Stories related to: FCC

For the estimated 14.3 million households still getting their TV via antenna, there’s hope: The federal government yesterday began handing out $40 coupons to help buy converters ahead of the 2009 digital cutoff, the AP reports. The problem, Congress says, is that few know about the $1.5 billion coupon program—or the digital upgrade it’s supposed to facilitate. More »

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is joining the competition for wireless airwaves being auctioned by the FCC next month. Allen’s firm, Vulcan Spectrum, applied, as have Google, Verizon, AT&T and others, to bid for the 700-megahertz spectrum that goes on the block Jan. 24, reports Reuters. Allen's investment company, Vulcan Capital, also holds a majority stake in Charter Communications, a cable operator. More »

The FCC loosened a 32-year-old ban on simultaneous ownership of a newspaper and a radio or TV station in the same city today, the Washington Post reports. The commission voted 3-2 along party lines after a dispute-filled meeting. Afterward, one of the Democratic commissioners said, "Powerful companies are using political muscle to sneak through rule changes that let them profit at the expense of the public interest." More »

The FCC is set to push through new rules on media ownership today, to the consternation of everyone from telecoms to free-speech advocates, writes the Wall Street Journal . The commission will introduce two new regulations: one will allow media companies to buy both newspapers and television stations in the top 20 markets, and the other will limit the market shares of any single cable companies to 30% of the market. More »

FCC chief Kevin Martin will push ahead with a vote next week to allow media companies to own a broadcasting station and newspaper in the same city, the Wall Street Journal reports. The move comes despite heavy criticism from senators who say he's rushing into a major policy change without enough study. The five-member FCC is expected to approve the measure along party lines. More »

Consumer groups have banded together to lobby the FCC to prevent cellphone companies from blocking text messages, the Washington Post reports. The issue of carriers censoring messages from political groups and competing services has become the latest front in the net neutrality campaign. Consumers Union and other advocates are insisting that providers should deliver texts regardless of content. More »

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin faced angry questioning from both sides of the aisle at a House oversight meeting yesterday, as many urged the commissioner to delay December 18's vote on a controversial change to media cross-ownership rules. Martin said the plan, which would allow companies to own both a newspaper and TV or radio station, was only a “minor loosening”; but his Dem colleagues cried foul. More »

The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Kevin J. Martin, is facing a Congressional probe over abuses of power, Variety reports. The head of the House Commerce Committee sent the FCC head a letter alleging "a larger breakdown in the agency." Members of both parties in Congress have criticized Martin's policies, particularly his plans to relax cross-ownership between newspapers and broadcast media. More »

Sam Zell’s $8.2-billion bid to take the Tribune Company private got a boost yesterday from  FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, who green-lighted a two-year exemption on rules barring ownership of newspapers and broadcast stations in the same market. Zell needs waivers for five markets in which the Tribune has dual ownership, reports the Los Angeles Times . The FCC could act as soon as tomorrow, and the deal could close by year’s end. More »

FCC boss Kevin Martin has lost a big battle in his attempt to tighten up regulation of cable TV, reports the New York Times . After strenuous efforts by cable lobbyists leading up to a heated meeting last night, Martin agreed to push back until next year a vote on expanding the FCC's powers to regulate the industry. Haggling with opponents on the commission over a compromise had delayed the meeting twelve hours. More »

On the heels of Google's plans for an open-source wireless platform, Verizon Wireless has announced that it will open up its own network to any compatible phone and will allow access to third-party applications. Sprint is currently the only other major carrier using CDMA technology, and Verizon had been fiercely protective of its network, reports the Wall Street Journal. More »

Profanity seems to be more and more widespread, but linguists suggest people aren't actually swearing more—they're just swearing more publicly. The tide of athletes and musicians who pepper their language with choice four-letter words is meeting a surge of media avenues that aren't regulated by the government, resulting in a flood of profanity, reports the Baltimore Sun . More »

FCC chief Kevin Martin may not have the votes he needs to initiate regulation of the cable industry, reports the New York Times . Martin has scheduled a vote for tomorrow to approve a formal finding that the cable industry has grown too big, which would give the commission power to step in. Democrat Jonathan Adelstein, one of the commission's five members, has switched sides, saying more time is needed before the vote. More »

High-speed Internet access funded by $417 million in FCC grants will change how healthcare is provided in rural or heard-to-reach areas across the US, bringing top-end clinical and diagnostic resourced to underserved patients and doctors, the Washington Post reports. Some 6,000 clinics, hospitals, research facilities and universities will be part of the three-year pilot “telehealth” network. More »

Republican lawmakers have attacked FCC chairman Kevin Martin's plans to step up regulation of the cable industry, the Wall Street Journal reports. All but two of the 26 Republicans on the House Commerce Committee have signed a letter calling the plans "misguided and harmful." The FCC boss has been trying to rein in cable companies in the last two years. More »

Cable stocks are getting beaten up badly thanks to a combination of factors—subscribers fleeing to satellite and other services, a general market gloom that is compounded for often-complicated cable stocks, and news that the FCC plans to beef up its oversight. Led by industry giant Comcast, the group's stocks are falling fast after rising steadily for several years, Broadcasting & Cable reports. More »

Thanks to an agreement at a month-long UN telecom conference in Geneva, the cost for rights to use new US wireless spectrum going on the block in January may have just increased. Google, Yahoo and Apple are among the companies expected to a battle for licenses to the 700 Mhz bandwith, and the UN deal could make products built for the US attractive in dozens of other markets worldwide. More »

Internet giant Google wants to reshape the wireless world, and its plans reach far beyond the cell phone software the company introduced last week. At a Federal Communications Commission auction in January, the company may make a $4.6 billion solo bid to buy airwaves to run its own national mobile phone and internet wireless network, the Wall Street Journal reports. More »

A subscriber has sued Comcast for slowing file-sharing activities after an AP report last month showed that the nation's largest cable company falsely signals file-sharing software that the network connection has dropped. The man alleges that Comcast misleads consumers by claiming it offers "mind-blowing" speeds and "unfettered access" to the Internet, reports the AP. More »

The head of a cable television trade group bashed the head of the FCC today, accusing him of backing policies that “hurt the (cable) industry.” The issue causing most of the fuss, Broadcasting and Cable reports, is the proposed to mandate an a la carte pricing system, which would allow consumers to choose and pay individually for which channels they want. More »