DIVERSITY: WHY IS IT STILL SO ELUSIVE
Issue: Diversity
"People of color, as a market, are larger than AT&T, Time Warner or
Comcast," said Bresnan Communications' Joe Lawson. They have $650 billion in
spending power; they are 20% of all cable subscribers; and they generate
$6.7 billion in cable subscriber revenue. Minorities make up 29.1% of the
cable work force -- but most are at the bottom. Of the 39,000 people of
color in the cable industry, none own a system and just 1 is in corporate
marketing. There are only five minority-owned cable networks. Studies show
that companies that diversify their management teams have as much as 50%
greater sales so, Lawson estimates, the absence in diversity in cable is
costing the industry billions. "If it makes us uncomfortable, it *should*
make us uncomfortable. But what should make us *more* uncomfortable is not
doing anything about it."
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable (p.40), AUTHOR: Deborah McAdams]
(http://www.broadcastingcable.com/)
CABLE TV GOING INTERACTIVE
Issue: Cable/Internet
As interactive TV services debut in a spattering of communities around the
country, it is apparent that real pioneers in this area are smaller cable
companies and not the industry giants. "We don't see them beating down our
door, asking for these services yet," said AT&T spokesman Andrew Johnson.
"I guess our research doesn't indicate that, as of today, the market's ripe
for
those kinds of services." But one interactive TV provider, Worldgate of
Bensalem, PA, reports a tripling of subscribers since just March. The
high-speed Internet access through cable connections is one of the big
attractions of these interactive TV services. Cable operators that have
invested heavily in costly upgrades to expand capacity and covert lines into
two-way networks, are eager to see a financial payback and hope interactive TV
might be just the ticket.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Jon Healey]
(http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/indepth/docs/cable062199.htm)
HOUSE REJECTS MEDIA CONTROL BILLS
Issue: Media & Society
There was a flurry of action in Washington last week concerning media and
children. This summer, the House and Senate will reconcile two versions of a
juvenile crime bill. The Senate version included media-related amendments,
but the House defeated an amendment by Rep Henry Hyde (R-IL) which would
have made it a crime to sell explicit violent or sexual material to minors
under 17. The entertainment industry is worried that it has become a large,
easy target in the wake of violence in schools this Spring. Jack Valenti,
head of the Motion Picture Industry Association of America, said "They are
expressing concern because they believe that some people in Congress have
gone mad and are acting like there is no Constitution."
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable (p.14), AUTHOR: Paige Albiniak]
(http://www.broadcastingcable.com/top/top_article.asp?articleID=692236566)
MEDIA&SOCIETY
HOUSE REJECTS CURBS ON SALES OF VIOLENT FILM
Issue: Media/Violence
The House rejected a bill yesterday that sought to outlaw the sale of
extremely
violent movies, video games and books to minors. The bill was rejected 282 to
146. It proved to be too controversial, as the opposition to the bill
complained of infringement of the First Amendment. The entertainment industry
lobbied Congress hard this week. As Jack Valenti, lobbyist for the
movie-industry said, "This isn't cigarettes or alcohol. This is creative work
that is protected by the First Amendment." The House is expected to vote to
approve a teen crime bill this week. The bill includes heavier gun control,
including background checks at gun shows.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B12), AUTHOR: Jeffery Taylor]
(http://wsj.com/)
BROADBAND
AT HOME QUESTIONS GTE TEST
Issue: Broadband
On Monday, GTE announced in Washington that it had a low-cost technology that
allows multiple Internet service provides (ISPs) to use the wires of a single
cable TV system. At Home, an affiliate of AT&T and provider of high-speed
Internet service, implied it was a political move to "incite other
municipalities to do what Portland did." A federal district court recently
ruled that Portland had authority to mandate cable companies to provide open
access to ISPs to service over cable networks. At Home criticized GTE's
conclusions on two counts, but GTE said At Home's concerns were misleading and
not relevant to "open access." AT&T has been on an acquisition spree of cable
systems which has created concern among Internet companies that they will not
be able to use AT&T's lines to reach customers.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E6), AUTHOR: Shu Shin Luh]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-06/17/210l-061799-idx.html)
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
DIGITAL MUSIC PLAYERS UPHELD
Issue: Intellectual Property
A federal court has ruled that San Jose-based Diamond can continue to sell its
popular hand-held MP3 player. The Recording Industry of Association America
had
sought to prevent Diamond from distributing the Rio music player by filing a
suite against the company last October. The Rio, which sells for about
$169.95,
allows people to play music downloaded from the Internet using MP3 compression
technology. The recording industry is concerned that devices like the Rio will
lead to rampant music piracy on the Web. Unauthorized sites using MP3
technology can provide illegal recordings that artists and record companies
will receive no compensation for. The court, however, found that Rio is
consistent with the federal Audio Home Recording Act of 1992, which aims to
"ensure the right of consumers to make analog or digital audio recordings of
copyrighted music for their private, non-commercial use.''
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury , AUTHOR: Deborah Kong]
(http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/indepth/docs/rio061699.htm)
PUMPING NEW LIFE INTO CABLE
Issue: Cable
AT&T Chief Executive Michael Armstrong has seen the future of cable --
interactive television. Wait...did I write 'future' or 'history'?
Interactive TV, video-on-demand, 500 channel...this was the rage of cable
eight years ago. But Mr Armstrong insists that this history is cable's
future -- "a future where television breaks out of the passive mode forever
and adds a dimension of consumer choice and control that, until now, has
been just talk." Online banking, shopping et al...this'll all be done as
America's two most user-friendly devices -- TVs and telephones -- converge.
Orchestrating the merger of AT&T and TCI has done more to accelerate this
convergence than anything, but interactive TV has not been so prominent in
AT&T's earlier announcements. "It's not that (interactive TV) was rolled out
and didn't work so much as the interactive TV rhetoric exceeded capital
expenditures," Armstrong explains. "It never did get rolled out. That's what
is so exciting now, because it will happen, not based on some dream, but
based on hard-nosed business decisions."
[SOURCE: Chicago Tribune (Sec 3, p.1), AUTHOR: Jon Van]
(http://chicagotribune.com/business/printedition/article/0,2669,SAV-99061500
88,FF.html)
MOVIE-RATING GROUP IS FRISKING ADS FOR GUNS
Issue: Media & Society
Are they responding from government pressure regarding violent content or is
the Motion Picture Association of America "trying to be a part of the
movement"
against youth violence? Jack Valenti, the President of MPAA, says the latter
is the reason for becoming tougher on violent imagery in movie trailers and
advertisements such as guns directly pointed at the camera. Mr Valenti says
the voluntary ratings system is designed for parents and he believes the
movie industry will tone itself down -- especially if theaters reject movies
without the MPAA's volunteer rating. However, just two weeks ago, when an
advertisement including a pointed gun was brought to the MPAA by Trimark
Holdings, the MPAA rejected it only to approve a resubmitted ad that
substituted in a knife.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B1), AUTHOR: Bruce Orwell and John Lippman]
(http://wsj.com/)
WHEN MOVIES BECOME 'PRODUCT'
Issue: Media & Society
[Op-ed] When President Clinton ordered the Federal Trade Commission to
study the
marketing of violent media to children, Washington stepped dangerously
close to
an assault on the First Amendment, writes Postrel. While the administration
knows
that "Regulating creativity is bad," it also realizes that "regulating
marketing is O.K." So the recently launched probe of entertainment industries
is designed to look like business regulation, but according to Postrel, "the
real goal is content restriction." She claims that advertisements for violent
media are not deceptive and allow the public to make informed decisions about
whether to view certain types of content or not. The FTC study "sets a
dangerous precedent for both free speech and consumer choice."
[SOURCE: New York Times (A27), AUTHOR: Virginia Postrel, editor of Reason
magazine]
(http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/oped/14post.html)
Gary Handman
Director
Media Resources Center
Moffitt Library
UC Berkeley 94720-6000
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC
"Everything wants to become television" (James Ulmer -- Teletheory)