T Dog’s Think Tank: We are pissed

The FCC came to Chicago last Thursday, for public hearings on media consolidation and diversity. The whole thing was webcast for the world to hear on the FCC’s website, and yours truly hooked it up to listen for eight hours. Eight loooong hours… The FCC was there at Operation PUSH, and if you listed to the webcast- hell, you’d think […]

So they covered it after all…

It turns out some media outlets did report on the FCC public hearings that took place last night: From WBBM-TV: Hundreds Line Up Speak To FCC About Media Rules From Fox News Chicago (WFLD): FCC Hearing Attracts Hundreds in Chicago WMAQ-TV also mentioned the hearing last night on its’ 10 p.m. newscast.Meanwhile, Presidential candidate and Illinois Senator Barack Obama is […]

New weekend anchor at Channel 2

One could wonder if the announcement yesterday hiring of Mai Martinez as the new weekend anchor of WBBM-TV’s weekend newscasts coincided with the FCC hearings on media diversity scheduled on the same day- or the fact that they are broadcasting Saturday’s Mexican Independence Parade (don’t ask about her qualifications.)

Live blogging the FCC hearings

12:30am It’s finally over. Thanks for hanging in with us.12:05 am A Korean television station (WOCH) is now being talked about.12:01 am (now 9/21) Just a thought: Where was Mancow? Too busy filing another lawsuit? 11:46pm Did the author of that book just swear? The FCC will fine him personally. That $8 million for you.11:43pm The corporate shills and charity […]

FCC hearings set for Chicago Thursday

Tomorrow’s Federal Communications Commission hearing on media ownership at Operation Push is going to be a spectacle, no doubt it. It’s an endless debate that will no doubt be exhaustive. As you know, the FCC has been traveling the country gauging public opinion on media ownership. Chicago will no doubt be the agency’s toughest test, since it is home to […]

Schedule set for Chicago FCC hearings

The hearing is taking place at Operation PUSH in the Kenwood nieghborhood at 930 East 5oth Street, near Washington Park on Thursday. Rev. Jesse Jackson is expected to appear, though he is also expected to appear at a rally in Louisiana earlier in the day. To download a schedule for the evening’s events, you can click here (Adobe Acrobat Reader […]

Chances of XM, Sirius merger looks better

Make that much better. And it always helps to have Wall Street in your corner. Analysts are predicting that the XM/Sirius merger may go through as soon as next month, and it looks like the chances of the deal going though looks better than ever – inconceivable when it was announced last February. The FCC however, said that it will […]

FCC to hold Chicago hearings – at Operation PUSH

In a surprise move, the planned media-ownership hearings in Chicago won’t be held in the Loop at Columbia College or Roosevelt University – but at Operation PUSH here on the South Side. The hearings will start at 4 p.m. and last until 11 p.m. Operation PUSH’s headquarters are located in the Kenwood neighborhood at 930 East 50th Street near Washington […]

Chicago next stop for FCC public hearings

The FCC will hold its fifth public hearing on media-ownership issues right here in Chicago on September 20. The meetings are being held to get input from the public regarding media-ownership issues. No word yet on where the hearing will be held, so stay tuned here to the T Dog Media Blog for more information as it comes available. And […]

Try, try again

The fights continues between the city’s media outlets and community activist groups. Chicago Media Action has asked the FCC to reconsider its decision to turn down license renewal challenges at several Chicago and Milwaukee television stations (fifth item.) This comes after a new study by a University of Wisconsin study citing the lack of coverage of local governmental elections in […]

Game over?

The U.S. Court of Appeals has rejected a stay requested by webcasters to delay a rate increase instituted by Sound Exchange on July 15 that would put a lot of them out of business. The webcasters are now urging supporters to contact their senators and representatives to bring the Internet Equity Radio Act to a direct vote. Meanwhile, Rep. Ed […]

Congress sponsors a la carte cable bill

This bill is co-sponsored by Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.). But don’t be fooled by the “D” – he represents one of the most conservative districts in Cook County, and his dad, who he replaced, wasn’t exactly a big fan of the late former mayor Harold Washington. Interesting to note that he’s not sponsoring legislation along with the other Chicago Democrats […]

FCC rejects complaints from Chicago, Milwaukee groups

Nineteen TV stations in Chicago and Milwaukee won vindication from the FCC  after the agency rejected another bogus complaint from a media activist group. This time it was the Chicago Media Action and the Milwaukee Public Interest Media Collation, fronts for the Media Access Project, who claims that the stations ignored non-federal races in a month leading up to the […]

The XM/Sirius merger is on the clock

No, we’re not back to our lame “on the clock” anthology before the NFL draft…. but the XM/Sirius merger really is on the clock. The FCC has accepted the application for the merger, and now it has started the unofficial 180-day period of reviewing the deal. Comments and petitions for and against the deal are due July 9 and responses […]