Former PBS Pres. Pat Mitchell out-earned every national public broadcasting CEO in FY 2005, making $561,708, IRS data show. Mitchell left in June to head the Museum of TV & Radio.
The Del. PSC granted Verizon a state franchise to offer its FiOS TV service in the unincorporated areas of the state, comprising over 100,000 households and 40% of the state’s land area. Verizon agreed to provide up to $100,000 in support for public access channels, adhere to certain business office open hours, file periodic reports with the PSC on its deployment status, and file a 5-year plan for serving the unincorporated areas. The PSC in its order said no public access channels serve unincorporated areas, so Verizon’s funding commitment would be suspended until such channels were started. The PSC said it plans a comprehensive review of the public access obligations of all video service providers in the state in 2012. The PSC decision doesn’t include the state’s incorporated cities and towns. Verizon must still negotiate individual franchises with the incorporated municipalities. Verizon initially plans to offer video service in 9 wire centers.
U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the State Department have issued a final rule, effective January 23, 2007, that implements the first stage of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), in order to require, with limited exceptions, all U.S. citizens and nonimmigrant aliens from Canada, Bermuda, and Mexico to present a valid passport, when departing from or entering the U.S. by air from within the Western Hemisphere.
TiVo Mon. completed its journey from an ad-skipping service to one that inserts ads when it unveiled plans for product placement. The service will insert ads after TV programs have played on its PVRs and “there is nothing left to fast forward through,” the company said in a statement. The placement program will let advertisers buy ads against specific shows, programming genres or TV series. A button to access the up to 2-min. post-program ads will appear on the TiVo menu overlay after a program ends. First to buy ads were Burger King, General Motors, MasterCard Worldwide, The Weather Channel and Court TV, TiVo said. TiVo worked with Group M’s MindShare, MediaStorm and GSD&M to land the placement deals. The new service, which cuts out programmers altogether, is likely to irk broadcasters and cable operators. Broadcasters and MSOs have complained that the PVR service’s ad-skip option lets consumers bypass ads they've sold against. TiVo casts the new program as a way for advertisers to counter viewers’ tendency to skip ads in TV programs. PVR owners skip about 70% of conventional TV spots, TiVo has said. TiVo has widened its advertising push since CEO Tom Rogers’ arrival. TiVo and Omnicom Media agreed in Aug. that TiVo would research the efficacy of TV ads with PVR users, with Omnicom agreeing to buy the company’s second- by-second audience measurement research. In May, TiVo snared an agreement with IPG Media, enabling IPG agencies to get preferential buying on TiVo ad programs. TiVo and IPG also were to develop interactive ads.
According to a FAQ from the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the State Department have issued a final rule, effective January 23, 2007, that finalizes the first phase of a joint DHS and Department of State plan, known as the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI).
CBP has recently posted the following to its Web site:
Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) will fall significantly short of its previous 2006 PS3 shipment target, the company conceded Fri. -- a few hours after the console launched in N. America amid a feeding frenzy to gobble up the limited number of units available. Retailers, meanwhile, readied for the launch of Nintendo’s Wii yesterday (Sun.).
Universal Music Group late Fri. sued MySpace for copyright infringement, claiming the site lets users upload music videos without rightsholder authorization and that it reformatted videos for users to play back and send to others, Reuters reported. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court, L.A. A copy of the suit wasn’t immediately available; MySpace and Universal couldn’t be reached for comment. The suit landed the same day MySpace vowed it will “promptly remove” user-uploaded videos dubbed unauthorized by copyright holders. The site offers an “enhanced copyright protection tool” to let visitors “digitally flag” content they allege they own and have not given permission to post. It’s being tested with Fox and MLB Advanced Media and will be expanded to other verified rightsholders, MySpace said. Flagged videos, once blocked, will be prevented from reposting by other users through a proprietary system. It was unclear whether the 2 actions were connected, and which came first. MySpace didn’t say if it has a process for uploaders to protest their videos’ removal.
The Journal of Commerce (JoC) has reported that freight industry officials are waiting for guidance from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) on certain air cargo security measures that are expected to go into effect soon. Among other things, JoC states that the TSA is in the process of working on a program that will allow foreign shippers to supply the TSA with information to be included in the known-shipper database. JoC notes that the TSA is also considering whether the definition of "known-shipper" should be changed to exclude shippers from outside the U.S.
The Pacific Coast Council of Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders Associations held its annual Western Cargo Conference (WESCCON) on October 19-21, 2006 in Irvine, CA, during which officials from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) spoke.