Watchdog calls for diverse ownership
Robert McChesney and Ben Scott of Free Press think new FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is trying to have it both ways - - they say the fact that Martin wants more family-friendly programming while at the same time backs further consolidation of media ownership are mutually exclusive goals. Feeling big media companies are risk-averse and market-sensitive, homogenizing and replicating low-cost, high-ratings content in a race to the bottomafter noting the huge audiences drawn to edgy programming such as "The Sopranos" on pay cable and "Desperate Housewives" on broadcast network TV.
TVBR observation: There is another side to the argument - - that if more independents were in the game, they'd be producing "The Altos," "The Tenors" and "The Basses" to compete with "The Sopranos," whereas the actual producers of "The Sopranos" may well focus their further attention elsewhere so as not to cannibalize their own program. We saw it in radio formatics - - in a nonconsolidated market, five or six owners may compete for the big AC or the big Country revenue pie, whereas competing in a more consolidated market frees them to be more experimental with what would otherwise be the also-rans in the big format fight. The Free Press theory is attractive to many, and to be fair, represents only part of the argument against consolidation - - but it has by no means proven to have any legs. 03/31/05 TVBR #64 

Reps ask ABC to drop Wal-Mart account
Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) and Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-NJ) are leading an assault on Wal-Mart, and in particular, an ad campaign tied to the "Only in America"series on ABC's "Good Morning America."In all, 21 members of Congress have signed a letter to ABC News President David Westin asking that Wal-Mart's sponsorship of the series be discontinued. TVBR observation: Do you think any Republicans signed the letter? The tug of war between commerce and politics goes on and on and on and on and.. 03/30/05 TVBR #63 

Sanders tries to preempt Stevens
Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has introduced legislation which would exempt subscription driven program distributors, primarily cable and satellite services, from FCC indecency enforcement. Although they currently are exempt, Sanders' bill, if enacted, would head off a possible attempt to expand broadcast indecency enforcement to such services, as has been mentioned most prominently by Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK). 
TVBR observation:  The Sanders brand of Independence would place him in the left side of the left wing of the House Democratic caucus. It's been hard enough for any Democratic-sponsored legislation to gain traction under the watchful eye of Tom Delay (R-TX), so - - coming not from leftfield but from the bleachers behind leftfield - - this bill will need loads of help to get anywhere near the pen of President Bush. However, even if Stevens is able to shepherd an MVPD indecency bill through Congress, he will likely still have a great deal of difficulty getting it past the courts. 03/29/05 TVBR #62 

Monday Night Football" on the line
Resurgent ABC is playing rough with the NFL and it's unlikely that any new deal for primetime pro football will be announced anytime soon. As NFL owners met in Hawaii last week, Commissioner Paul Tagliabue reportedly told them that negotiations with ABC and ESPN, both owned by Disney, are still in flux.
TVBR observation:  NBC is the odd man out when it comes to pro football. After a debacle in trying to broadcast the XFL after losing its NFL contract, might NBC move back in to displace ABC/ESPN now that NBC Universal has a significant cable universe of its own - - USA, Bravo and SciFi? Now if Tagliabue will give a little flexibility to Monday night so exciting games happen maybe ABC would be interested. Face by the time you give mid-season many of the games that were picked in advance suck. So Tagliabue get flexible. As for NBC, they could use NFL and could replace ESPN with MSNBC. But money will be the factor not what is good for viewing. 03/28/05 TVBR #61 

Theater chain joins Houston PPM test
People carrying Arbitron's Portable People Meters for this year's test in Houston will even have their advertising exposure measured at the movies. Regal CineMedia says it will encode pre-feature ads at its Houston theaters, putting unique identification codes into its short-form program "The 2wenty,"which features national advertising and runs before each feature movie. Regal will encode at 46 screens in two multi-plex theaters in Houston. 
TVBR observation:  Passive audience measurement is coming - - and fast. Whether Arbitron's PPM becomes the standard, or something else, the days of diaries and boxes with push-buttons are coming to an end. 03/29/05 RBR #62