Dorgan bill in the Congressional hopper
Byron Dorgan's (D-ND) "Media Ownership Act of 2007" is officially on paper, and it's taken on three more co-sponsors. The first thing the bill...
Consumer groups want to cross out cross-ownership
Free Press representatives testified at the Washington DC localism forum, dropping what Commissioner Michael Copps called a bombshell - saying that the FCC's own...
Cochran will try to return to Washington
There has been some speculation that Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS) would call it quits when his fourth term expires next year, but it can...
Stuck in the middle
If anybody out there thinks FCC Chairman Kevin Martin got it exactly right with his proposal for a limited rollback of cross-ownership restrictions, they...
Lovett or leave it? Royalties down the Hatch?
Music talents Lyle Lovett and Alice Peacock held forth before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the topic of performance royalties, better known to broadcasters...
Dorgan pushes back
"The Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has put forward what I'm sure he regards as a reasonable compromise on the issue of...
Dereg, Martin style: Just a nibble
Watchdogs have been howling at the moon for about a month now, in preparation for the nefarious plans of FCC Chairman Kevin (R) to...
Copps, Adelstein push back
Democratic Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein aren't buying it. They say that the top 20 markets contain 43% of the US population, exposing...
NAB teaches Congress about ducks
The Senate Judiciary Committee is looking into the issue of performance fees for music receiving airplay, which would overturn a mutually-beneficial relationship enjoyed by...
Is Martin seeing 70-70?
There is a provision in the Cable Act of 1984 that opens the door to reregulating the cable industry when it becomes available to...
Performance royalties get Hill hearing
Everybody's getting into the act. While both houses of Congress react to possible changes in media ownership rules, the Senate Judiciary Committee is getting...
Bold proposal for Channel 6 (and 5)
John J. Mullaney of Mullaney Engineering has filed an intriguing proposal with the FCC under the umbrella of MB Docket No. 87-268, Advance Television...
NTIA chief resigns
John Kneuer, chief of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will resign this month to pursue new opportunities, agency spokesman Todd Sedmak announced...
Will Supremes weigh in on fleeting expletives?
We don't know if the Supreme Court will agree to hear an FCC appeal of the Second Circuit court ruling in favor of Fox...
Commerce Committee keeping the heat on
The echoes from the last speaker at the FCC forum on localism in Washington had just barely died away, and already the Senate Commerce...