gzowner
12-05-2005, 07:38 AM
DirecTV's local HD slate is set to grow again later this week. Local HD from the satellite TV service will launch this Thursday in Boston, Washington, D.C., Tampa, Dallas and Houston.
In early November, DirecTV launched HD locals for Atlanta, San Francisco, Chicago and Philadelphia. Its first market for the high-def offering was Detroit.
DirecTV has been launching satellites and rolling out advanced set-top boxes in certain cities as part of its local HD channels push. The company has said it wants to deliver more than 1,500 local and more than 150 national HD channels and other advanced programming services to consumers nationwide by 2007.
Support continues to surface for a la carte options, an issue that gained attention last week after Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin suggested cable/satellite TV program choice should be given more consideration.
Gene Kimmelman of the Consumers Union said Martin should be commended "for striking at the heart of the cable industry's flawed pricing model which forces people to buy packages of television channels they don't want and shouldn't have to pay for."
He added, "Cable companies and broadcasters have fought a la carte pricing for years, hiding behind the fallacious argument that popular and unpopular programming had to be bundled together to keep all programming afloat."
Phone interests, lobbying for telcos preparing to enter the video business, also voiced support for a la carte.
Said Walter McCormick, CEO of Washington, D.C.,-based USTelecom, "In today's dynamic communications market, consumers win when they have a choice in service providers and among offerings for video services. A la carte pricing is just one more example of the endless possibilities for consumers when selecting video services."
As for others, the new talk surrounding a la carte may be a "sign that the benign regulatory environment for the cable industry is starting to cloud up some," said Blair Levin of Stifel Nicolaus.
"While we remain skeptical that government will be able to impose indecency or a la carte regulation/legislation on cable for now, the issues do give policymakers increased leverage across several fronts," Levin said. "We doubt cable can afford to simply stiff-arm regulators and legislators on indecency and a la carte without jeopardizing their interests in bigger fights over broadband network neutrality, telco video franchising, digital TV multicasting must-carry obligations and cable price increases."
Sunday night, shock jock Howard Stern talked with Ed Bradley of 60 Minutes about his upcoming move to Sirius and his past skirmishes with the Federal Communications Commission.
On his move to satellite radio, set for January, Bradley asked Stern whether his departure from traditional airwaves is a victory for the FCC. "You could choose to look at it that way, but I don't," the self-proclaimed king of all media said in his interview. "I look at it that I won. I go to a new medium. I'm uncensored, and for me, it's a checkmate."
As for past criticisms of the FCC and former FCC Chairman Al Sikes, in which he "prayed" on his radio show that the regulator may get another bout of cancer, Stern said, "When I get angry and really fired up and feel like my back is up against the wall, I will say vicious things."
Stern added, "I don't know that I would do that now. I'm older."
When Sikes was running the FCC, Stern's employer Infinity Broadcasting was fined for several items coming from the shock jock's show.
In early November, DirecTV launched HD locals for Atlanta, San Francisco, Chicago and Philadelphia. Its first market for the high-def offering was Detroit.
DirecTV has been launching satellites and rolling out advanced set-top boxes in certain cities as part of its local HD channels push. The company has said it wants to deliver more than 1,500 local and more than 150 national HD channels and other advanced programming services to consumers nationwide by 2007.
Support continues to surface for a la carte options, an issue that gained attention last week after Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin suggested cable/satellite TV program choice should be given more consideration.
Gene Kimmelman of the Consumers Union said Martin should be commended "for striking at the heart of the cable industry's flawed pricing model which forces people to buy packages of television channels they don't want and shouldn't have to pay for."
He added, "Cable companies and broadcasters have fought a la carte pricing for years, hiding behind the fallacious argument that popular and unpopular programming had to be bundled together to keep all programming afloat."
Phone interests, lobbying for telcos preparing to enter the video business, also voiced support for a la carte.
Said Walter McCormick, CEO of Washington, D.C.,-based USTelecom, "In today's dynamic communications market, consumers win when they have a choice in service providers and among offerings for video services. A la carte pricing is just one more example of the endless possibilities for consumers when selecting video services."
As for others, the new talk surrounding a la carte may be a "sign that the benign regulatory environment for the cable industry is starting to cloud up some," said Blair Levin of Stifel Nicolaus.
"While we remain skeptical that government will be able to impose indecency or a la carte regulation/legislation on cable for now, the issues do give policymakers increased leverage across several fronts," Levin said. "We doubt cable can afford to simply stiff-arm regulators and legislators on indecency and a la carte without jeopardizing their interests in bigger fights over broadband network neutrality, telco video franchising, digital TV multicasting must-carry obligations and cable price increases."
Sunday night, shock jock Howard Stern talked with Ed Bradley of 60 Minutes about his upcoming move to Sirius and his past skirmishes with the Federal Communications Commission.
On his move to satellite radio, set for January, Bradley asked Stern whether his departure from traditional airwaves is a victory for the FCC. "You could choose to look at it that way, but I don't," the self-proclaimed king of all media said in his interview. "I look at it that I won. I go to a new medium. I'm uncensored, and for me, it's a checkmate."
As for past criticisms of the FCC and former FCC Chairman Al Sikes, in which he "prayed" on his radio show that the regulator may get another bout of cancer, Stern said, "When I get angry and really fired up and feel like my back is up against the wall, I will say vicious things."
Stern added, "I don't know that I would do that now. I'm older."
When Sikes was running the FCC, Stern's employer Infinity Broadcasting was fined for several items coming from the shock jock's show.