Ovation'S filing for Ch. 11 protection marks the latest blow dealt CE specialty chains as they try to parry sorties onto their turf by Best Buy, Circuit City, Target, Wal-Mart and other chains. Once repositories of high-end CE gear, specialty chains now must compete with sales of flat-panel TVs at every level of distribution. CE specialty outlets also face shoppers well schooled on specs via the Internet and so less dependent on commissioned sales staffs for advice.
High-tech aficionados on Capitol Hill are talking Internet governance in the run-up to next month’s World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) meeting in Tunisia. As the U.S. delegation readies for the Nov. 16- 18 summit, lawmakers want to preserve the traditional U.S. role in overseeing Web operations despite some international players’ pleas to transfer control to the U.N.
The FCC should impose penalties on broadband over power line (BPL) operators that don’t act promptly to resolve interference with ham radio, said Dave Sumner, CEO of the American Radio Relay League. Without such penalties, the Commission’s regulations are meaningless, he told us. The ARRL has demanded that the FCC ask Manassas, Va., to shut its BPL system because of unresolved interference complaints dating to early 2004.
The FCC should impose penalties on broadband over power line (BPL) operators that don’t act promptly to resolve interference with ham radio, said Dave Sumner, CEO of the American Radio Relay League. Without such penalties, the Commission’s regulations are meaningless, he told us. The ARRL has demanded that the FCC ask Manassas, Va., to shut its BPL system because of unresolved interference complaints dating to early 2004.
A draft Senate DTV bill would set April 7, 2009, as the hard transition date for requiring broadcasters to return analog spectrum to the govt., according to a copy of the bill circulated Fri. on Capitol Hill. The bill would put the Dept. of Commerce in charge of subsidies for consumer purchases of converter boxes to allow analog TVs to display digital signals. Commerce also would oversee conversion of low-power TV stations and TV translator stations from analog to digital, follow-through on the Enhance 911 Act of 2004, promotion of emergency communications and aid to coastal states affected by hurricanes. The bill sets Jan. 28, 2008, for the start of licenses of recovered spectrum.
The Assn. of National Advertisers (ANA) filed a notice of intent to intervene in Viacom’s petition to the U.S. Appeals Court, D.C. to throw out the FCC’s new rules on restricting ads on children’s programs (CD Sept 29 p9). The rules take effect Jan. 1. ANA participated in the Commission’s rulemaking on the issue. ANA said the case will “significantly” after ANA members’ ability to advertise during children’s programs. The new rules substantially depart from long-standing FCC practice by expanding the definition of commercial matter for program promotions, unless the promotion is for educational and informational programming, the notice said. This would further limit the inventory of ad time available during children’s programming and affect the economic interests of advertisers, ANA said. ANA has also taken issue with the rules’ restrictions on website ads that could force expensive redesigns of websites aimed at youths. That could raise ad prices, said Dan Jaffe, ANA exec. vp-govt. relations. Some broadcasters display web addresses during children’s programs, such as with crawls at the bottom of the screen. The rules would allow the display if the website offers substantial program-related material and other noncommercial content. The site can’t contain any commercial material, including links to other pages with commercial content. The rules violate the Administrative Procedure Act and raise constitutional problems, Jaffe said: The rules don’t regulate children’s programming so much as it regulates website content, and there are serious questions whether the Commission has authority under the Children’s TV Act to take such action. These rules would require advertisers to modify their commercial speech and business practices, ANA said. Gloria Tristani, managing dir., Office of Communications (OC), United Church of Christ, said she wasn’t surprised ANA intended to join Viacom’s fight. “The industry has sent a clear signal that they will battle this out,” she said. OC, which filed its own lawsuit Sept. 26 in 6th U.S. Appeals Court, Cincinnati, asked the court to force the FCC to strengthen the rules with an outright ban on interactive advertising to children watching digital TV. - - TP
A draft Senate DTV bill would set April 7, 2009, as the hard transition date for requiring broadcasters to return analog spectrum to the govt., according to a copy of the bill circulated Fri. on Capitol Hill.
Bloggers that “act more like businesses” or media entities will have “some sort of coverage” under Sen. Lugar’s (R-Ind.) media shield bill, a Lugar spokeswoman told us Wed. Lugar told the Inter American Press Assn. this week his Free Flow of Information Act (S-1419) would “probably not” apply to bloggers, Editor & Publisher reported.
Acting on reconsideration, the FCC amended and clarified parts of its 800 MHz rebanding rules. The Commission restated its challenged authority to grant Nextel spectrum rights to 10 MHz in the 1.9 GHz band as part of reconfiguring the band. It declined to change its valuation of spectrum rights in the 1.9 GHz and 800 MHz bands, especially in light of Nextel’s recent merger with Sprint.
Four rural telecom bodies have allied to strengthen their lobbying power as Congress eyes policy changes on issues such as universal service. At a news conference Thurs., members of the Coalition to Keep America Connected said the impending Telecom Act revision spurred creation of the group, made up of the Independent Telephone & Telecom Alliance, NTCA, OPASTCO and the Western Telecom Alliance.