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from: Grand Rapids Community Media Center

Grand Rapids’s GRTV & LiveWire Being Booted to Digital Tier

December 20, 2007

I am sad to note that as of January 15th, GRTV (channel 25) and LiveWire (channel 24) will no longer be seen on basic cable TV but instead on channels 917 & 916. Invoking their new options made possible by the State Uniform Video Franchise Act, Comcast has decided to put all community cabel access channels in the State of Michigan in the 900 tier of their digital cable service.

from: Denver Business Journal

Qwest changes course on cable franchise agreements
Thursday, December 20, 2007 - 10:57 AM MST

Qwest Communications International Inc. no longer will pursue cable franchise agreements with Colorado cities or build communitywide TV service in areas where it's recently won franchise approval.

from: NY Times

December 19, 2007
F.C.C. Reshapes Rules Limiting Media Industry
By STEPHEN LABATON

WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission approved two new rules on Tuesday that are likely to reshape the nation’s media landscape by setting new parameters for the size and scope of the largest news and cable companies.

from: Media Mouse

Community Access Channels Moved from Basic Cable in Michigan

December 18, 2007

Today, the Grand Rapids Community Media Center (CMC) announced that Grand Rapids’ public access channels, GRTV and LiveWire, will no longer be offered as part of Comcast’s “basic” cable package. They will now only be available to digital subscribers. Comcast made the decision under options it was granted in last year’s State Uniform Video Franchise Act and has moved all community access channels in Michigan to the 900 tier of their digital cable service.

from: Denver Post

Qwest move spurs surprise
By Kimberly S. Johnson
The Denver Post
Article Last Updated: 12/19/2007 02:01:04 AM MST

Local leaders said Tuesday they were surprised to learn that Qwest would no longer pursue cable-franchise agreements at the state or municipal level, as the company was taking steps to gain support for legislation that would have allowed it to do so.

Note: While unleashing media cross-ownership in their other ruling, the FCC wisely curtailed the growth of cable companies.

from: MulitChannel News

FCC Adopts 30% Cable Ownership Cap
Move Stops Comcast From Acquiring More Cable Systems
By Ted Hearn -- Multichannel News, 12/18/2007 3:47:00 PM

The FCC Voted: Time to Raise Hell

By Josh Silver

Today, Bush-appointed Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin rammed through a 3-2 partisan vote to remove the longstanding "newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership" ban that prohibits a local newspaper from owning TV and radio stations in the same market. Witness yet another shining moment: the Bush administration serving up a wholesale giveaway to the largest media corporations in the most corrupt process imaginable.

It wasn't a surprise, we are now accustomed to the FCC voting on significant orders under the cover of the holidays when mainstream media coverage of such obscure political issues is at a minimum (not to mention media self-interest). It was this time last year that the FCC drove a spike into PEG, and only this past Halloween that they drove another (quite literally crucifying PEG to a company owned telephone pole). Today Chairman Martin pushed through the media ownership changes that had been overwhelmingly rejected in public hearings around the country over the course of the past year

Dec. 18, 2007
For Immediate Release

Contact:
Jen Howard, Free Press, (202) 265-1490, x22
FCC's New Media Rules Worse than Advertised
StopBigMedia.com pledges to 'raise hell' in Congress and the courts

WASHINGTON -- The new media ownership rules passed by a 3-to-2, party-line vote at the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday are far worse for the public interest -- and more favorable to Big Media companies -- than anything FCC Chairman Kevin Martin previously revealed to the public.

UCC media justice advocates condemn FCC decision to relax ownership rules
http://www.ucc.org/news/ucc-media-justice-advocates.html

Written by staff and wire reports
December 18, 2007

The UCC's Office of Communication, Inc. – the UCC's media justice agency -- is decrying a Dec. 18 decision by the Federal Communications Commission to relax its 32-year-old cross-media ownership rule, allowing companies in the largest markets nationally to own both print and broadcast media outlets.