A fight against pending FCC limits on kid commercials was moved to the U.S. Appeals Court, Cincinnati, by D.C. judges. Parties to the lawsuit said it’s shaping up as a battle over regulation of Web addresses on children’s TV shows. The decision by the U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., to transfer Viacom v. FCC also denied Viacom’s bid to fend off rules set to take effect Jan. 1. While the new venue could still issue a stay of new rules stemming from the Children’s TV Act of 1990, broadcasters, including Viacom and Disney, are likely to try to return the case to D.C., participants in the case told us. Officials from the companies declined to comment on prospects for such a motion.
SBC and Verizon, taking different tacks on video sales, agreed there are regulatory hurdles to offering service in some individual communities. Officials from the firms, speaking on a D.C. Bar Assn. panel where debate became heated at times, said local franchise authority (LFA) provisions are an unfair barrier to entry. Cable and municipal lawyers disagreed, saying that LFAs want the same rules as they sought years ago from cable operators. Nevertheless, executives at SBC and Verizon both said their investors are concerned that regulation may slow down the rollout of pay TV.
All of Trinity’s TV stations are seeking FCC permission to temporarily stop broadcasting when an emergency alert system (EAS) bulletin is triggered. The request for a Commission letter of EAS nonparticipation covers about 28 stations licensed to the religious broadcaster, said Colby May, a lawyer representing Trinity. The stations, which lack a nightly local news broadcast, will instead broadcast “banners” directing viewers to a rival in the same market to get information during emergencies, Colby told us. Several other stations -- including 2 owned by National Minority TV and one licensed to Jacksonville (Fla.) Educators Broadcasting -- requested a similar exemption.
FCC Chmn. Martin, stepping up his indecency battle, wants a cable family tier or a similar system to let consumers avoid paying for channels they don’t want. “That’s among a variety of things I've encouraged the cable industry to do,” he told the Federalist Society Thurs.: “They can give consumers more choice… some form of a la carte.” While targeting most of his criticism at cable, Martin also said broadcasters must do more on indecency, an issue gaining prominence on Capitol Hill. Broadcasters should “try to reinstate a family hour,” Martin said, adding that the current TV ratings system is “confusing to most parents” and “there are some practical things that can be done to improve the ratings system.”
Broadcasters, cable and satellite providers must bolster indecency efforts to reduce inappropriate material on shows kids are likely to watch, said Sen. Obama (D- Ill.). If they don’t step up to the plate, Congress will mandate changes, he said. Speaking after a Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) panel in Washington, Fox TV Networks Pres. Tony Vinciquerra said his firm must do a better job educating lawmakers about what’s been done to combat indecency. A KFF report saying sexual content on TV has surged, also unveiled Wed., comes as lawmakers with oversight of broadcasters have stepped up efforts on indecency. The Senate Commerce Committee, of which Obama isn’t a member, is circulating a draft bill called the Family TV Act that would boost broadcaster penalties more than 15-fold for each instance of obscene material (CD Nov 7 p12).
A possible push by Commerce Chmn. Stevens (R-Alaska) for cable indecency rules raises a host of First Amendment concerns because it could curtail cultural expression, said First Amendment lawyers, industry attorneys and other experts. After many calls by lawmakers for family friendly measures, cable is being targeted by the influential senator, sources have said (CD Nov 7 p12). Children’s and family programming tiers, and more drastic measures like applying indecency standards to cable, would probably overstep constitutional bounds, experts said.
Comcast, which entered VoIP later than some rivals, said it expects substantial sales growth for the product next year, as it focuses on its own network rather than outsourcing, said CEO Brian Roberts. Comcast hasn’t “really yet turned on the marketing in any market,” Roberts said on a UBS conference call with investors Fri. A day before, Comcast stock fell 5.3% as investors and analysts reacted quickly to slow 3rd quarter VoIP growth. Net adds were 46,000, far fewer than many analysts had expected. Still, one analyst and an investor endorse Comcast’s VoIP plans. Others aren’t so sure.
Media activists are trying to block license renewals at 20 TV stations, including all major stations in the Chicago and Milwaukee markets, because they carried little state and local political news. The first petition of its kind, filed by Media Access Project (MAP) on behalf of local groups, said less than 1% of news broadcasts in the 2 markets focused on local political issues such as candidates and referendums in the 4 weeks preceding last year’s general election. “The amount of programming on state and local races of programming we monitored amounted to a rounding error,” said MAP Exec. dir. Andrew Schwartzman: “This is the first time that anyone has filed a petition like this one.”
The 2 items pulled from Mon.’s FCC meeting will be taken up separately in the coming weeks, sources said. An item on SHVERA about popular channels viewed on satellite is likely to be voted on by circulation, said people familiar with the issue. The extension of emergency alert systems (EAS) to digital broadcasts is expected to be taken up at the Commission’s Thurs. meeting, sources said.
Bells prevailed in their quest for FCC review of the local franchising process, which the Commission is scheduled to kick off at its Thurs. meeting. The action, supported by Chmn. Martin (CD Oct 27 p3), won’t be opposed by cable if it’s a balanced inquiry examining both incumbent video providers and nascent pay TV services from firms including Verizon. That company, the only Bell selling video service, said it welcomed the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) on whether legislation barring discrimination in awarding franchise licenses is being followed by local franchise authorities (LFAs). The NPRM may solicit comment on FCC authority to enforce some legislative provisions and state franchise laws, sources have told us (CD Oct 21 p10).