Save Access

from: NY Times

October 29, 2007
F.C.C. Set to End Sole Cable Deals for Apartments
By STEPHEN LABATON

WASHINGTON, Oct. 28 —The Federal Communications Commission, hoping to reduce the rising costs of cable television, is preparing to strike down thousands of contracts this week that gave individual cable companies exclusive rights to provide service to an apartment building, the agency’s chairman says.

From: Free Press

FCC Tricks the Public to Treat Big Media

Is FCC Chairman Kevin Martin trying to trick the people of Washington, D.C.?

Late last night, the chairman announced a "public" hearing at FCC headquarters on Oct. 31 on how consolidation impacts local media. He gave the public just a few days' notice, hoping they won't find out or show up.

Will you be there?

Note: The FCC is also expected to issue an order on video franchising for cable companies (giving them the same provisions the FCC gave the Telcos last year). This is a good day to come to Washington.

Halloween Hijinks at the FCC in DC: Tell Them No to Media Consolidation!

Greetings from the Prometheus Radio Project! Please read this note, and forward widely!

Do the letters F-C-C bring out the monster mogul andcorporate ghoul in you? Does FCC Chairman Kevin Martin have a sick sense of humor, or is he just plain scary?

from: Free Press

FCC Hearing Shuts Out the Public

“How can you have a hearing on localism without giving the local community time to find out it is happening? Chairman Martin’s actions suggest that he’s never been serious about paying attention to the public.” — Josh Silver, Free Press.

from: Broadcasting & Cable

FCC Meeting Agenda a Mixed Bag for Cable
By John Eggerton
10/24/2007 7:23:00 PM

The Federal Communications Commission released the agenda for its Oct. 31 public meeting, and it is a mixed bag for cable, with proposals to extend the industry franchise relief but to ban its exclusive deals with apartment buildings.

from: FreePress

StopBigMedia.com Coalition Shocked by FCC’s Secret Timetable

Dorgan, Lott tell the FCC to ‘slow down’

WASHINGTON — The StopBigMedia.com Coalition is shocked and dismayed over news that Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin is secretly pushing for a vote to relax media ownership rules by Dec. 18. The FCC is reviewing longstanding regulations that forbid a company to own both a newspaper and a television or radio station in the same city.

from: CNN

FCC to Soon Extend Franchise Relief to Cable Companies

From Dow Jones, October 18, 2007
By Corey Boles

The Federal Communications Commission will shortly extend the same regulatory relief to the cable industry that it granted to telephone companies earlier this year, two agency officials said Thursday.

from: Multichannel News

House Panel Approves Broadband Census Bill
Bill Would Require FCC to Conduct Annual Survey on High-Speed Internet Deployments

By Ted Hearn -- Multichannel News, 10/10/2007 4:14:00 PM

Washington – A House subcommittee controlled by Democrats approved draft legislation Wednesday afternoon that would require federal and state agencies to cooperate in accurately collecting data on the availability and penetration of high-speed Internet access across the country.

from: Broadcasting and Cable

The Buddy System
Broadcasting & Cable, 10/8/2007

By Staff

A disturbing Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released last week said that some lobbyists were tipped by FCC staffers about what items would be voted on at upcoming meetings.

from: Gresham Outlook

Community television weakened by FCC
By Rob Brading
Oct 5, 2007

When Congress didn’t enact telecommunications legislation in late 2006, local governments and advocates of media that’s less concentrated, more diverse and more local breathed a sigh of relief. Less than a year later, those same folks are wondering if they should have paid more heed to the old adage about being careful what you wish for.