COMCAST?
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Brian Stelter]
Included in Comcast’s promises regarding its acquisition of NBC is a little-noticed plan that may stimulate the growth of nonprofit news organizations. Comcast is pledging to establish partnerships between news nonprofits and at least five of the 10 NBC television stations that are owned by NBC Universal. The partnerships will be modeled on an existing relationship between KNSD, the NBC-owned station in San Diego, and voiceofsandiego.org, an innovative news organization that relies on donations from foundations, corporations and readers. Comcast’s embrace of what it calls “hyperlocalism” may be an advantage to nonprofits that are gathering news in metropolitan areas. Independent newsrooms like voiceofsandiego.org have sprung up in several cities, and in some cases they have filled gaps left by downsized newspaper newsrooms. The partnership plan was outlined in a letter to the Federal Communications Commission on Dec. 23, the same day that Julius Genachowski, the commission chairman, indicated that he would support the combination of Comcast and NBC Universal as long as a number of conditions were attached.
benton.org/node/47381 | New York Times
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BROADCASTING
FCC CONSIDERS EXPANDING ROLE OF TRAVELERS INFORMATION STATIONS
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: ]
The Federal Communications Commission has adopted an Order and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that seeks public comment on whether the role of travelers information stations (TIS) should be expanded beyond sharing noncommercial information of interest to travelers, including broadcast of Amber alerts, public health warnings, terror threat levels, weather reports, and other helpful information. TIS stations serve as a local AM radio communications channel that is diverse and reliable particularly for motorists seeking information and updates on traffic congestion, accidents and weather reports. Expansion of TIS' role to provide travelers with other types of emergency information and alerts may benefit the public interest not only through redundancy, but particularly during power blackouts when traditional means of communications may be inoperable. A significant number of these stations throughout the country operate on solar-power and/or have battery back-up power systems and would enable them to continue to provide broadcast information to travelers regionally during significant power outages. The Order and NPRM comes as a direct result from petitions filed by the Highway Information Systems, Inc. (HIS), the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), and the American Association of Information Radio Operators (AAIRO) requesting that the FCC expand the role of TIS nationwide by allowing regional broadcasts of more types of potential life-saving emergency information to travelers. In the interest of promoting policies to enhance the reliability and effectiveness of emergency alerts and warnings reaching the public over diverse communications platforms, the FCC grants the petitions by HIS and AASHTO requesting a rulemaking to expand the role of TIS. However, the FCC denies AAIRO's request for a declaratory ruling on the FCC's rules for TIS to broadcast messages concerning the safety of life and protection of property at the discretion of authorized government agencies because their interpretation of the rule would constitute a change in policy requiring a notice and comment rulemaking. The issues raised by AAIRO have been included in the FCC's NPRM and are open to public comment. Generally, the Order and NPRM seeks public comment on whether the FCC should significantly expand the scope of permitted communications and alerts by local governments on TIS stations and what limits if, in any, should be placed on those noncommercial messages. The FCC is also seeking comment on whether TIS power limits should be modified to reach a larger listening audience in their coverage area and to what extent TIS broadcast locations should be expanded without resulting in harmful interference to the communications of other licensed broadcasters.
benton.org/node/47379 | Federal Communications Commission | read the Order and NPRM
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TV CONSUMER ADVISORY
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: ]
The Federal Communications Commission issued a Consumer Advisory to help people in retransmission disputes.
What can I do if a local broadcast television station is no longer available on my pay TV service?
If you wish to view the station, you may be able to do so through one of the following options:
Watch the station (and other broadcasting stations) over the air using an antenna and a digital television.
Watch the station (and other broadcasting stations) over the air using an antenna and an analog television attached to a digital-to-analog converter box.
Subscribe to another pay service that is carrying the station. Available pay services vary based on your location. You should contact the pay service provider to determine whether it provides service to your residence. In addition, you should be aware that different pay TV service providers' agreements for the same broadcast television station may expire on different dates. Switching to another pay service is not a guarantee that your new service will continue to carry a particular broadcast television station.
In addition, some broadcast network programming is available on the Internet, though it is often delayed for some time after its initial broadcast.
How can I watch a station over the air without a pay TV subscription?
To watch a television station over the air, you need either: A digital TV set OR an analog TV set connected to a digital-to-analog converter box.
benton.org/node/47374 | Federal Communications Commission
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INTERNET
IPV4 AND IPV6
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Robert Cannon]
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released the third of its new FCC Staff Working Papers. This agency-wide research paper series replaced all of the earlier working paper series that had been issued by individual bureaus and offices. It is intended to encourage staff research that furthers the "expert" function of the agency and builds agency intellectual capital. This active research program is managed by the Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis (OSP). The new paper is "Potential Impacts on Communications from IPv4 Exhaustion & IPv6 Transition" by Robert Cannon, a Senior Attorney in OSP. His paper explains why, with the exhaustion of Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) addresses looming, there is insufficient time to complete the full transition to IPv6. The paper also explains how the implementation of IPv4 workarounds, while making that old protocol more efficient, are creating new problems of their own.
benton.org/node/47378 | Federal Communications Commission | read the working paper
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PAYING FOR IT ONLINE
[SOURCE: Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, AUTHOR: Jim Jansen]
Nearly two-thirds of Internet users – 65% – have paid to download or access some kind of online content from the Internet, ranging from music to games to news articles to adult material. Music, software, and apps are the most popular content that Internet users have paid to access or download, although the range of paid online content is quite varied and widespread.In a survey of 755 Internet users between 28 October and 1 November 2010, respondents were asked about 15 different kinds of online material that could be purchased or access after a payment. The online content that we were trying to assess in this survey is “intangible” digital products such as software, articles, and music that need not have a physical form. This is in contrast to something we have measured in previous surveys but were not trying to capture here: the use of the Internet to purchase “tangible” products such as clothes, CDs, books, or computers or tangible services such as hotel reservations or airline tickets.
benton.org/node/47375 | Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project
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SPECTRUM
WHITE SPACES COULD EXPAND
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Matthew Lasar]
The Federal Communications Commission has released a Notice of Inquiry full of proposals that could radically transform who gets to use the radio spectrum bands and how. Among the ideas being considered is an expansion of the FCC's white space device service from the television bands to other license regions as well. "Commenters should address whether they believe this concept is practical for other bands," the NOI asks. "If so, they should identify in which bands they believe such a system could work and provide details on how it would work." The gist of the probe is that the government needs to find ways to make wireless licenses "dynamic"—that is, useable by far more than one licensee. "Even as we look to free up existing spectrum to meet the needs for wireless broadband, we can and should explore ways to make more dynamic and opportunistic use of the spectrum we have," noted FCC Chair Julius Genachowski following the NOI's release—that is, "to help us use our spectrum resource more intensively and efficiently." Ditto, declared his Republican colleague Commissioner Robert McDowell. "I hope our updated rules will adhere to the Commission’s more recent 'flexible use' policy," he declared. "Old style 'command and control' (read: prescriptive) rules not only hamper creative entrepreneurs who are in the best position to understand and satisfy consumer demands, they cause spectral inefficiencies as well." Here's a rundown of some of the ideas that the Commission is considering along these "dynamic" lines.
benton.org/node/47376 | Ars Technica
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