Late Night Fun At The FCCMartin's plan runs into a brick wall... ( old news - 08:58AM Wednesday Nov 28 2007) tags: competition · fcc · business · cable · PoliticsAfter delays and disagreement yesterday, the FCC last night came to a compromise over whether to use the 70-70 rule to grab additional regulatory authority over the cable industry. The NYTimes notes that all was not well last night among the agency's commissioners, who have been fighting over whether the cable industry has grown large enough to require a new regulatory collar: At an acrimonious two-hour hearing that ended shortly before midnight, Jonathan S. Adelstein, a Democratic commissioner, and Robert M. McDowell, a Republican commissioner, criticized the process leading up to the votes. They suggested that Mr. Martin had relied on misleading data about the cable industry’s reach, and suppressed more reliable data already in the commission’s hands, to justify his regulatory agenda. Mr. Martin disputed them, saying that the F.C.C.’s own data was not reliable, and that the most reliable data available showed that the industry had grown so large that greater regulation was justified. Martin's plan to regulate the cable industry is now on hold for several months, giving cable operators enough time to provide subscriber data to the FCC. You can assume that data will show that the industry is not quite dominant enough to trigger the 70/70 rule, which means this is a big win for the cable sector.
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MrMaster
What If
Premium
join:2000-12-16
Austin, TX
clubs:
 ·RoadRunner Cable
| a la carte isn't the real reason Kevin Martin can paint it anyway he wants to but I can guarantee you that a la carte programing isn't the real reason he wants more control.
I just want to go on record that I am for a la carte programming and more prices are going up faster than inflation which does suck. but I'm afraid the FCC will make things worse if given their new powers.
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One never notices what has been done; one can only see what remains to be done. -Marie Curie | |
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gaforces
United We Stand, Divided We Fall
join:2002-04-07
Santa Cruz, CA | Re: a la carte isn't the real reason I cant see how the 70/70 isnt met, I havent been in a home that doesnt have cable for ages, besides mine  | |
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gaforces
United We Stand, Divided We Fall
join:2002-04-07
Santa Cruz, CA
 ·Cruzio Internet
edit:
November 28th, @10:23AM
| Re: a la carte isn't the real reason Its the same here. Comcast is even out in the sticks/country here because they are much more willing to run cable now since they have competition from DTV/Dish (I see the comcast techs sitting in thier trucks in parking lots frequently doing .... nothing.)
$50+ DVR rentals per room for sat, its cheaper than cable but still too much for me.
A couple years ago a comcast girl came by here and told me they were hooking up everyones cable for free 30 day trial.
I told her I didnt want it, and she acted like I was refusing to breath or something and couldnt understand why I didnt want it.
She walked around the property like she owned it, I had to ask her to leave. She was opening gates into private areas and asking me about the neighbors.
Anyways Id say since they did that, they went over the 70/70 in my area.
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‘Do ye, quieting in your bosoms your strong hearts,
Who of many good things have had your fill even to surfeit,
With what is moderate nourish your mighty desire; for neither will
We yield, nor shall you have all else as you wish.’
Solon | |
| | | | | JoelC707
join:2002-07-09
Tucson, AZ
clubs:
| Re: a la carte isn't the real reason I'm not saying it didn't happen but that seems a bit strange for Comcast to turn everyone on for 30 days as a free trial. Besides, without a converter you can't get ANY digital, movie, or on demand channels. All you can get is the "expanded basic" lineup which are essentially the two-digit channels. Yes I know you can use a QAM tuner and get the unencrypted channels but I don't think that many people have those. I personally wouldn't be too impressed with that as a demo and I don't see them handing out an HD converter to everyone that says yes to the free trial.
Did this girl have any Comcast ID? Given she was walking around your property I'd be suspicious of a robbery attempt. There are only a few reasons why they would come onto your property. The two most notable are if you have a power supply on your property but they would have bought a small section of property from you and told you all of the details surrounding it at that time. The other reason would be if your drop/house has too much egress/ingress and is causing problems for others. But they would have disconnected it at the tap first and if that fixed the problem investigate further as a means of fixing the problem. | |
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gaforces
United We Stand, Divided We Fall
join:2002-04-07
Santa Cruz, CA
·Cruzio Internet
| Re: a la carte isn't the real reason She had the comcast shirt with a nametag, and 2 Comcast boom trucks out in the street waiting to hook me up
They have a specific longterm contract with the county, they pretty much go anywhere they want, usually its off some side street or parking lot so they can nap in thier trucks.
I was checking prices and they do have a $10.00 analog only connection now, with installation charge. OTA HDTV beats that anyways.
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‘Do ye, quieting in your bosoms your strong hearts,
Who of many good things have had your fill even to surfeit,
With what is moderate nourish your mighty desire; for neither will
We yield, nor shall you have all else as you wish.’
Solon | |
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nothing00
join:2001-06-10
Centereach, NY
| Re: a la carte isn't the real reason "At an acrimonious two-hour hearing that ended shortly before midnight, Jonathan S."
They WORKED for two HOURS???
That's the most surprising things I read.
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I got my - I got my - I got my port ayyyeetteee!(to the tune of "I want my MTV" Money for Nothing) | |
| | | | | | fiberguy
My views are my own.
Premium
join:2005-05-20
| said by JoelC707  :I'm not saying it didn't happen but that seems a bit strange for Comcast to turn everyone on for 30 days as a free trial. Call Ripley... Yes - Comcast does do that in some areas... they will turn on areas for 30 days to try it out but it's usually in new home construction areas. Turning on other homes for 30 days is a BAD move.. you never know if you're going to turn a service on and send a fuzzy picture into the home because of a bad connection somewhere. but oh well.
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"Complaining is the least path of resistance for the self-serving, the lazy, and I’m told it’s a woman’s prerogative..." | |
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rudnicke
Premium
join:2004-10-23
Rantoul, IL
clubs: | Why? Why does he hate the cable industry so much? Did he used to work for the Telco's? | |
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Rob
In Deo speramus
Premium
join:2001-08-25
Kendall, FL
·Comcast
·AT&T Southeast
| Re: Why? said by rudnicke :Why does he hate the cable industry so much? Did he used to work for the Telco's? Did? More like will. Once he's done with the FCC, he'll go work for some of these huge telco's where he will do nothing for the rest of his life and get great kickbacks for all his "hard work" at the FCC in support of the telcos. | |
| | dogo88
join:2001-09-24
Old Bridge, NJ | No, he probably had cable at home. So after years of quarterly increases, poor service, inept customer service is in a position to do something about it. | |
| | | fiberguy
My views are my own.
Premium
join:2005-05-20
| Re: Why? said by dogo88 :No, he probably had cable at home. So after years of quarterly increases, poor service, inept customer service is in a position to do something about it. So it went from annual, to twice annual, to quarterly??? .... are you after Martin's job when he leaves or something?
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"Complaining is the least path of resistance for the self-serving, the lazy, and I’m told it’s a woman’s prerogative..." | |
| | | axus
join:2001-06-18
Washington, DC
·Verizon Online DSL
·Cox HSI
| Re: The FCC and reliable data Ha! Yeah, I think the data they provide will never go over 70%. This wouldn't be the first time an FCC chairman has used questionable data to support their agenda.
From what I've seen moving around, certain areas tend to have a lot of satellite, and places with good cable companies have over 90% cable. Also there seems to be a socio-economic preference for one kind of TV over another.
If telco-TV can roll out to more places, I think the numbers for non-telco cable will go down. Does this 70-70 provision take into account un-regulating the cable industry when they fall back below 70-70, or another number? Also, shouldn't telco-TV be considered "cable television"? Even though the owners have different histories, the service provided is the same. Telco-TV should be equally regulated, and count towards the 70-70 number. | |
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richdelb
2008 Calder Cup CHAMPS
Premium
join:2003-01-22
Algonquin, IL
| Self Reporting A potentially interesting side note to this story would be to watch how the Cable companies tell investors that they are growing big time and have a HUGH footprint, while at the same time tell the FCC that they are smaller and that there is no need to trigger the 70-70 rule.
While I'm not even going to guess what the ACTUAL penetration of cable is in the US, it does put cable in an potentially "interesting" position to say the least. | |
| | | | | questionable
join:2005-10-18
Phoenix, AZ | Re: Self Reporting Like in the back of a volkswagon? | |
| | | | | | DGLewis
join:2006-03-10
Freehold, NJ
| All the public cablecos include households passed and subs in their annual and quarterly reports. Comcast and TWC (the two largest cablecos) report around 50% take rate. (Others, like Cablevision, are higher, but even CVC doesn't exceed 70%.) I would consider these numbers to be fairly accurate, considering (a) this stuff is probably subject to SOX reporting accuracy rules and (b) even if cablecos were going to shade, they'd shade it upwards, not downwards, when reporting to investors. | |
| | NightHawke
join:2002-02-28
Rockport, TX
| Grey areas.. The cableco's records are so spotty, they are 6 months behind on deactivating old residences. I don't know how accurate their records are actually are, given the conflicting rules and guidelines for account tracking. They might take advantage of this and issue a finding to the fed saying they are well below the 70-70 rule and do not need them to intervene. Then in the same breath, crow out that they have the highest census for active customers. Accountability has to be enforced and standardized, leveling the playing field so that everyone can be judged on a fair basis. | |
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MSauk
MSauk
Premium
join:2002-01-17
Sandy, UT | Re: Grey areas.. who the hell elected this guy by the way? How the hell did he ever take over as commish?
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AthleticsPhotog.com | |
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PaulHikeS2
join:2003-03-06
Merrimack, NH
| Re: Grey areas.. Funny you should say that. My feeling is regulation of the private sector is not something Bush subscribes to, but I may be wrong. I always thought that was more of a Democratic platform....
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Jay: What the @#$% is the internet??? | |
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JoeAtWork
@necaservices.com
| Re: Grey areas.. Ah, yes. But Mr. Martin is apparently in favor of a la carte cable because it allows people to choose channels that will keep filth from their pristine little spawn. Which does sound like a very Bushian project.
I would probably like cable if I could get only HBO and NHL center ice, but until then my TV remains off.... | |
| | | | | | | ross
join:2000-08-16 | Re: Grey areas.. said by JoeAtWork :
...I would probably like cable if I could get only HBO and NHL center ice, but until then my TV remains off....
It would cost you the same as a full subscription does now. | |
| | three6ohchri
join:2004-04-14
Portland, OR
| said by NightHawke :The cableco's records are so spotty, they are 6 months behind on deactivating old residences. Interesting... I'd like to know where you get this figure... I can tell you with absolute knowledge that most cable companies will not let a residence go more than 2 weeks after a request to disconnect. It's lost revenue and lost bandwidth. Please back up your "figures" Mr. Martin II with acceptable "data." | |
| viperlmw
Premium
join:2005-01-25 | Does 70/70 include MDUs? If so, then how are they counted? My daughter lives in an apt with basic cable included. If that counts, then 70/70 may be there. | |
| ricep5
Premium
join:2000-08-07
Jacksonville, FL
·Comcast Formerly ..
 ·AT&T CallVantage
·AT&T Southeast
| Poor Data Collection As I noted in another forum, Mr. Martin may be attempting to clean up cable reporting more than anything else.
No doubt he went to check the numbers within the FCC and they probably weren't close to what the industry rag reported, so now in typical beltway fashion, he is attempting to get good data. (Loud press leaks, inconvenient meetings, etc.)
For all we know the FCC attempted to get good data and Cable Inc. didn't cooperate, hence checking the industry rags.
While its easy to get cynical about the FCC and the jobs they do, we the public aren't always exposed to the corporate nonsense they have to deal with. | |
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messy
Re: Grey areas..