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from: Palo Alto Online

AT&T’s TV Plans Don’t Click in California

February 13, 2008
By Becky Trout

Within months, AT&T Inc. plans to begin offering television service in Palo Alto over phone lines, introducing a new format for local programming that has the cable experts at the Midpeninsula Community Media Center and City of Palo Alto concerned.

from: Wall Street Journal

Cable Prepares an Answer to FiOS

From Wall Street Journal, February 14, 2008
By Vishesh Kumar

Stung by the success of phone companies in selling packages of TV and high-speed Internet services, the cable industry is getting close to launching a counteroffensive — an inexpensive new technology that dramatically boosts Internet connection speeds.

from: Citizen Tribune

AT&T still trying to get connected

House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh took offense at Gov. Phil Bredesen’s recent criticism of his attempt to broker a cable bill in the Legislature by forcing a back-room compromise between Tennessee’s existing cable industry and AT&T, which is trying — for the second year — to break into the broadband cable and Internet market in Tennessee.

Note: See follow up below by Light Reading, NAREB has since backed down.

from: MultiChannel News

Real Estate Group Puts U-Verse Under Fire
NAREB Asks AGs To Investigate Fires Related To AT&T Equipment
By Linda Haugsted -- Multichannel News, 2/15/2008 12:52:00 PM

from: SaveAccess Texas

This Could Be The End of Public Access in Austin...
Submitted by savetexasaccess on Fri, 2008-02-15 19:03.

. . . if Time Warner successfully sues to get out of the franchise agreement with the City.

The following article “Court allows Texas Cable Industry to Challenge State Law” appeared in last week’s Austin American Statesman (Feb. 8, 2008).

from: Detroit Free Press

State cable TV law needs a tune-up

The end of analog TV signals a year from now is shaking up viewers in more ways than one. The biggest impact will fall on those with old, non-digital sets who get their signals over the air. Their TVs will simply not show a picture next year unless they get a converter box.

A very useful article for sorting out all the broadcast digital transition (DTV) misinformation in the media these days. It also highlights cable company strategies for playing the transition to their own end (the cable digital transition deadline isn't until Feb 2012). Lost here is any mention of affordable 'basic' cable service, the tier of analog service consisting of local broadcast and PEG channels priced to ensure that low-income and fixed income families can afford basic local TV service. We need to ensure that digital cable affords this tier of service for those that need it most.

from: MultiChannel News

Analog is Dead. Long Live Analog
Why Cable Won’t Go All-Digital By Feb. 18, 2009, Even If Broadcasters Will

By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 2/18/2008 8:22:00 AM

Is analog TV an albatross for cable?

from: Midpeninsula Community Media Center

See source above for video links

Friday, February 8, 2008
ED Annie Folger Preserving Public Access in Washington DC

The Media Center's Executive Director, Annie Folger, recently flew out to Washington DC to speak in front of Congress, representing the Alliance for Community Media. She was fighting for Comcast and AT&T to continue to providing PEG (Public, Educational and Government) services as they currently are (or better) and to abide by local, state, and federal laws.

from: Multichannel News

Where PEG Fits In Squarely

_ At a public hearing in New York City on Jan. 17, a man stood up and told city officials about a category of local programming that is cable-exclusive.

"You're not going to find this on satellite," the man said. "You're going to find it on cable."

from: Michigan State University

Competititon for Video Services Developing Very Slowly in Michigan

02/15/08
State News, Communications

A report released Feb. 1 by state regulators indicates slightly growing competition among providers of video services, including cable TV companies and telecommunications firms.