A bipartisan group of House Science Committee members announced the introduction of a bill meant to grow and retain a “diverse, flexible, and sustainable chips workforce.” Introduced Wednesday by House Research and Technology Subcommittee Chair Haley Stevens, D-Mich., with Reps. Dan Kildee, D-Mich.; Mike Waltz, R-Fla.; and Anthony Gonzalez, R-Ohio, the Chipping in Act would establish National Science Foundation awards for “institutions of higher education, non-profit organizations and consortia to advance innovative approaches to developing, improving, and expanding evidence-based microelectronics education and workforce development activities.” The bill creates training programs for students who pursue microelectronics in post-graduate programs, prioritizing historically black colleges and universities, tribal colleges and other minority-serving schools.
The House Appropriations Committee voted 31-22 Friday night to advance the Financial Services Subcommittee’s FY 2023 bill with increases in annual funding for the FCC and FTC. The committee voted down Republicans’ bids to roll back a proposed substantial increase in FTC funding and altered a rider in the measure that removes an FCC barrier to broadcasters airing ads for cannabis products. The measure would allocate $490 million to the FTC, a 30% increase over what it received in the FY 2022 omnibus appropriations package (see 2203150076). The FY23 bill would give the FCC $390 million, up 2.3% from FY22.
Congress should be able to pass its chips package in July, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Tuesday (see 2206150075). They issued a joint statement after a bipartisan, bicameral four corners meeting on Congress’ China bill. “We expressed our belief that there is no reason that we should not pass this bill through Congress in July,” they said. “Democrats have already made accommodations in the name of reaching an agreement, which we are optimistic can happen soon.”
Google parent Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai and leaders of 122 other entities with stakes in increasing semiconductor manufacturing wrote House and Senate leaders Wednesday urging Congress to “act urgently to achieve a bipartisan, bicameral compromise on competitiveness legislation and send a bill to” President Joe Biden. A conference committee has been negotiating how to marry elements of the House-passed America Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing, Pre-Eminence in Technology and Economic Strength Act (HR-4521) and Senate-passed U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (S-1260). Both measures include $52 billion in subsidies to encourage U.S.-based semiconductor manufacturing (see 2201260062) but differ in other areas. “The rest of the world is not waiting for the U.S. to act. Our global competitors are investing in their industry, their workers, and their economies, and it is imperative that Congress act to enhance U.S. competitiveness,” the executives said in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and their GOP counterparts. “We call on Congress to act promptly to achieve a bipartisan agreement that can be passed and signed into law. Now is the time for Congress to complete its work on this important bill.” The Semiconductor Industry Association “joins U.S. business leaders in calling on Congress to swiftly pass competitiveness legislation that includes critical funding and incentives for domestic semiconductor research, design, and manufacturing,” said President John Neuffer. “Federal investment in the U.S. semiconductor ecosystem will ensure the U.S. continues to lead in the critical sectors of tomorrow, while also creating hundreds of thousands of high-paying American jobs, strengthening our economy, and securing our supply chains for decades to come.”
How well ATSC 3.0 performs commercially “is up to us in this room and the companies we represent,” CTA CEO Gary Shapiro told ATSC’s NextGen Broadcast Conference Thursday in Detroit. “It could be a total flop, or it could be a great success,” he said. He told the conference broadcasters will need to “promote the heck” out of 3.0 for it to become a commercial success (see 2206090065).
TV ad spending is likely better insulated against an overall slowing ad environment than social media apps, Pivotal Research Group analyst Jeffrey Wlodarczak wrote investors Friday, upgrading Roku from a “sell” to “hold” rating. Wlodarczak noted Snap’s recent “disappointing outlook (see 2205240006)," comparing the current macroeconomic environment to the late 1990s “when ad-based Internet companies massively benefited from large digital ad spend by profitless Internet companies, that disappeared quickly when investors suddenly pushed those companies to generate a profit.” Also, he said, a recession could accelerate the exodus from traditional pay TV to streaming. PRG’s previous sell rating was based on mixed Roku's Q4 subscriber results and guidance, its saturation in the U.S. streaming market, “too aggressive” revenue growth expectations and Charter and Comcast’s joint move into streaming aggregation (see 2204270057). “Nothing has really changed around our concerns here, offset partially by some signs of chip shortages alleviating,” he said -- adding Roku could benefit from Netflix’ upcoming ad-based plan -- but its $9 billion valuation at $80 a share is “reasonable,” said the analyst. Roku’s strategy to invest aggressively “is unloved by the market but is frankly prudent to try to raise the barriers to entry for existing/new players and attack a sizeable revenue opportunity,” he said: “It also exacerbates the risk that basically no one generates outsized returns if it forces everyone to follow suit.” The lower stock price creates “the potential for an outside player to make a bid for the company,” he said, citing Comcast-Charter or large internet players looking to reach critical mass in streaming quickly.
A Pennsylvania Assembly panel showed appetite for a comprehensive privacy bill at a hearing livestreamed Wednesday. Microsoft supported the measure while other witnesses sought minor edits. Elsewhere, the Louisiana House delayed a floor vote on its state privacy bill for the third straight day. Lawmakers in each state are looking to follow California, Virginia, Colorado, Utah and Connecticut in passing broad privacy laws.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel appears likely to put less spectrum in play for 5G and unlicensed use during her tenure than did her predecessor Ajit Pai, but she seems determined to address the process for reallocating bands, industry officials said. Rosenworcel shifted much of her attention to changes to process, and that will likely be a theme for the next few years.
Bipartisan legislation introduced Wednesday seeks to promote digital advertising competition by eliminating conflicts of interest that allowed dominant platforms to manipulate ad auctions. Introduced by Senate Antitrust Subcommittee Chair Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and ranking member Mike Lee, R-Utah, with Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., the Competition and Transparency in Digital Advertising Act bans “large digital advertising companies from owning more than one part of the digital ad ecosystem if they process more than $20 billion in digital ad transactions” per year. Companies that process more than $5 billion in digital ad transactions would have specific obligations for ensuring auctions are fair and in the best interest of consumers. The bill “is among the more aggressive and narrowly tailored among various bills aimed at the tech industry,” said the Computer & Communications Industry Association. “Structural interventions in the marketplace are a blunt instrument and would be a bad precedent to set for antitrust regulation,” said President Matt Schruers. “This bill seeks to amend the Clayton Act and chip away at the consumer welfare standard, both of which have helped the U.S. become a leader in tech innovation.”
Healthcare organizations and state agencies backed the Health and Human Services Department's request for clarification that certain prerecorded calls and text messages are permissible under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (see 2205020059). Stakeholders said the planned calling and texting campaigns would help eligible individuals remain enrolled in Medicaid, the children's health insurance program (CHIP) and the basic health program (BHP), in comments posted Wednesday in docket 02-278.