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Today's Topics:
1. SES to Unveil Long-Term Launch Deal (George Antunes)
2. Air Force Wants Advisory Group To Oversee Satellite Programs
(George Antunes)
3. Weird: Bread-Toting Pennsylvania Tourists Feed Multitudes of
Carp (George Antunes)
4. Loral Submits Bid in Intelsat Auction (George Antunes)
5. Sony TV Stages a Heavy Online Push (George Antunes)
6. Free Podcasts: For bedtime stories, just press play
(George Antunes)
7. Latest cable measure could finally bring competition to
Illinois (George Antunes)
8. Candid storm chief gets a lashing (George Antunes)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Sun, 17 Jun 2007 12:48:54 -0500
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] SES to Unveil Long-Term Launch Deal
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
SES to Unveil Long-Term Launch Deal
By ANDY PASZTOR
Wall Street Journal
June 17, 2007 9:21 a.m.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118207940420138153.html?mod=home_whats_news_us
PARIS -- In the latest sign of a resurgent commercial-satellite sector,
European industry leader SES Global S.A. has negotiated a novel, roughly
$700-million deal to launch 10 of its satellites on a combination of French
and Russian rockets.
Slated to be announced Monday at the international air show here, the
five-year agreement not only covers an unusually large number of flights
but is intended to provide unmatched reliability by ensuring firm backup
rockets and even alternate launch sites for each satellite. By pressing
ahead with such aggressive expansion plans and seeking long-term launch
arrangements stretching to at least 2013, the Luxembourg satellite operator
was able to get substantial price breaks from French rocket operator
Arianespace as well as its Russian rival, International Launch Services.
The deal also sets a new benchmark for flexibility in matching
different-size payloads and rockets, at a time when the industry is
rebounding and launch manifests increasingly are filled. Arianespace, among
other things, committed to use European-built Ariane V and Russian-built
Soyuz rockets from its Equatorial spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. As
part of the package, Japan's rocket industry also has committed to earmark
additional backup capacity, in case there is a problem with one of the
other two launch providers.
Romain Bausch, president of SES, said the agreement provides for
"on-schedule access to space" covering the company's plans to replace or
expand its global satellite fleet. After the Internet financial "bubble"
burst around 2000, launch providers struggled with weak manifests, and U.S.
rocket makers Lockheed Martin Corp. and Boeing Co. largely ceded commercial
markets to French and Russian providers. But orders to build and launch
commercial satellites have increased steadily since late 2005, permitting
Ariane to boost its prices about 50% over the period.
With financial support from European governments, Arianespace is building a
new launch pad at its Kourou launch facility to handle several Soyuz
launches a year. The Soyuz is about a third as powerful as the largest
Ariane V, but is considered a cost-effective option for smaller and midsize
satellites. "We are the only space services company to offer such a wide
variety of launchers," Arianespace chairman and chief executive Jean-Yves
Le Gall said last month, but "we need to have a stabilized production rate"
to maximize returns.
The industry's revival is further underscored by Arianespace's anticipated
announcement at the show of stepped-up production of rockets for its use.
Arianespace expects to gradually increase to eight from five the annual
launches of its heavy-lift Ariane V version. "That's an important signal,"
said Douglas Heydon, a former Arianespace executive who now works for
Aerospace Corp. "Their cost efficiency will improve" and launches will
generate more profit, he said.
Satellite operators historically have contracted for some backup capacity,
in the event technical problems or an accident temporarily put a specific
rocket out of operation. But those were usually shorter-term arrangements
focused on specific satellite. By contrast, the latest agreement covers the
bulk of all the satellites SES units plan to launch until the middle of the
next decade. SES also has been an industry leader in building smaller, more
flexible satellites that can be delivered more quickly to take available
launch slots.
The deal also represents an important stamp of approval for International
Launch Services, which only a few months ago lost Lockheed as a partner and
is now dominated by Russian government and industry interests.
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Sun, 17 Jun 2007 12:55:03 -0500
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Air Force Wants Advisory Group To Oversee
Satellite Programs
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
U.S. Air Force Wants Advisory Group To Help Oversee Satellite Programs
By ANDY PASZTOR
Wall Street Journal
June 17, 2007 5:50 a.m.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118207220824038146.html?mod=home_whats_news_us
The U.S. Air Force, already increasingly dependent on outside experts to
help oversee development of new space systems, also is looking for such
assistance for many of its existing satellite programs.
As part of the service's efforts to enhance technical review of major space
projects, Air Force Lt. Gen. Michael Hamel, head of space acquisitions,
said in a recent interview that he hoped to create a permanent cadre of
veteran advisors to help vet progress on projects across the board.
The group would offer "steady expert advice that's very senior and very
seasoned," he told the Wall Street Journal. Slated to be composed of former
high-ranking industry experts, and perhaps government officials, the
general said the group would be comparable to having advisors on retainer.
Their goal would be to assess not only programs under development, but also
the extent of interoperability between the next-generation and existing
space hardware and systems.
The move is the latest sign that despite years of efforts to revamp
development and increase oversight of multi-billion dollar space projects,
the Air Force still appears to lack the depth of in-house expertise to
oversee such initiatives on its own. In the past, the service has relied on
a variety of outside consultants to advise, among other things, on the
effectiveness of systems engineering affecting big ticket satellite projects.
But for the first time, Gen. Hamel acknowledged that he wants more help --
and a permanent stable of consultants to tap as necessary -- to promptly
address program difficulties. "We don't want to be an ad hoc organization,"
he said, dependent on the fluctuating availability of outside experts.
The ultimate goal, he said, is to "have some standing assessment and review
groups," to ensure new space programs mesh properly with existing
hardware." "We are ... developing individual segments that have to work
together"
A. Thomas Young, a retired industry and government official who led two
previous studies that recommended sweeping changes in acquisition
procedures, said in a separate interview, that he supports establishing a
permanent advisory structure for space. "It's a great idea," he said, to
"occasionally have a group of experienced people scrub new and existing
space projects." The service needs "experienced space acquisition people"
in order to adequately manage programs, he said. "But the problem is the
Air Force doesn't actually have a lot of them today."
In addition to hiring technical experts to oversee specific space projects,
the Pentagon is in the process of creating still another advisory panel to
assess the status of military and spy satellite programs. The
congressionally mandated group is supposed to recommend ways to improve
budgeting, enhance acquisition procedures, and recommend change in space
policy.
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
Message: 3
Date: Sun, 17 Jun 2007 13:05:52 -0500
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Weird: Bread-Toting Pennsylvania Tourists Feed
Multitudes of Carp
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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[The Wall Street Journal is not usually a source for news of the weird
items. But every once in a while they have a zinger.]
Loaves and Fish: Piscine Gluttony
In Pennsylvania Bread-Toting Tourists Feed Multitudes of Carp;
'Throw it Like a Frisbee'
By JAMES R. HAGERTY
Wall Street Journal
June 16, 2007; Page A1
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118195375441937363.html?mod=hps_us_pageone
LINESVILLE, Pa. -- Pymatuning State Park in northwestern Pennsylvania
offers boating, fishing, camping and the Wildlife Learning Center. By far
the most popular activity here, however, is throwing stale bread to carp.
Hundreds of tourists show up daily in the summer to hurl sliced bread,
moldy muffins, graying bagels and desiccated dinner rolls into the murky
brown water of Pymatuning Reservoir. Carp weighing as much as 40 or 50
pounds slither over one another, thrashing ravenously as they lunge for
their carbs. Their 0-shaped mouths resemble vacuum-cleaner nozzles.
Now, to make this pastime even more appealing, Pennsylvania has spent $2.8
million on a new parking lot, paved platform and other facilities.
Lake Pymatuning may not be quite as inspiring as some of the state's other
attractions, such as the Liberty Bell or Gettysburg. Even so, its "churning
mass of ugly fish is strangely compelling," says the Web site of the state
tourism office. Compelling enough to attract more than 400,000 visitors per
year, making the sport of tossing bread into the lake one of the biggest
tourist draws in western Pennsylvania -- bigger, certainly, than
Fallingwater, the house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright over a waterfall in
southwestern Pennsylvania, which had 136,000 visitors last year, or the
Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, with a mere 84,000.
Lake Pymatuning was created in the early 1930s, when the state built a dam
to control flooding. Visitors enjoyed tossing food to the lake's ducks,
geese and carp so much that quick-witted local entrepreneurs began selling
them stale bread.
Since then, carp-feeding has thrived here despite a virtual absence of
promotion. Only a pair of small wooden signs on Linesville's main street,
easily overlooked, point tourists toward the feeding grounds. A brochure
for the state park devotes just one sentence to the fish. A press release
from local politicians announcing state funding for the renovation made no
mention of the carp, referring only to "tourism, fishing, boating and
various other activities."
Packed Solid
The fish gather at a spillway where water drains from one section of the
lake into another. When people arrive with sacks of bread, the carp swarm
so densely that ducks and geese can waddle across their backs -- as if on a
piscine causeway -- to brawl for their share. Hence the town's unofficial
slogan: "Where the Ducks Walk on the Fish." T-shirts for sale at the
spillway say "Carpe Feed'm."
Christopher Seeley, the mayor of Linesville (pop. 1,155), says the
carp-tourism helps "keep this town afloat," supporting several restaurants
and a high-end gift shop, as well as people who supplement their incomes by
selling day-before-yesterday's bread from the trunks of their cars. But
this doesn't stop the locals from finding the tourism a little perplexing.
When he was a boy, Mr. Seeley recalls, "we just thought it was the
strangest thing that people would come so far to see this."
Mixed Feelings
Pete Houghton, the state park manager, has mixed feelings about the feeding
frenzies. He and other park rangers across the country have spent decades
trying to train tourists not to feed wild life. "Would we let it develop
today?" he says. "No." But banning the sport would damage the local
economy, he says. "You've got to look at the big picture," Mr. Houghton says.
Carp, which can grow several feet long, ordinarily eat insects, plants and
other aquatic organisms, says Mukhtar Farooqi, a fisheries biologist in
Abilene, Texas. They aren't fussy, he says: "They'll just suck in
whatever's there."
That apparently includes jewelry. Virginia Seeley, a retired glass-factory
worker and the mayor's grandmother, accidentally dropped her gold watch
into the soupy lake one day while feeding the fish. "I just saw it go down
and right in a fish's mouth," she says.
Occasionally, a drunk falls in and has to be fished out. Fred McConnell, a
former operator of a concession stand at the site, says the carp -- though
known to eat just about anything -- draw the line at pickled people.
Since the authorities can't ban the feeding, they've attempted to make it
less squalid and even a little educational. The renovation, completed in
May, has added indoor toilets, a concrete platform at the water's edge and
blue guardrails where once there were only open-pit latrines, a stony shore
and chain-link fences. The state park plans to put up a kiosk with
information on carp and local history. One woman who visited the park on
Memorial Day weekend told Mr. Houghton, the park manager, she was so
impressed with the new facilities that she wanted to hold her wedding
there. "Things like that will happen more often," Mr. Houghton predicts.
Scientists are split on the effects of a high-carb diet for carp. Konrad
Dabrowski, a professor of aquaculture at Ohio State University, says carp
are unlikely to suffer many ill effects from bread binges, though "they
probably get lazy."
Adding Phosphorous
But Andrew M. Turner, a biology professor at Clarion University, says all
that bread is bad for the ecosystem. He monitored "breadthrowers" for a
month and found that they were loading the lake with phosphorus, contained
in preservatives. This could lead to outbreaks of "toxic algae, low water
clarity ... fish kills, loss of biological diversity and increased
likelihood of invasion by exotic species," Prof. Turner wrote in his study.
The study also confirmed some Midwestern stereotypes: 83% of the bread
being thrown into the lake is white. Other items tossed to the fish include
corn chips, hot dogs, birthday cakes and dog food, the researchers noted.
Shawn Barker, a welder from nearby Greenville, Pa., turned up one recent
afternoon with his six-year-old daughter, Bridgette, and several bags of
stale bread. "How about an English muffin?" Mr. Barker suggested to
Bridgette. "Throw it like a Frisbee." The fish engulfed the muffin. "Did
you see the white one down there that had all the sores on him?" Mr. Barker
asked.
Cheap Hobby
Mr. Barker figures he has made at least 100 trips to feed the carp over 30
years, starting when his father brought him here as a boy. "There's always
something different to see, even when it's just fish and geese and ducks,"
he said. It's also an inexpensive hobby. There is no admission charge at
the feeding area, and a few dollars buys several loaves of old bread.
During the tourist season, Mary McDonald drives her van to bakeries in
Erie, Pa., or Youngstown, Ohio, three times a week to buy around 1,000
loaves of oldish bread. At a red cottage near the carp-feeding area, she
charges $3 for a bag of four or five loaves. Her bread stand features a
sign reading, "Not for Human Consumption." But Ms. McDonald suspects some
of her customers ignore her admonition.
In spite of all the fattening, carp seldom makes an appearance in local
kitchens. The locals don't fancy it. At a carp-eating contest in Linesville
two years ago, organizers substituted other types of fish rather than serve
bony carp.
Carp have often been maligned in the U.S. for being frightful to behold and
lacking in culinary appeal, as well as for crowding out other, more
courteous fish. But Ray "Herkel" Corcoran, a director of the Carp Anglers
Group, a club that promotes carp fishing, says the bread-throwing proves
that they're among the canniest fish: "Just think about all the humans that
these fish have trained to come by day in and day out to throw them their
daily bread."
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
Message: 4
Date: Sun, 17 Jun 2007 13:09:31 -0500
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Loral Submits Bid in Intelsat Auction
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
Loral Submits Bid in Intelsat Auction
By ANDY PASZTOR and DENNIS K. BERMAN
Wall Street Journal
June 16, 2007; Page A3
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118193476488237004.html?mod=technology_main_whats_news
Loral Space & Communications Inc. is among several groups that submitted
rival bids to acquire Intelsat Ltd., the largest global
commercial-satellite operator, as part of an auction that could wrap up as
early as the next few days, according to people familiar with the details.
Loral, which is believed to be working with partners to finance its bid, is
one of three satellite companies vying for Intelsat, according to these
people. Intelsat has declined to comment, and a spokesman for Loral
couldn't be reached.
The other two satellite players in the fray, EchoStar Communications Corp.
and Liberty Media Corp., banded together to put in a competing bid for the
Washington-based satellite-services provider, these people said. Currently
owned by private-equity groups, Intelsat is expected to draw bids of $4.5
billion to more than $5.5 billion. A spokeswoman for EchoStar, which runs
the Dish satellite-to-home broadcast network, has declined to comment. So
has Liberty, which in coming months is slated to take control of DirecTV
Group Inc., the largest U.S. satellite broadcaster.
Intelsat also is considering a separate bid from European private-equity
group BC Partners, while Providence Equity Partners, Carlyle Group and
Australia's Macquarie Bank Ltd. could jump in later, these people said. But
Blackstone Group, which sparked the auction with a preliminary offer, lost
interest and didn't formally bid. A deal with private-equity players could
be negotiated in a few days, said people familiar with the matter. But if
Intelsat chooses a strategic-investor group to begin in-depth talks,
working out a deal could take much longer, these people said.
The EchoStar-Liberty Media bid poses some novel regulatory and antitrust
issues. That's because the bid, if successful, means that the two dominant
U.S. satellite broadcasters would exert significant influence over a
different sphere of satellite operations: Intelsat's 51 satellites
distribute data, voice and video content across the globe, while in the
U.S. its satellites depend heavily on revenue from beaming programming for
cable television to terrestrial distribution centers.
EchoStar and its feisty chairman and chief executive, Charles Ergen, have
built the Dish Network business primarily as rivals to cable-TV systems.
Even if Intelsat and its lawyers conclude that a sale to the group headed
by Mr. Ergen and Liberty's chairman, John Malone, doesn't pose major
antitrust hurdles, cable operators are likely to object when it comes to
Federal Communications Commission licenses.
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
Message: 5
Date: Sun, 17 Jun 2007 13:18:18 -0500
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Sony TV Stages a Heavy Online Push
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
Sony TV Stages a Heavy Online Push
Learning From Missteps In Cable, Studio Pursues Web-Video Ad Dollars
By BROOKS BARNES
Wall Street Journal
June 15, 2007; Page B3
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118187066331636281.html?mod=technology_featured_stories_hs
Sony Pictures Television has long been a big player in U.S. TV, making
1980s hits such as "Who's the Boss?" and contemporary cable shows "The
Shield" and "Rescue Me." But unlike most of its rivals, it never succeeded
in launching any major TV networks in the U.S.
During the 1980s and early 1990s, when rivals such as Universal Studios
helped launch the USA and Sci Fi networks and Warner Bros. started the WB,
Sony sat on the sidelines. By the time it woke up and launched the Game
Show Network in 1994, cable systems had little capacity left for new
channels. That meant Sony largely missed out on sharing one of the major
sources of revenue in U.S. television -- advertising.
Now, however, with the Web opening new opportunities for video
distribution, Sony is determined not to stage a repeat performance. The
company has begun a heavy online push, hoping to tap the exploding demand
for online video advertising. EMarketer projects advertisers will spend
some $5 billion annually on online video ads by 2010, more than double the
$2.1 billion expected to be spent this year.
"Our content helped build a lot of cable channels," says Steve Mosko,
president of Sony Pictures Television and the executive charged with Sony's
U.S. digital distribution for both TV and film. "We're not going to let the
same thing happen on the Web."
In coming days, the Sony Corp. studio will launch a broadband channel
called the Minisode Network on News Corp.'s MySpace. The site will feature
old TV shows from Sony's library -- such as "Diff'rent Strokes" and "The
Partridge Family" -- that have been shrunk to between three and five
minutes in length. The site will be sponsored by a series of national
advertisers, says Mr. Mosko.
The launch of Minisode Network follows Sony's premiere last week of the
first of two original drama series on FEARnet, a Web, mobile and
video-on-demand provider of horror-themed video. Sony rolled out the
service last year with Comcast and Lions Gate Entertainment. FEARnet's Web
site attracted 145,000 unique visitors in May, according to comScore Media
Metrix. Sony says the horror site averages 172,500 unique visitors a month
and streams about one million videos per month.
But Sony's biggest digital initiative comes next month, when the studio
plans to unveil a dramatically revamped version of Grouper, a video-sharing
Web site it bought last year for $65 million. The service will get a new
name and look, along with a robust set of new features such as themed
channels with exclusive content. The studio is also working to allow users
to lift clips from TV shows and mix them with their own material to produce
a new video.
Sony faces plenty of competition. Google's YouTube has already established
a commanding lead. The site says it streams hundreds of millions of videos
every day, while Sony says its soon-to-be-renamed Grouper streams about 100
million videos in a month. Meanwhile, major new Internet video services
such as Joost are on their way, while rivals such as Time Warner's Warner
Bros. and General Electric's NBC Universal are also pushing hard to
establish an online presence.
"There are tons of people moving into the online video space, and if
anything, Sony needs to move a little faster if it wants to be a leader,"
says Tracey Scheppach, senior vice president and video innovations director
for Publicis Groupe's Starcom USA, a media-buying agency.
Warner Bros., for instance, has cut innovative deals to give local stations
the right to stream episodes of syndicated shows on their Web sites, and
has an extensive partnership with AOL to stream episodes of shows from its
library. NBC Universal has claimed space on the Web for comedy
(dotcomedy.com) and gay-themed programming (outzonetv.com) and is preparing
to launch a large video portal later this summer in partnership with News
Corp.'s Fox.
Sony's lack of a TV-network affiliate gives it an advantage, says Mr.
Mosko. Most companies that operate a paired network and studio -- such as
Walt Disney's ABC and ABC Television Studio -- are trying to use the Web to
buttress their main network business, while hoping not to cannibalize it.
In ABC's case, all of its shows are streamed through ABC.com.
Sony, though, doesn't have to take into account how any deal might affect
"the network side of the house," says Mr. Mosko. Because Sony has no
network to promote, it has the luxury of being able to evaluate each show
independently to determine which distribution strategy makes the most
financial sense, analysts say.
It can cut both ways: For instance, when "'Til Death," a comedy that the
studio supplies to Fox, was floundering in the ratings earlier this year,
Sony blitzed the Web with promotional episodes to try and funnel viewers to
the show.
Conversely, Sony has opted to keep its biggest comedy property, "Seinfeld,"
off the Web -- at least for now. Local stations have paid Sony about $3
billion for rights to rerun the series through 2011 and the studio doesn't
want Internet distribution to puncture prices when the syndication deals
come up for renewal.
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
Message: 6
Date: Sun, 17 Jun 2007 13:23:45 -0500
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Free Podcasts: For bedtime stories, just press
play
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
For bedtime stories, just press play
By YING WU
Wall Street Journal
June 16, 2007; Page P2
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118195348925637351.html?mod=technology_featured_stories_hs
For families on long car trips, there's a new boredom killer: free podcasts
of children's stories.
The tales come from London-based Storynory, which offers them on its Web
site and on iTunes. Read by a drama-school graduate and aspiring actress
named Natasha Gostwick, the 82 stories available range from classics like
"Little Red Riding Hood" and "Alice in Wonderland" to new stories written
by the Web site's founders, who are writers. Through the podcast, they hope
to generate a fan base for their unpublished tales like "Bertie the Frog"
and "Jack and the Pirate School." The stories are aimed at children up to
age 11.
Nikki Markle, a Montana mother of two, says she enjoys listening to the
fairy tales together with her kids -- with her eyes shut. "I still read
bedtime stories to my kids, but [the podcasts] are a nice bonus to have,
especially when we travel," Mrs. Markle says.
With 140,000 downloads last month, co-founder Hugh Fraser, a former radio
journalist with the BBC World Service, says he is thinking about adding
advertisements to the podcasts, as long at they are not "loud and
obtrusive." For now, the podcasts are ad-free.
Link: http://www.storynory.com/
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
Message: 7
Date: Sun, 17 Jun 2007 15:53:53 -0500
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Latest cable measure could finally bring
competition to Illinois
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
2007-06-17
Latest cable measure could finally bring competition to Illinois
Associated Press
http://www.daily-journal.com/archives/dj/display.php?id=397450
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) -- Amid all the recent political infighting,
compromise still can be found at the state Capitol.
Months of intense negotiations have produced a deal that advocates hope
will make Illinois a national leader in opening its cable television market
to competition. The result could be more choices for consumers who sign up
for CNN, ESPN and HBO.
The measure hammered out by state lawmakers and the attorney general's
office would try to make it easier for telephone giants AT&T and Verizon to
compete with cable kings Comcast Corp. and Insight Communications for
consumers' phone, Internet and cable needs.
It cleared the House 113-0 two weeks ago and awaits expected approval in
the Senate.
That's a long way from just a few weeks ago, when opposition from city
mayors, public access channels and powerful cable companies seemed to have
doomed the idea.
But protections included in the negotiations prompted opponents to drop
their opposition, although Verizon criticizes the proposal as making it
more difficult to enter Illinois' market. Even the cable companies are
officially neutral on the measure and say they're willing to see if it works.
"It obviously didn't please everybody," said Gary Mack, spokesman for the
Illinois Cable Television and Communications Association. "There are
elements of it that nobody's completely happy with."
The new measure eases concerns about the loss of public access channels,
known as PEGs, by protecting funding and potentially creating channels in
places that don't have them now.
PEG advocates say that's a vast improvement over what's happened elsewhere.
"In a number of states, PEG access is dead," said Barbara Popovic of Keep
Us Connected, a coalition of cities, nonprofit groups and public access
channels. "This really does give PEG access a new hope."
Communities still will get their franchise fees. They'll also have the
final say over permits for cable equipment and some enforcement power if
service is flawed. Mayors throughout the state had warned that stripping
them of franchising power could jeopardize customer service and cause a
revenue shortfall in local government.
A statewide franchising system, pushed by AT&T to ease their entry into the
cable market, will replace local service agreements now negotiated by the
cable companies. Initially, cable companies complained that AT&T only
wanted to change the current system so it could cherrypick the best
customers and drive out competition.
But under the compromise, cable companies also will be able to use the
statewide franchising system, potentially saving them the hassle of
negotiating local agreements.
Also, AT&T and other new cable providers will be required to provide
service to at least 35 percent of their service area within the first three
years, and up to 50 percent in five years.
At least 30 percent of their service "buildout" must be in low-income
areas, a requirement designed to alleviate concerns the company would only
target high-end customers for competition.
All cable companies, including AT&T and other new ones, would face stricter
service requirements.
They could lock customers into service contracts of no longer than one
year. They also would have to give customers a four-hour window for service
appointments and be there in that window or give customers an automatic $25
credit on their bills.
Ben Weinberg, head of the attorney general's public interest division, said
those changes are important to protect customers from unfair contract
lengths and service delays.
He and other advocates acknowledge the measure doesn't guarantee customers
lower prices, cheaper channel packages or more choices. But they stress it
does much more to encourage those benefits than what's been seen with
electric rates, which soared this year when competition didn't develop
during a 10-year rate freeze.
"We didn't want to get into something like the electric deregulation," said
Rep. Jim Brosnahan, an Evergreen Park Democrat who helped lead
negotiations. "We want competition to be created."
Top leaders in the House and Senate, Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office
and others worked in closed-door sessions to reach the compromise, which
advocates say could be the strongest in the country in creating cable
competition.
But optimism is guarded, at least for now.
AT&T says the measure will help them provide more choice, competitive
prices and better service but won't say now how soon or where it will roll
out the new service.
Mack predicts, based on similar legislation in other states, that AT&T's
arrival won't have much immediate impact on consumers' prices or choices.
And some lawmakers say they're encouraged about the possibilities but warn
consumers not to have high hopes right away.
"This is managing expectations," said Rep. Fred Crespo, D-Hoffman Estates.
"We need to make sure that our people in this state understand that it's
not going to happen overnight."
--
The bill is SB678.
On the Net: www.ilga.gov
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
Message: 8
Date: Sun, 17 Jun 2007 17:23:36 -0500
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Candid storm chief gets a lashing
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
Jun. 16, 2007
Candid storm chief gets a lashing
BY MARTIN MERZER
Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/569/v-print/story/141782.html
The new director of the National Hurricane Center, an outspoken critic of
his superiors since he took over in January, charged Friday night that they
are trying to muzzle him and could be setting him up for termination.
Bill Proenza said the acting director of the National Weather Service, Mary
Glackin, visited his office in West Miami-Dade Friday and handed him a
three-page letter of reprimand.
''I don't think they can pull the rug out from under me right now,''
Proenza said, ``but there is no question they are trying to muzzle me.''
In recent interviews with The Miami Herald and other media, Proenza has
strongly criticized leaders of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration for spending millions of dollars on a public-relations
campaign while hurricane forecasters deal with budget shortfalls.
One of his main concerns has been the imminent demise of a key weather
satellite called QuikScat, launched in 1999 and long past its designed
lifetime.
No replacement currently is in development and the loss of QuikScat could
diminish the accuracy of some hurricane forecasts by up to 16 percent,
Proenza and other experts have said.
Glackin's letter, obtained by The Miami Herald, charges that Proenza made
statements that ``may have caused some unnecessary confusion about NOAA's
ability to accurately predict tropical storms.''
In the letter, Glackin also told Proenza that his actions had been
``requiring me to spend a disproportionate amount of time to correct any
confusion; causing undue concern and misunderstanding among your staff; and
taking valuable time away from your public role . . .''
Several forecasters and other staffers at the hurricane center have told
The Miami Herald that they fully support Proenza, and his comments have
earned compliments from many emergency managers and others.
Proenza said he shared the letter with members of his staff Friday.
''I felt like I could not have any secrets from my staff,'' he said. ``They
were simply outraged.''
It was not the first time he has been disciplined since taking over the center.
Proenza said that on April 13, he was told by Louis Uccellini, a
high-ranking weather service official: ``You better stop these QuikScat
[and other] complaints. I'm warning you. You have NOAA, DOC [the U.S.
Department of Commerce] and the White House pissed off.''
Asked about his next move, Proenza said Friday night:
``I'm not going to be silenced. I know my responsibilities and I know what
I have to do.''
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
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End of Medianews Digest, Vol 297, Issue 1
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