News

WASHINGTON — An independent analysis of public media funding requested by Congress has found that “the loss of federal support for public broadcasting risks the collapse of the system.”

WASHINGTON — On Wednesday, the House Appropriations Committee withdrew a measure that would have prevented the Federal Communications Commission from carrying out its new rule requiring broadcasters to put political ad spending records online. Instead, the House adopted a new measure requiring the Government Accountability Office to study the issue.

WASHINGTON — On Tuesday, news broke of a Justice Department investigation into anti-competitive conduct by cable operators. Press reports indicate that the DoJ is examining tactics cable operators deploy to discourage use of online video services like Netflix or YouTube that may compete with cable’s traditional video business.

WASHINGTON — On Monday, Verizon Wireless introduced data-sharing plans that will give users a monthly allotment of data to be used across all devices. According to press reports, the carrier will require all new and upgrading customers to choose one of these new plans as of June 28.

WASHINGTON — On Wednesday, a House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee will vote on a misguided measure that would decrease transparency for political ads aired on local television stations.

WASHINGTON — On Thursday, Sen. Herb Kohl sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski and Attorney General Eric Holder urging them to carefully consider the competitive harms of Verizon’s proposed deal to buy spectrum from SpectrumCo, a group of the nation’s largest cable companies.

WASHINGTON — On Tuesday, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski said that he generally supports data caps and tiered broadband pricing plans. The chairman’s comments came during an interview at the Cable Show with former FCC Chairman Michael Powell, now the top lobbyist with the National Cable and Telecommunications Association.

WASHINGTON — On Tuesday, the National Association of Broadcasters filed a petition with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals challenging the Federal Communications Commission’s April order requiring broadcasters to put their political file information online.

WASHINGTON – On Thursday, Comcast announced plans to raise its data caps from 250 GB per month to 300 GB in some areas. The company said it would also impose new overage charges on customers who exceed those caps.

WASHINGTON – On Thursday, media giant Media General announced that it would sell its 63 newspapers to Berkshire Hathaway for $142 million.