By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 1-21-21 The National Association of Broadcasters has circulated its agenda among policymakers as the new Administration settles in with a flurry of activity and stemming what it calls the undermining of local news by Big Tech is high on the agenda. NAB argues that as the ad market has [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 1-19-21 Department of Justice Antitrust Chief Makan Delrahim said that if the government does not find a way to harness the massive market power of those platforms to democratic policies, the country risks "devastating outcomes for our civil democratic society." He suggested one solution could be a new "public-private" [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 1-19-21The FCC and National Association of Broadcasters made their virtual arguments to the Supreme Court Tuesday (Jan. 19) on why a lower court (the Third Circuit Court of Appeals) was wrong to invalidate the FCC's 2017 broadcast ownership deregulation decision, a defense that came in the waning hours of the [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 1-15-21 Senate Commerce Committee Chairman (for a few more days) Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) wants Big Tech to pony up info on what he says has been their silencing of conservative users, saying it appeared to be politically biased censorship. The most notable "silencing" in recent days was Twitter's and [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 1-15-21 The Justice Department said there needs to be further review of two music licensing consent decrees that allow music users to secure a blanket license for rights rather than having to negotiate individually for them. That is according to Justice Antitrust Chief Makan Delrahim in remarks at a [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 1-15-21 The FCC's Office of Economics and Analytics has issued a working paper giving the next FCC something to think about when it decides whether to allow mergers that reduce the number of station owners in a market. It is expected to be the last such working paper issued [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 1-14-21 The House Republican Steering Committee has picked eight new Republicans to joint the House Energy & Commerce Committee, which has principal jurisdiction over communications issues and the FCC. One of those will fill the slot of retiring former Republican ranking member Greg Walden (R-Ore.). New ranking member Cathy [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 1-13-21 FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said he has some issues with the permanent bans on President Trump's Twitter and Facebook accounts. In response to a question on his last press call, the chairman said he recognized the country was going through difficult times "and these are difficult questions to [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 1-12-21 Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) and a baker's dozen Democratic members of the California congressional delegation have called on attorney general nominee Merrick Garland to make net neutrality one of his first orders of business in the new post. Garland has been a judge on the U.S. Court of [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 1-9-21 FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, who is exiting the Commission Jan. 20, said his reforms of the agency since taking over in 2017 have fundamentally changed the FCC for the better. In a virtual address to the Free State Foundation, Pai took something of a victory lap, outlining the [...]