Paul Gluckman

Saying it would have been “highly desirable” to let the issues of DTV content protection “rest in the hands of an open and international standardization process,” the European Commission (EC) told the FCC its Nov. broadcast flag order “raises a number of questions and potential concerns.”

Granting cable operators the option of encrypting the digital basic tier is “a fair, pro-competitive middle ground” between CE interests that want no such encryption and the motion picture industry that advocates requiring it, the NCTA told the FCC in reply comments on the broadcast flag.

The CEA reached an agreement with CableLabs and the NCTA, resolving a dispute over how verification tests would be conducted on unidirectional plug-&-play devices, it told the FCC. The CEA also said it had no objection to most other terms in an NCTA reconsideration petition last Dec. that sought to clarify the language on test procedures or “some nuances” of the rules for carrying program & system information protocol (PSIP) data.

The NAB formally asked the FCC to permit nighttime AM in-band on-channel (IBOC) broadcasts, saying the benefits to AM broadcasters and listeners “will prove to far outweigh the limited additional interference” that even iBiquity Digital concedes will result. The NAB also asked the Commission to: (1) Extend nighttime IBOC authorization to all AM stations currently authorized for nighttime broadcasts. (2) Establish nighttime authorization “on a blanket basis” for all digital AM stations “rather than requiring broadcasters to seek a separate nighttime authorization.” Recognizing that “new instances of interference” will be created from the start of nighttime AM IBOC transmissions, the NAB urged the FCC to “use its existing authority” to resolve such problems on a “case-by-case basis.” An ad hoc technical group formed by the NAB to supervise iBiquity on tests it was conducting into nighttime AM IBOC interference has found that the “advantages of nighttime IBOC operation were substantial,” the NAB told the Commission. While the technical group found “instances” of interference would be inevitable in “the severely interference-constricted nighttime AM band,” it concluded that this should not be allowed “to impede the widespread rollout of nighttime AM IBOC,” the NAB said.

Indecency regulations as they apply to a subscription service like satellite radio are “appropriately different than those for free over-the-air broadcasters,” which are given spectrum for free in return for a public service obligation, an XM Satellite Radio spokesman said in response to concerns about indecency on satellite radio (CD March 3 p10). But the spokesman said XM takes the issue of indecency “very seriously,” and has acted “carefully and responsibly” to impose safeguards, including the labeling of explicit content in its channel listings and the front-panel display of the radio itself: “We also are providing subscribers with an easy means of blocking any of our channels.” The current debate on indecency standards “has very little to do with satellite radio,” he said. The technology is in less than 1% of the 200 million vehicles on the road, he said, and “the vast majority of our subscribers listen in the car, and driving is by law an adult activity. So compared with the TV experience, it’s an incredibly rare instance when a child might have the opportunity to tune into XM without adult supervision.” The spokesman echoed his Sirius counterpart when he said “there is no controversy” on his company’s authority to launch local traffic and weather services in major markets. He cited news reports quoting FCC representatives as saying XM was in compliance with Commission rules, which don’t specifically prohibit local traffic and weather services.

BellSouth disagrees with a key argument in DirecTV’s reconsideration petition at the FCC on plug-&-play (CD Dec 30 p1), it told the FCC in comments filed Tues. BellSouth said the Commission’s decision to exempt encoding rules from content delivered over the Internet or to a cable modem or DSL network was “well-reasoned public policy.”

In the wake of the uproar over the Janet Jackson Super Bowl halftime incident, it’s up to the FCC, not Congress, to enforce community standards on indecent broadcasts, Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. McCain (R-Ariz.), told a Media Center Forum Mon. evening at the Museum of TV & Radio in N.Y.C.

Location-based technology in E-911 wireless phones and other Global System for Mobile (GSM)-equipped devices offer consumer benefits, but also privacy risks, conference panelists said Fri. Speaking at the International Assn. of Privacy Professionals summit, former Rep. Bob Barr (R-Ga.) said Congress needed to take the lead to protect consumers from govt. abuse of location-based technology, while others argued that corporate self-interest would ensure consumer privacy wasn’t violated.

“The time has now come” for the FCC to eliminate its longstanding ban on integrated security in set-top boxes because “the underlying rationales for the ban no longer exist,” NCTA told the Commission in comments filed last week. However, the CEA, cable’s harmonious partner in plug-&-play, told the FCC that although there has been “substantial progress” made in cable-CE relations since Dec. 2002 when the industries drafted their plug-&-play memorandum of understanding, “the reliance on a common security interface is a keystone for continued progress in the future.”

Sirius Satellite Radio will hit cash-flow breakeven with 2 million subscribers by late 2005, executives told financial analysts in a conference call Wed. Sirius’s 4th-quarter loss deepened to $147.78 million from $122.09 million a year earlier. CEO Joseph Clayton and CFO David Frear said the company’s earlier 860,000 target for the end of 2004 included new subscriptions coming from multiyear agreements announced this week to offer Sirius in vehicles sold, rented or leased by Penske Truck Leasing, the Penske Auto Group and UnitedAuto. Clayton said the deals’ benefits in consumer awareness alone could be “huge.” Frear said churn had averaged 1.7%-1.8% monthly, indicating, despite challenges from an analyst, that Sirius was satisfied with the rate. Clayton also said: (1) Rival XM’s move to a commercial-free music model “verified” the Sirius position that consumers would “not pay to listen to commercials with their favorite music.” (2) Sirius had no plans to reduce its $12.95 basic monthly subscription fee to meet XM’s $9.95 because the company believed it offered more “premium” programming, especially with sports. A retail promotion starts in Feb. offering 15 months of prepaid service for the price of 12, he said.