The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is poised to enact important reforms to rules related to children’s educational programming on broadcast television, but detractors are spreading misinformation in an attempt to undermine this effort. To read the op-ed, visit the Daily Caller.
More and Better Video Bundles for Consumers
There are now are many popular streaming sites competing to attract subscribers for video content bundles and there are more coming. Vimeo, CBS all access, DirecTV, Google’s YouTube TV, HBO now, HULU, Netflix, Sling, Apple TV, Amazon Prime and Vue are all open for business. Viable competitors undermine the justification for regulations that were based […]
Evolving Mix of TV Programs and Distribution
Do you want to enjoy a real time major league baseball game? Maybe you should tune into Facebook? Would you prefer live NFL games? You might catch those on Amazon? Some of the most attractive weekend and prime TV programming appears to be moving elsewhere. Facebook and Amazon have bought rights to stream live professional […]
TV Channel Bundles and A La Carte
Multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) such as cable and telephone video providers acquire the rights to distribute TV programs they obtain from broadcasters under a set of regulations called retransmission consent. MVPDs and broadcasters negotiate the fees for the retransmission and the fees are recouped in the MVPD monthly charges to consumers. The more popular […]
Should Coding Be in the K-6 Curriculum?
There have been reports of elementary students being taught computer coding, i.e. writing computer procedures that achieve a specific task. Anyone who has written successful computer code will recognize this as an abstract form of “programming.” An important issue is whether the educational benefits from learning to code exceed the benefits from other uses of […]
Content is King, Not the Device or the Platform
Consumers welcome a variety of competing electronic sources and delivery pathways for entertainment and news, but content dictates the winner. Consumers usually have multiple platforms (TV and cable box, PC and smartphone) for digital messaging, streaming video, and TV programs from over the air, mobile wireless, cable and satellite formats. Each of the streaming and […]
The Death of Aereo?
Yesterday, the Supreme Court wisely decided that popular New York startup media company Aereo is violating the law by providing users access to free over-the-air programming from local networks. The 6-3 decision could be the end for the Barry Diller backed startup, and has consumers all over New York City, Baltimore, Atlanta, and 9 other cities […]
Retransmission Consent Regulations Will Lead to a Half Trillion in Consumer Welfare Losses
ACI Study Finds Retransmission Consent Will Discourage Broadcasters from Spectrum Auctions Could Lead to One-Half Trillion in Consumer Welfare Losses WASHINGTON, DC (December 4, 2013) – A new study by the American Consumer Institute Center for Citizen Research (ACI) finds that regulations put in place over twenty years ago to protect TV broadcast stations from […]
A Simple Fix to a Nagging Problem Expected to Die in the 112th Congress
Retransmission consent (RC) is supposed to lead to orderly agreements between those such as broadcast networks who own distribution rights for video programs and those such as cable networks that want to distribute programs to consumers. Under current law, local channels can demand that cable operators carry their programming (Must-Carry) or negotiate RC fees with […]
New Legislation Aims to Lower Broadcaster Market Power
This past Friday, legislation was introduced into both the House and Senate that would reform the television industry, doing away with what many say are outdated and onerous regulations that are hampering innovation and fair competition between multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) and broadcasters, in addition to curbing the ability of broadcasters to compete in […]
