New Games: The PS2 version of Need For Speed Carbon from Electronic Arts (EA) -- in its 3rd week -- was again the #1-rented videogame in the U.S., according to Rentrak’s preliminary Home Video Essentials data for the week ended Nov. 19. The only new game in the top 10 was THQ’s WWE SmackDown Vs. Raw 2007 for PS2 at #2… EA’s The Sims 2 Pets Expansion Pack was again the top-selling PC game in the U.S., according to NPD Group data for the week ended Nov. 11… EA and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment said game Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, being developed, will ship “for a July 2007 release to coincide with” release of the Warner Bros. film of the same name, based on J.K. Rowling’s 5th Potter book… Gameloft signed New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush to be a cover athlete for mobile football simulation title Reggie Bush Pro Football 2007, expected to be released in Jan., it said.
Siding with Mediacom in its emergency carriage complaint would mark a big policy shift for the FCC, Sinclair attorneys told 8th-floor officials last week, ex parte filings show. Sinclair met with Comr. Tate and aides to Comrs. Adelstein and McDowell. Sinclair also spoke with Heather Dixon, Chmn. Martin’s aide on media issues, and Krista Witanowski, attorney advisor in the office of strategic planning, and with several Media Bureau officials. Sinclair told Mediacom it must stop retransmitting its stations’ signals Dec. 1 unless Mediacom agrees to pay a significant carriage fee. Mediacom sued Sinclair, alleging Sherman Act violations in their negotiating tactics, and lodged a similar complaint with the FCC. Mediacom wants the FCC to let it carry Sinclair’s broadcasts while it reviews the case. Such a move would “re-write the entire body of retransmission consent law,” Sinclair said. Meanwhile, in a small win for Mediacom, a U.S. Dist. Court, Des Moines, judge ruled Mon. against Sinclair’s motion to delay that court case while a higher court hears Mediacom’s appeal of its failed motion for preliminary injunction. Sinclair has 30 days to file and answer to Mediacom’s complaint. Mediacom also visited the 8th Floor Mon. CEO Rocco Commisso and others met with Comr. Adelstein and an aide, showing them materials Sinclair presented to investors at a recent conference, ex parte filings show. The materials project Sinclair making $25 million-plus in retransmission consent fees in 2006. Mediacom has had meetings with all the commissioners’ offices, a spokesman said. Additionally, the Cable TV Assn. of Ga. and the Ky. Cable Telecom Assn. urged the Commission to grant Mediacom’s request.
GENEVA -- A working group of ITU member states has given preliminary approval for a World Conference on International Telecom (WCIT) in 2012 to consider treaty-level provisions for international telecom networks and services, officials here said. The Com5 group of nations meeting at ITU’s quadrennial policy-making conference Sun. approved a resolution to review the international telecom regulation and set a date in 2011 to fix an agenda for the 2012 conference.
Final counts of absentee and provisional ballots in Ga. and Mont. changed Nov. 7 PSC election outcomes. A runoff election Dec. 5 will fill the Atlanta-area Dist. 3 PSC seat, after final unofficial results showed PSC Comr. David Burgess (D) short of a needed majority. Burgess, who came in just shy of 50%, again will face Atlanta Realtor Chuck Eaton (R), who polled 46%. Local observers said the Libertarian ticket run by Alpharetta engineer Paul McGregor siphoned off enough votes to deny anyone a majority. Both run-off candidates said their big challenge will be generating enough interest in the PSC race to entice voters back to the polls. Burgess’s campaign, managers said, will seek out seniors with much at stake in PSC energy and telecom rules. Eaton’s campaign will target voters planning on voting in local runoffs around the state. The PSC race was the only statewide contest to reach a runoff. Final tallies in a tight Mont. PSC contest for the open Dist. 5 Helena-area seat reversed preliminary results. Instead of Dayton rancher Mike Taylor (R) winning the seat by 53 votes, the final unofficial tally showed Helena state Sen. Ken Toole (D) the victor by 107 votes. Taylor said he will request a recount, paid for by the state since the margin is under 200 votes. Taylor can’t file for a recount until Nov. 27, the deadline for the secretary of state to certify vote counts.
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued its final results of the antidumping (AD) duty new shipper review of certain preserved mushrooms from China for the review period of February 1, 2005 through August 15, 2005.
Al Jazeera English reaped huge publicity, debuting Wed. with sometimes controversial coverage of an array of topics by high profile journalists. That hasn’t led to U.S. pay-TV carriage deals. Ties to the Arab-language edition, which runs video by terrorists and has been seen by U.S. officials as having an anti-American slant, hurts chances for American carriage, said industry officials, including Virtual Digital Cable (VDC) COO Scott Wolf. His company webcasts the channel.
General support, possibly even consensus, was reported by the chmn. of the Ad hoc Group on the International Telecom Regulations (ITRs) during ITU’s Plenipot. The report is preliminary, but he wrote that there’s general support for the ideas that: (1) Treaty-level provisions are required regarding international telecom networks and services. (2) The ITRs should be reviewed. (3) A proposed World Conference on International Telecom shouldn’t be held in 2007 or 2008.
EA’s Need for Speed: Carbon for PS2 was again the #1- rented videogame in the U.S., according to Rentrak’s preliminary Home Video Essentials data for the week ended Nov. 12. The only new game in the top 10 was Microsoft’s Gears of War for Xbox 360 at #6.
ATSC A/74 for adjacent-channel interference and FCC 05- 199 for co-channel interference are “adequate and reasonable” standards for certifying coupon-eligible boxes without hurting the potential for using TV white spaces, New American Foundation (NAF) told NTIA in a Tues. ex parte presentation. NAF based its conclusion on preliminary findings in receiver interference tests at the U. of Kan. The findings matter because NTIA’s DTV coupon program could “impact” use of TV white spaces for unlicensed wireless devices, depending on the specs it adopts for certifying converter boxes as coupon- eligible, NAF said. NTIA scheduled 18 ex parte meetings Tues. and Wed. (Wed.) in its DTV coupon rulemaking (CD Nov 7 p8), a spokesman told us. All slots were filled, he said. Another ex parte presenter, Garden City Group, of Weston, Fla., said it would be “useful” for NTIA “as soon as possible” to publish final rules on such issues as eligibility of households to “facilitate the DTV transition” in the tight schedule that was handed the agency. Garden City Group was the vendor in NTIA’s separate procurement proceeding that proposed a test rollout of DTV converter boxes and coupons before the program launches Jan. 2008 (CD Nov 1 p5). NTIA’s goal is to finish the coupon rulemaking and publish final rules by Q1, a spokesman told us.
ATSC A/74 for adjacent-channel interference and FCC 05- 199 for co-channel interference are “adequate and reasonable” standards for certifying coupon-eligible boxes without hurting the potential for using TV white spaces, New American Foundation (NAF) told NTIA in a Tues. ex parte presentation. NAF based its conclusion on preliminary findings in receiver interference tests at the U. of Kan. The findings matter because NTIA’s DTV coupon program could “impact” use of TV white spaces for unlicensed wireless devices, depending on the specs it adopts for certifying converter boxes as coupon- eligible, NAF said. NTIA scheduled 18 ex parte meetings Tues. and Wed. (Wed.) in its DTV coupon rulemaking (CED Nov 7 p5), a spokesman told us. All slots were filled, he said. Another ex parte presenter, Garden City Group, of Weston, Fla., said it would be “useful” for NTIA “as soon as possible” to publish final rules on such issues as eligibility of households to “facilitate the DTV transition” in the tight schedule that was handed the agency. Garden City Group was the vendor in NTIA’s separate procurement proceeding that proposed a test rollout of DTV converter boxes and coupons before the program launches Jan. 2008 (CED Nov 1 p1). NTIA’s goal is to finish the coupon rulemaking and publish final rules by Q1, a spokesman told us.