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Tuesday, August 26, 2003 |
Andrew:Why GE Needs Vivendi. GE looks to hook Vivendi by default. [The Motley Fool]Assuming
GE does buy Vivendi, that links every network with a major
studio/entertainment megacorp: ABC and Disney, CBS and Viacom, UPN also
with Viacom, WB with AOL Time Warner, and Fox with, well, Fox. Not that
NBC's some kind of independent voice now - GE's the world's largest
corporation, if I remember correctly. But throw the Vivendi assets
(most notably Universal MCA) in, and we no longer have a single network
that's not also a producer of content - TV, film, music, etc...
Vertical integration is the name of the game. Is it a good thing? I
tend to think not. I've heard arguments saying that cable provides such
a wide diversity of channels that the broadcast networks are not as
dominant. True, but then look at who owns the cable channels:
- ESPN, the Disney Channel, ABC Family - owned by Disney (E!
co-owned by Comcast, Disney, Liberty Media, Lifetime co-owned by Disney
and Hearst, and Hearst owns 20% of ESPN)
- BET, Comedy Central, CMT, Showtime, MTV, TNN, Nickelodeon, TV-Land, VH1 - owned by Viacom
- Bravo, CNBC, MSNBC (w/ Microsoft) - owned by GE
- Cartoon Network, CNN and related, HBO, TBS, TNT - owned by AOL Time Warner
- Fox News, FX, Fox Sports - shockingly, owned by Fox
- Sci-fi, USA - owned by Vivendi
- Encore, Starz, QVC - owned by Liberty Media
- Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, Learning Channel, Travel
Channel - owned by Discovery Communications (which, in turn, is
controlled by Liberty Media)
- A&E, History Channel - owned by A&E Television Networks (which, in turn, is owned by GE, Disney, and Hearst)
- AMC, Independent Film Channel, WE, and a bunch of the regional
Fox Sports channels - owned by Rainbow Media (which is co-owned by
Cablevision and GE)
- HSN is mainly owned by Barry Diller's USA Interactive, with Liberty Media owning 20%
So, basically, damn near every cable channel is owned by either
one of the content producers, one of the cable providers, or some
combination. Excuse me for being suspicious. All this data came from the Columbia Journalism Review
12:33:47 PM 
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tech building organization. Deanlink is a cool new tool for identifying others around you who might be into the politics of your flavor. I love these examples of new technology to achieve what old organization was supposed to achieve. Are there other good ones? [Lessig Blog]
12:31:28 PM
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The Daily Howler is
discussing Joe Conason's Friday appearance on Chris
Matthews' television show,
hardball and the idea that
My tribe is better than your tribe! It’s the oldest, dumbest
pre- human instinct, hard-wired into our weak little brains by millions of
years of natural selection. And to this day, dumb-asses believe what Prager
said—they believe that “thinking people” agree with their views, and that
people who disagree with their views are automatically irrational or
devious. It’s tribalism at its dumbest—and it rules the world of the
talk-show right, where the Limbaughs serve their credulous listeners
frightening tales about “The Liberals.” Is my tribe good, and your tribe
evil? Intelligent people know better. Just to cite one recent example,
here’s Conason himself in Big Lies:
CONASON (page 10): This book confronts the biggest lies
deployed by conservatives against liberals…It doesn’t suggest a conspiracy
against liberals, or argue that Democrats haven’t brought any of their
problems on themselves. And it shouldn’t be taken as a blanket indictment
of Republicans or conservatives.
That last point is of special importance to me…Although as a matter of
literary convenience I frequently refer to conservatives and Republicans, I
certainly don’t believe that every conservative or every Republican is
responsible for the offenses discussed in these pages.
Unlike Rush Limbaugh or Ann Coulter, I don’t believe that my political
adversaries are uniformly “no good,” or un-American, or greedy, or bigoted,
or stupid. I shouldn’t have to say this, but I know from personal
experience that generosity, compassion and wisdom cross all partisan and
ideological boundaries…
Oh, and for a limited time, you can
Get "Lies" for free by subscribing to Salon Premium.
11:43:32 AM
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Two from Benton Headlines:
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FLORIDA SCHOOLS' INTERNET SERVICE IN JEOPARDY
The Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) has denied Florida's
request for $7.63 million to fund the Florida Information Resource Network
(FIRN), which provides Internet access to all 67 school districts. USAC, a
federal nonprofit responsible for distributing $2.25 billion a year in
E-Rate subsidies to connect schools and libraries to the Internet,
questioned a decision by Florida Education Commissioner Jim Horne and the
State Technology Office under Governor Jeb Bush to privatize FIRN. USAC
officials concluded that "price was not the primary factor" used by Florida
in selecting Hayes E-Government Resources Inc. to run the vast network. The
main lobbyist for the Tallahassee company is a former campaign manager for
Bush. After taking over the network, one of the company's first actions was
to no longer allow teachers to dial into the network for free from their
homes. Without federal funding, the state may be forced to shut down the
network or turn to state lawmakers and school districts to pick up the cost.
Florida is appealing the decision; the state argues that the feds have
"misinterpreted the (bidding) process. We believe we have chosen the best
value for the people of Florida," said Department of Education spokeswoman
Frances Marine.
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PRSA ASKS U.S. SENATE TO BLOCK FCC OWNERSHIP
RULES CHANGE
The Public Relations Society of America is throwing its weight behind
congressional efforts to roll back the FCC's media ownership rules, the
group said Friday. The new rules threaten the diversity and local ownership
of broadcast media throughout the nation, said PRSA's Steven V. Seekins.
Consisting of PR professionals from business, nonprofit, government and
other sectors, PRSA is a 20,000-member organization that supports diversity
in media ownership. In the local media marketplace, we are already
experiencing canned content, 'robot radio,' control of local venues for
public entertainment and news events and growing lack of geographic focus in
news reporting, Seekins said. The organization called on the Senate to
approve the joint resolution originating in the House to roll back the
national broadcast ownership cap to 35 percent.
View the PRSA Press Release:
http://www.prsa.org/_News/leaders/statement081403.asp
10:43:31 AM
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Gambling And Tourism: North Dakota Man Prosecuted
For Internet Gambling.
By Rick Alm, Kansas City Star.
It wasn't so much his betting on the Internet as the sheer size
of Trauman's bets that brought the law down on him. It apparently is
illegal in North Dakota to make any bet of more than $25. Smaller "social"
wagers are legal.
Trauman, a professional gambler, was betting large amounts and declaring
his winnings on his tax returns, which apparently brought him the unwanted
attention.
Looks like the first prosecution of an individual for online gambling, and
it's a misdemeanor, and it can later be expunged, so it's an unusual case.
But it has sent a sudden chill throughout the cyber-gambling
industry.
10:43:27 AM
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Gizmodo reports on
The Concert Companion
An off-the-shelf Sony Clie loaded with special software so that audience
members at classical concerts can figure out what's going on. It's one of
the more innovative uses for wireless handhelds that we've seen:
Conceived by former Kansas City Symphony executive Roland
Valliere, the Concert Companion displays a sort of musical road map during
a performance, cuing users' ears for, say, the oboes, muted cellos, or
double basses. Users can also switch to more detailed content, reading, for
example, that Igor Stravinsky was 26 when he wrote "The Firebird," a
Russian fairy tale of good versus evil.
10:43:22 AM
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Lenny Bruce died for our sins: Thanks to the martyred
comedian, American culture is free to be a wild kingdom. But
with his new anti-porn crusade, Attorney General Ashcroft
wants to turn back the clock.
By Gary Kamiya, in Salon.
9:42:52 AM
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Study Confirms 'Stakeholders' Gave Advice to Energy Panel. WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 The General Accounting Office issued its final report today on how Vice President Dick Cheney came up with the administration energy policy two years ago. The accounting office said it had to piece together scraps of information from other sources because the vice president's panel had been so unresponsive. By Katharine Q. Seelye. [New York Times: Business]
7:46:55 AM
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MIT's Open-Course Project. From Ho Chi Minh City to Nashville, Tennessee, students are flocking to MIT's new program to post about 2,000 classes on the Web, for free. Meet the global geeks getting an MIT education, open-source style. By David Diamond of Wired magazine. [Wired News]
7:40:04 AM
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FBI Subpoenas Arizona ISP In Sobig Probe: Easynews says it's cooperating with the bureau to find the person who uploaded the virus to a Usenet group hosted by the ISP.
By Antone Gonsalves, TechWeb News.
7:20:47 AM
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Cooper Interaction Design: The Origin of Personas. Alan Cooper. The Inmates Are Running the Asylum, published in 1998, introduced the use of personas as a practical interaction design tool. Based on the single-chapter discussion in that book, personas rapidly gained popularity in the software industry due to their unusual power and effectiveness. [Tomalak's Realm]
7:18:04 AM
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