By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 7-12-17 On the eve of Wednesday's net neutrality day of action that will be devoted mostly to advocating for retaining Title II classification of internet access providers, NCTA: The Internet & Television Association blogged against conflating that regulatory regime with an open internet. "In the opinion of [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 6-7-17 According to political and policy lobbying group the National Legal and Policy Center, almost a quarter million pro-net neutrality comments in the FCC's Restoring Internet Freedom docket have come from outside the U.S., including from Russia. According to the self-described government watchdog group, which said it [...]
By Michael Malone, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 6-7-17 Lester Holt, NBC Nightly News anchor, discussed how things have changed of late for an evening news anchor while accepting an award from the Museum of the Moving Image in Manhattan. “Something remarkable has been happening over the last five months that I haven’t encountered in [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 5-31-17 The federal judges who upheld the FCC's TItle II classification of ISPs last year have signaled that even under those rules, ISPs could block content or slow certain traffic, just so long as they created a "walled garden" that had clear signage signaling that was what they [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 5-31-17 The National Legal and Policy Center has fired the latest shot in the battle over net neutrality comments filed with the FCC, saying that if its analysis is correct, it will ask Congress to investigate. Most of the pushback has come from Title II fans saying the other [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 5-23-17 Not surprisingly, the FCC has closed its review into the indecency complaints against Stephen Colbert's colorful criticisms of President Donald Trump. Though the speed with which it reached that conclusion was noteworthy. "The FCC received thousands of complaints about the May 1 broadcast of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. Consistent [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 5-23-17 The FCC's 2018 budget features cuts in staff and budget according to the administration's final budget, released Tuesday. The FCC said it was pleased to present its request for funds to repack and reimburse broadcasters, help close the digital divide, eliminate unnecessary regulations and regulatory "burdens." The [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 5-17-17 House Democrats used a hearing on emergency alerts to raise red flags on the FCC Republican majority's plan to roll back classification of ISPs as Title II common carriers, which is scheduled to be voted May 18. The House Communications Subcommittee was looking into the future of [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 5-16-17 Some leading Democratic members of the House Energy & Commerce Committee have called on the Republican leadership of the committee and Communications Subcommittee to look into the proposed $3.9-billion purchase of Tribune by Sinclair Broadcasting. That is unlikely to happen. A spokesperson for the majority had no [...]
By All Access Online, 5-10-17 Some 124 members of Congress have voiced their opposition to changes in the tax deductibility treatment of advertising as expenses. The legislators sent a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), with Reps. Kevin Yoder (R-Kan.) and Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) as leading signatories, asking [...]