The Digital Media World Is in Flux. What Does This Mean for You?
It's getting complicated out there. Each hour (or minute) brings a harbinger of change, more change and damn few answers. I keep hearing, in the back of my mind, Stephen Stills and Buffalo Springfield with "Something's happening here, what it is ain't exactly clear."
Is Network Neutrality Important Again?
Well, we won't know the answer unless Congress actually does something by the end of this week! That is, pass a law or two. In both Houses of Congress. For the President to actually sign. (OK, this column isn't really just about network neutrality … that's just to get your attention.)
Should Broadband Be a "Utility?" … Or Is Broadband Already That?
Well, "no" … but broadband is trying to be one without quite the same obligations. Broadband doesn't want to be rate-regulated. Duh. Broadband is basically a smart, relatively new, almost mandatory infrastructure majority owned by cable TV companies. Kind of like telephone service in the days of yore. But cable does have competition for its broadband service. Namely fiber or 5G or fixed wireless. In a few instances, all are controlled by the legacy cable TV operator.
Still a Threat: Net Neutrality … Plus: Here Comes "Broadband Together!"
President Biden, harking back to when he was No. 2 and Tom Wheeler was running the Federal Confusion Commission, issued a new executive order last Friday that, among other issues, seeks to restore Net Neutrality rules. That order challenges the internet's entire infrastructure. Which means you. Your company. Your way of doing business. (That order also challenges some other things like prices, hidden fees, lack of competition and restricting options. But that's a story for another day.)
Is Mitch McConnell America’s Judas?
Sure does look like it. Early on January 7th, the day after the insurrection and invasion of the Capitol, Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell verbally pledged allegiance to the truth by laying the blame for the riots on the former President. The then-President of the United States had broken his oath of office to the Constitution of these United States by trying to organize, set in motion and coerce the voiding of the Electoral College votes. (Thank God, his then-Vice President had a rare moment of true colors. Otherwise it would have been more than an attempt.) Still, the stage was set through his 147 Republican Congressional turncoats who voted to overturn the will of the people who voted for another guy for President. Since then, Trump has alternately whined and whimpered from New Jersey and Florida.
AT&T + Discovery = ?????
We stream; you stream; we all stream! Can you say "dividend"? AT&T stockholders certainly can! That pressure plus 5G investment costs are at play in AT&T's rapid restructurings.
Media Industry's Response to Democracy Teetering on the Edge of Failure?
Something needs to be done, or we won't have a government by the people anymore. One very, very big and persistent lie has put July 4th at risk.
It's April Fool's Day, But This Is No Joke!
The next decade for media means full on turmoil and a brand-new ecosystem! Are you ready?
Like a Headache Run Amok, Net Neutrality Just Won't Go Away!
Just in case you've missed over a dozen years of back-and-forth, here's a quick history of Network Neutrality. It started back when Tom Wheeler was the Federal Confusion Commission chairman. Wheeler had been the head of two major communication associations: the cellular and the cable TV groups. He clearly was qualified to lead the FCC. He had spent a number of years arguing with regulators and he knew, because he'd argued against it so often, how to regulate.
AT&T U-verse + DirecTV … Well, That Hasn't Worked Out So Good
So, it is time to … what? Start over? "New DirecTV" is the sort of new, now somewhat separate company valued at $16.25 billion … down "slightly" from the almost $50 billion AT&T paid for DirecTV in 2015. That's not exactly a surprise given that over last year's 4thQ, AT&T lost some 617k premium (DirecTV + U-verse) subscribers as well as 27k OTT subs.
It Ain't "Network" Neutrality … It's "Internetwork" Neutrality
A federal judge recently gave a green light to California to actually enforce the statewide (in one state only) network neutrality laws the state passed in September of 2018. Suits will be filed to attempt to block actual enforcement based on the negative effects the possibility of some 50 other statewide (plus D.C.?) differing laws might cause. This seems like a good time to listen to Brian Roberts (as mentioned below) and get to work on creating a workable nationwide law -- right now!
Just Imagine January 6th and Beyond with a Smarter President!
Josh Hawley? Ted Cruz? Or someone who's actually smarter and even more Machiavellian than our former President Donald J. Trump had been? Looking back at the stunningly obvious coup attempt that went full bore after Arizona's vote call for now President Joe Biden by Fox News, I can only imagine what might have happened had our self-proclaimed "stable genius" been smart enough to pay attention to the details.
What Could Biden Do for Media? What Should Biden Do for Media?
Maybe the real question is, what is Biden likely to do? But first, what's "media"? For today's purposes, I'm suggesting the widest possible interpretation of what media actually is on the way to the 22nd century. For one thing, it is connected and will increasingly be so as everything and everyone that can be connected shall be. That's not Pollyannish thinking; it'll happen.
Thanks Rupert, Lachlan, Charles, Christopher, Steve, Rush, Zuck and Jack ...
... and, oh yeah, Tucker Carlson, who went live on his Fox News program making excuses. Just look what all of your advertising profits bought for America. After five long years of promoting -- and, most importantly, profiting from -- one batshit crazy American late-comer politician, your greed (and, I suppose, our complicity) led to one of the most disheartening, disgusting spectacles in our nation’s history.
We Made It Thru to 2021! Can We Shake Off 2020?
What will it take to successfully shake off 2020? A lot! 2020 was absolutely the Annus Horribilis of the modern era (0.1 stars out of 5 on Amazon, no kidding) and here we are in 2021, which is starting off with frightening surges in COVID-19 while vaccinations begin leading the long slog out of the shadow of too many deaths.
Bring Back the Fairness Doctrine Now, and Extend It to Cable and the Web!
Seriously, haven't we all had enough of meaningless "He said!" "She said!" " They all said!" "You're wrong!" "You're evil!" "You lie!" Ok, that last one does ring true … but … enough!
John Malone, One-Time Cable Exec, Said: “I’m in the Connectivity Business!”
Of course, it really ain’t cable anymore. No how. The business today is connectivity. That means all the things that the cable (or spectrum or whatever) can make flow from one or more places to another.
What's Happening to the Industry Formerly Known as Cable TV?
What will the question in the headline mean for digital media? Despite the pan-damn-demic, quite a lot is stirring the media pot … in new and interesting ways. A lot of it was on view last month at the SCTE-ISBE Cable-Tec Expo, the largest trade show in the sprawling industry of infrastructure, connectivity and programming which met virtually instead of in Atlanta … successfully. (Related question: Will all high-tech industry confabs go virtual? Probably not … unless a road show replaces the parties and social events.)
What's Next for Over-the-Air Broadcasting? Re-Purposed Spectrum and OTT Alone?
Here are the key facts to consider about the broadcasters:
"Something's Happening Here … What It Is …" Is Slowly Taking Shape!
It's getting so every edition of every news report* begins with something that changes everything. This one looks, in a rather random manner, at top media-impactful stories from the last couple weeks or so. They range from Supreme Court challenge responses to new ATSC 3.0 developments to new OTT (over-the-top) developments to fiber shortages to proclamations about tomorrow … and more.
