Media experts shared how they work to reach distinct audiences through minority-owned networks, YouTube and digital financiers, in a Minority Media and Telecom Council (MMTC) panel Wednesday. Magic Johnson’s Aspire, launched one year ago, was the first minority-owned network launched by Comcast, and its platform is for the next generation of African Americans. “There is a story behind everything that we put on,” said Aspire General Manager Paul Butler. “We use celebrities to narrate our stories to put the content in context.” Sean Combs’ Revolt TV, launching in October, will be a 24/7 multiplatform, social media-driven network devoted to music, and artists will be able to interrupt programming to give messages to viewers. Issa Rae, producer, director and writer of The Mis-Adventures of Awkward Black Girl, said she used YouTube to get people to watch her show. People can make more money when they're affiliated with YouTube networks, depending on how many views they receive, Rae said. “We are looking for authentic music that will resonate for our audience,” said Revolt TV General Manager Karen Wishart. “We are selling ourselves as an audience aggregator, not a content aggregator.” Media companies with investors are more likely to be successful, said Francisco Montero, Fletcher Heald co-managing partner. “Companies become more profitable when people become interested in investing,” said William Crowder, lead adviser of Comcast Ventures Opportunity Fund. “We are looking for something that is going to grow quickly and have a major impact.”

The National Cable Television Cooperative said it topped 100 members using its WatchTVEverywhere (WTVE) authentication solution, in a Tuesday release (http://bit.ly/12rIAds). The count makes WTVE “the most widely deployed solution by volume of distributors ahead of all other solutions combined,” it said. NCTC has WTVE affiliates with subscribers ranging from fewer than 500 to 200,000, it said.

Senior congressional leaders wrote the Obama administration voicing worries ahead of this week’s U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) meeting. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich.; Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont.; House Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Sandy Levin, D-Mich.; and Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, claimed the Chinese government has orchestrated trade secret theft and widely publicized espionage activity targeting the U.S. and American companies over recent years. The letter criticized insufficient Chinese measures to protect intellectual property rights. The letter urged the administration to pressure China into acceding to the World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement (http://1.usa.gov/1boV9y4).

The FCC Media Bureau is seeking comment on EchoStar’s request for a waiver of the commission’s analog tuner requirements for the Channel Master K77, an HD Internet-enabled DVR that combines “access to broadcast programming with over-the-top and DVR functionalities,” said a public notice Wednesday (http://bit.ly/15fS9iu). EchoStar said the weight and cost of the device would be increased by having to build in an analog tuner, and its customers will still have access to broadcast TV through their TVs, the notice said. Unlike Samsung in its recent analog tuner waiver request (CD June 24 p17), EchoStar “did not voluntarily commit to educating consumers about the functionality of the K77 devices” when it comes to broadcast TV, the notice said. “We seek comment on whether EchoStar should be required to undertake similar consumer education efforts as a condition of any potential waiver relief.” Comments are due July 30, replies Aug. 9.

The mobile PC market had the worst Q2 in 11 years due to the “nonstop onslaught” of media tablets, according to preliminary data from IHS. Combined shipments of traditional notebook PCs, netbooks and ultrathin and Ultrabook laptops fell 6.9 percent in Q2 from the first three months of 2013, the research company said Wednesday. That marked the first time the industry experienced a quarter-over-quarter decline in the category since Q2 of 2002, it said. At that time, mobile PC shipments slid 3.7 percent after the “dot.com bust flattened global demand,” it said. Since then, the mobile PC space has “always strengthened” in Q2 as shipments “recovered from a normally soft start” to the year, it said. Excluding 2002 and this year, growth in each Q2 between 2002 and 2013 ranged from 0.5 percent to 6.5 percent, it said. The first half of 2013 had the weakest performance since 2003, with an 11.2 percent decline compared to the same six-month period a year ago, it also said. In stark contrast, mobile PC shipments soared 41.7 percent in the first half of 2010, it said. The mobile PC industry is “struggling to find any momentum for growth as upheavals rock the market,” Craig Stice, IHS senior principal analyst-compute platforms, said in a news release. “In particular, more nimble devices like media tablets have taken over among consumers given their ease of use and unique form factor,” he said. At the same time, “innovation in PCs has stagnated, and the recent influx of low-cost tablets has further eaten into an already decimated mobile PC space,” he said. “With such dire numbers, many are wondering whether this signifies the start of more record declines for mobile PCs, or if the industry has hit rock-bottom,” he said. However, what “could save the market” is an “infusion of lower-cost PCs that deliver higher performance but consume less power” than today’s laptops, said IHS. Processors including Intel’s Bay Trail and Temash from Advanced Micro Devices can “go beyond what traditional entry-level processors have been able to provide, and PC makers are contemplating a new class of performance PCs that would incorporate the new processors at affordable prices,” said IHS. “Hopes also remain alive within the industry on prospects for the much more expensive” ultrathin and Ultrabook PC models, where “growth could still be expected if their prices come down and if consumers can get used to” Microsoft’s new Windows 8 operating system after a “rocky launch,” said IHS. A PC “refresh buying cycle is more than likely to occur,” it predicted. “Despite the broad appeal” of media tablets, those devices “won’t be able to fully replace PCs, and consumers will continue to need the computational power of personal computers,” said Stice. “If a new low-cost PC offering strong performance can become available on the market and meet consumer expectations, then PCs could be set for more growth -- not like the glory days of the 2000s -- but growth nonetheless,” he said. Despite that, 2013 is “very likely a write-off at this point,” said IHS. Even with the growth that’s expected in the back half, it’s “too late given the depressed” first-half results for “any positive expansion” to happen in the mobile PC and overall PC markets, it said. Total PC shipments are expected to decline in 2013, the second straight year that’s happened, it said. Last year’s decline was the first since 2001.

Meredith Corp., owner of 12 network-affiliated TV stations, is likely to buy more and/or divest its publishing assets, predicted an analyst. It would be “difficult” for the company to buy many publicly traded TV station owners without exceeding a debt-to-cash-flow multiple of 3, though “there are many private firms that Meredith could acquire while maintaining its investment grade rating,” wrote Citigroup’s Jason Bazinet to investors Wednesday. It’s an “interesting time” for Meredith, which “tends to be very deliberate and quite conservative,” he wrote. “The secular forces weighing down on the magazine business are increasingly in tension with the growth from retransmission fees and the seemingly endless secular uptick in political advertising.” A company spokesman had no comment.

p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Cambria; }table.MsoNormalTable { font-size: 10pt; font-family: “Times New Roman”; }div.Section1 { page: Section1;Verizon Wireless will use AWS spectrum it obtains as part of a spectrum deal with AT&T to supplement its 700 MHz C-block spectrum in six metropolitan areas, the carrier said in a filing responding to questions from the FCC Wireless Bureau. In the six markets -- Albuquerque, Fresno, Portland, Ore., Dallas, Los Angeles and Phoenix -- Verizon will add 10 MHz of AWS spectrum, “providing Verizon Wireless with 30 MHz of AWS spectrum in most of the relevant markets,” the filing said. Verizon also said it will use the AWS spectrum in both macro and small-cell deployments. Many of the details were redacted from the filing (http://bit.ly/1aqdxIJ). Under a complex spectrum deal unveiled in January (CD Jan 28 p9) AT&T will buy 39 of Verizon Wireless’s lower 700 MHz B-block licenses in exchange for $1.9 billion cash and the transfer of seven AWS licenses. The two carriers also unveiled spectrum agreements with private equity firm Grain.

The House Communications Subcommittee is planning to hold a hearing on July 23 to examine the spectrum incentive auctions, Hill and industry sources told us Wednesday. The hearing and witnesses have not been announced and a subcommittee spokesman did not comment. FCC officials are developing rules for the incentive auction of broadcast TV spectrum, which former FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said would take place next year. Final approval of the commission’s rules will likely have to wait until the Senate confirms Tom Wheeler, President Barack Obama’s nominee for chairman (CD June 26 p1). Wheeler said at his June 18 confirmation hearing (CD June 19 p1) before the Senate Commerce Committee that, if confirmed, it was his intention to “move expeditiously to make spectrum available by auction in multiple bands.”

Global Eagle Entertainment and China Telecom Satellite Communications signed a memorandum of understanding to develop and implement in-flight connectivity solutions for Chinese airlines. Global Eagle’s Row 44 unit will provide its expertise in efficient program management and “in the development and operation of advanced in-flight services to increase passenger loyalty and airline revenues,” said Global Eagle in a news release Wednesday (http://bit.ly/15ftScg). China Telecom will offer airlines services, including global satellite connectivity and content delivery, it said. “The MOU also offers support to non-Chinese airlines that fly into and over the People’s Republic of China.”

If the structure of the broadcast spectrum auction ends up being unattractive to top carriers, it could “be a catalyst for other spectrum transactions getting done,” Wells Fargo analyst Jennifer Fritzsche said Wednesday in an email to investors. However, top carriers appear to remain interested in participating in the auction at this point -- and that could “weigh on other potential transactions to be done in front of the auction,” Fritzsche said. Wells Fargo hosted meetings Tuesday between its clients and Alpina Capital Managing Partner Ed Moise on spectrum issues. Moise told investors he believes the auction is likely to occur on the “later sides of most estimates.” The number of bidders is likely to be a major factor in the price of spectrum at the auction -- as important as the band, quantity and coverage area of the license, Fritzsche said. AWS spectrum in particular remains in high demand, with Verizon Wireless, AT&T and T-Mobile US continuing to show interest in increasing their AWS holdings, she said.