Ex-Republican FCC Chairmen Michael Powell and Kevin Martin called on current Chairman Julius Genachowski to stake out clear positions on net neutrality as the debate continues at the commission and on Capitol Hill. Their comments came on an episode of C-SPAN’s The Communicators that was scheduled to air over the weekend. The third former chairman on the program, Reed Hundt, a Democrat and Genachowski’s old boss, came to Genachowski’s defense. The chairman has already changed the debate on key issues before the FCC, Hundt said.
Former FCC Chairmen Michael Powell and Kevin Martin, both Republicans, called on current Chairman Julius Genachowski to stake out clear positions on net neutrality as the debate continues at the commission and on Capitol Hill. Their comments came on an episode of C-SPAN’s The Communicators that was scheduled to air over the weekend. The third former chairman on the program, Reed Hundt, a Democrat and Genachowski’s old boss, came to Genachowski’s defense and said the chairman has already changed the debate on key issues before the FCC.
The FCC sought more information from Comcast and NBC Universal on the cable operator’s planned purchase of control in the cable and broadcast programmer, for a second time as the agency reviews the multibillion-dollar deal. Both companies were asked on Monday by Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake to provide the additional information by Oct. 18. Both companies were asked to provide the regulator with programming deals they signed with AT&T, Dish Network, DirecTV, Time Warner Cable, Verizon and other companies. Information sought from NBC Universal included how much ad revenue there was each year from 2005 on for the average subscriber for programming networks in which it has a stake. Information also was sought on its business with Sezmi. This request -- unlike past FCC requests for information from Comcast and NBC Universal -- won’t pause the 180-day clock during which the regulator aims to approve or deny all deals before it, a bureau spokeswoman said. The clock stood at day 129 on Monday. The administration should give close regulatory attention to Comcast-NBC Universal, said a group of business rivals and opponents to the deal. Some have asked the FCC to impose curbs. “We urge your administration to ensure this unprecedented combination receives the scrutiny that it deserves,” the Coalition for Competition in Media wrote President Barack Obama on Monday. “In an effort to secure quick approval for the acquisition, Comcast has unleashed a campaign unlike Washington has ever seen, spending tens of millions in lobbying, campaign donations and charitable donations,” the group said. “Despite Comcast’s effort to create an aura of inevitability,” the FCC and Justice Department “must have the time they need to conduct a deliberate, thorough review of this important merger.” The deal already is “the most thoroughly reviewed merger in media history -- with one of the longest FCC comment periods and the most congressional hearings, six, of any similar transaction,” a Comcast spokeswoman said. “For a lobbying coalition funded by our competitors to imply the review of this transaction has not been deliberate and thorough is insulting to the Congress, the FCC, and the Department of Justice."
High-end audio company Bryston is using CEDIA as a launch pad for a new class of digital music player targeting the small but underserved computer audiophile population. Bryston Vice President James Tanner told Consumer Electronics Daily that a growing supply of high-quality 176/24 and 192/24 digital downloads from audiophile music labels is creating a market for playback equipment that can handle hi-res digital audio.
TiVo-developed technology will appear in a “broad array” Best Buy’s Insignia brand LCD TVs, but when those sets will be available hasn’t been finalized, TiVo executives told us at the Kaufman Brothers investment conference Tuesday in New York.
TiVo’s agreement to develop “non-DVR” products with Best Buy runs through January 2013 and applies to TVs that can’t record programs to a hard drive, a staple feature of TiVo standalone DVRs, TiVo said in an SEC filing.
The first programming that showed up on the mobile DTV receiver was live from a news helicopter covering a hostage-taking at nearby Discovery Communications. The next day, the Washington Redskins game started at 10 p.m., a perfect opportunity for viewing mobile DTV with headphones in a darkened bedroom. The third day, it was all about watching live coverage of Hurricane Earl, at a desk.
The first programming that showed up on the mobile DTV receiver was live from a news helicopter covering a hostage-taking at nearby Discovery Communications. The next day, the Washington Redskins game started at 10 p.m., a perfect opportunity for viewing mobile DTV with headphones in a darkened bedroom. The third day, it was all about watching live coverage of Hurricane Earl, at a desk.
FCC staffers reviewing Comcast’s planned purchase of control in NBC Universal may not complete their work this year, as the companies hope, said commission officials and industry executives not part of the ongoing staff work. They said there have been indications in private comments from commission officials familiar with the deal that an order on the multibillion-dollar transaction may not be finished in 2010. Staff work on Comcast-NBC Universal, with Internet video continuing to be a key area of focus, likely will be complete in the first quarter of 2011. though there’s still a possibility work will be done this year, commission and industry officials said. Once bureau work is done, an order will be circulated for a commission vote, which will take additional time.
The cable industry, having sat out Monday’s deal on net neutrality between Google and Verizon, isn’t likely to take part in any future agreements between supporters and opponents of rules, industry officials said. There’s little to be gained politically from cable operators’ signing on to the Google-Verizon agreement, said pay-TV executives and lawyers. Attacks on that wireline-broadband deal by many nonprofit groups supporting net neutrality -- and the lack of support from FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, at whose behest representatives of NCTA and five other bodies met unsuccessfully to seek consensus -- show that similar deals may not have support among regulators and lawmakers, industry lawyers said.