All posts by Midnightschildren

Media Ownership, Press Room

The Push Is On For LP 250

 

Radio World – September 14 2015

WASHINGTON — A power-increase proposal is stirring new debate about low-power FM broadcasters and has LPFM and translator advocates again taking up positions on the subject.

Through a petition for rulemaking, REC Networks asked the Federal Communications Commission to consider allowing eligible 100-watt LPFM stations to boost power to 250 watts in order to increase building penetration and overcome the effects of multipath in their coverage areas. REC also seeks other benefits for LPFMs including second-adjacent channel protections from FM translators and boosters.

 

Continue reading The Push Is On For LP 250 →

Press Room

MA Interview on Global Research News Hour – May 22 2015

 

In the first half hour, we hear some thoughts about the Canadian situation from Mel Hurtig. Mel Hurtig is a legendary Canadian Nationalist, publisher, bookseller, and creator of the Canadian Encyclopedia. He is an outspoken political activist, an Officer of the Order of Canada, and author of several books warning of threats to Canadian democracy including Pay the Rent or Feed the Kids: The Tragedy and Disgrace of Poverty in Canada (1999), The Vanishing Country (2002), The Truth about Canada (2008), and his most recent The Arrogant Autocrat: Stephen Harper’s Take-over of Canada (2015). Hurtig has written and spoken extensively about the unprecedented level of media concentration in Canada compared to other countries. In this recent interview, Hurtig brings listeners up to speed on how these media dynamics are intersecting with the designs of a very right wing Prime Minister.

In the second half hour, occasional contributor Kellia Ramares-Watson brings us a marvelous conversation with Tracy Rosenberg, executive director of the progressive media advocacy group Media Alliance. They explore the threats to democracy associated with huge media companies dominating the majority of what audiences see read and hear, the dangers associated with the vertical integration of private internet service providers with content providers, and the need for a ‘Global Public’ to counter the influence of globalized capital. Continue reading MA Interview on Global Research News Hour – May 22 2015 →

Media Ownership, Press Room

Why The Death Of Comcast-Time Warner Merger Won’t Help Consumers

 

by Peter Lee  San Francisco Chronicle  April 29 2015

Credit to the Federal Communications Commission for doing its job — about 20 years too late.

Due to opposition from the FCC and U.S. Department of Justice, Comcast dropped its proposed $45 billion bid to purchase Time Warner Cable on Friday, preventing two of the nation’s least-popular companies from becoming one enormously unpopular mega-company.

For consumers, the failed merger represents something of a muted victory. The FCC’s record on protecting consumers has been beyond abysmal since the federal government deregulated the telecom industry in the mid-1990s, but Friday’s decision shows the agency is still, apparently, willing to draw the line somewhere.

Continue reading Why The Death Of Comcast-Time Warner Merger Won’t Help Consumers →

Media Ownership, Press Room

The Comcast-Time Warner Deal is Officially Off

 

For Immediate Release: April 24th, 2015

OAKLAND — Comcast announced today that the proposed merger with Time Warner is officially off, and local and national civil rights organizations couldn’t be happier.

This announcement comes after months of pressure from diverse groups representing Latino and Black communities, calling the proposed merger disastrous for low-income consumers. Members and partners of the Media Action Grassroots Network (MAG-Net), representing more than 175 grassroots organizations, have been actively organizing to ensure the merger did not get approved. Continue reading The Comcast-Time Warner Deal is Officially Off →

Media Ownership, Press Room

Proposed CPUC Rejection of Comcast/TWC Adds Wrinkle to California’s Review of Deal

 

Communications Daily – April 14 2015

California Public Utilities Commissioner Mike Florio’s filing Friday suggesting the CPUC reject the Comcast/Time Warner Cable (TWC) deal further unsettles the commission’s review of the merger, industry observers in the state told us. Florio said in his alternate proposed decision rejecting the deal (see 1504100049) that Administrative Law Judge Karl Bemesderfer’s proposed decision approving Comcast/ TWC with 25 conditions (see 1502170059) can’t effectively mitigate “adverse consequences” posed by the merger. Comcast “does not have a good record of abiding” by CPUC-imposed conditions and the company has contested all 25 conditions in the Bemesderfer draft, Florio said. Continue reading Proposed CPUC Rejection of Comcast/TWC Adds Wrinkle to California’s Review of Deal →

Media Ownership, Press Room

CPUC Should Say No To Supersizing Comcast

 

By Tracy Rosenberg     March 13, 2015    SF Chronicle Link

Bigger isn’t always better.

Of all the cable, telephone and Internet companies, the one with the most awful reputation is Comcast. Type the words “Comcast customer service” into a search engine and prepare to be flooded with customers using words like “nightmarish,” “embarrassing,” “worst ever,” “epic failure” and “customer service from hell.”

And America is not enduring this for the sake of bargain-basement prices.

 

Continue reading CPUC Should Say No To Supersizing Comcast →

Media Ownership, Press Room

90,000 Californians Sign Petition Calling on PUC to Block Comcast Merger

 

For Immediate Release: February 26th, 2015

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Consumer groups renewed their call today for the California Public Utilities Commission to reject the proposed Comcast–Time Warner Cable merger and announced that they had collected 90,000 petition signatures from Californians opposed to the deal.   Today’s announcement coincided with the California PUC’s All-Party meeting on the merger scheduled to begin at 2pm in San Francisco (California PUC Auditorium, 505 Van Ness Avenue).

The petitions organized by Common Cause, Consumers Union, Courage Campaign, CREDO, Daily Kos, Greenlining Institute, Media Alliance, Presente, TURN, and the Writers Guild of America, West, will be delivered to the California PUC, which is currently reviewing the merger. Continue reading 90,000 Californians Sign Petition Calling on PUC to Block Comcast Merger →

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