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For Immediate Release
Dec. 18, 2007

Contact: Mary Boyle
(202) 736-5770

FCC vote lifting cross-ownership ban shows agency still doesn’t get it

WASHINGTON -- Today, the Federal Communications Commission voted to remove the longstanding "newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership" ban that prohibits a local newspaper from owning a broadcast station in the same market.

Common Cause President Bob Edgar made the following comment:

Does Congress Have the Resolve
to Disapprove of Big Media?
By Scott Sanders and Mitchell Szczepanczyk
Chicago Media Action
12/18/07

Chicago Media Action (CMA) is dismayed at the FCC's repeal of the
TV-newspaper cross-ownership rule. The FCC has ignored nearly unanimous
public input opposing media concentration -- including hundreds of
Chicagoans who attended a September 2007 FCC hearing in Chicago to

New Ownership Rules Threaten Diversity,
Necessitate Clearer Public Interest Obligations

Acting on a remand by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Prometheus Radio Project, et al. v. FCC., 373 F.3d 372 (2004), the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) majority today decided to lift the ban on common ownership of newspapers and broadcast outlets in the same local communities. The following comments can be attributed to Charles Benton, Chairman and CEO of the Benton Foundation and member of the FCC’s Consumer Advisory Committee:

from: MultiChannel News

AT&T to Stop Reselling DirecTV Service In Q1
Telco Says Still ‘Evaluating’ Long-Term Relationship With Dish
By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 12/11/2007 1:56:00 PM

AT&T will stop reselling DirecTV service in the first quarter, and the telco said it was “evaluating” its deal with EchoStar Communications with the expectation of making a decision about which satellite operator to continue partnering with by the end of next year.

from: MultiChannel News

AT&T: 30 Million U-verse Homes by 2010
Telco Projects More Than 1 Million TV Subscribers By End Of 2008
By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 12/11/2007 10:07:00 AM

AT&T bolstered its commitment to U-verse TV, as CEO Randall Stephenson told Wall Street analysts Tuesday that the company expects to expand the service to be available to 30 million customer locations by 2010 – more than five times its current reach.

from: 620 WTMJ

Governor Doyle Likely to Sign Cable Competition Bill

Story Updated: Dec 18, 2007

Governor Doyle today says he wants to sign a bill that would allow cable competition in Wisconsin.

The bill would basically super-cede local cable franchise agreements that exist across the state. Right now, any company that wanted to compete would have to work out agreements with all the municipalities.

from: Media-Space-Place-Network

FCC Chairman Martin Proposes Local Boards of ‘Good and Great’

From Fred Johnson Blog, December 17, 2007

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is indulging in one of the FCC’s oldest, time honored traditions: making a lot of noise about “localism” and local programming, while creating policies that are destined to have the opposite effect.

From: USA TODAY

FCC chief to adjust plan on media ownership rules
By Paul Davidson

In a nod to big-media critics, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission Monday night said he will temper his planned relaxation of media ownership rules before an FCC vote today.

Kevin Martin said the latest change would make newspaper-broadcast mergers in smaller markets more difficult than under the plan he originally proposed.

from: Denver Post

Qwest focus in '08 on Web
The new CEO says the telecom will spend $300 million to boost broadband speed rather than roll out a costly television service.
By Andy Vuong
The Denver Post
Article Last Updated: 12/18/2007 12:24:45 AM MST

New Qwest chief executive Ed Mueller on Monday unveiled his strategic plan for the company, which doesn't stray far from the path laid by his predecessor.

from: Oregon Live

Qwest calls off cable TV plans for Portland
Posted by The Oregonian December 17, 2007 15:56PM
Categories: Breaking News

Qwest Communications International Inc., which won city permission just last month to offer cable TV service in Portland, called off those plans today after the company's new CEO called IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) unsuitable for Qwest. Here's a statement from the company's Oregon office: