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 […]

Court throws out Fox’s profanity case

A federal court has thrown out the FCC’s profanity ruling against Fox over two Billboard Music Awards broadcasts and said the agency’s “fleeting expletives” policy was “failing to articulate a reason basis for its change in policy.” You can download the decision here (thanks to TV Barn for the link; you must have a PDF reader to view the document.) […]

More trouble for CBS Radio? (And for Ozzie?) (Updated)

It looks like the post-Imus effects have finally hit Chicago. And not surprisingly, A.J. Pierzynski is involved. According to Chicagoland Radio and Media, there could be trouble for Ozzie Guillen and Mike North. (The audio is available at 670thescore.com.) Mike North maybe getting a call from a Mr. Mason, and I don’t mean Perry. And I wonder how long it […]

WCIU launching new kids show

WCIU-TV is launching a new locally-produced Saturday morning children’s show called Green Screen Adventures, in which Chicago Public School students’ stories will be transformed into real-life television experiences. The show will use the same green-screen technology used in TV weather reports, hence the name Green Screen Adventures. The program airs Saturday morning at 7 a.m. and meets the educational requirements […]

More BS from the FCC and the NAB

The FCC has determined that the iPod is not a competitor to satellite radio, a possible blow to the hopes of XM and Sirius merging. Who’s celebrating this? The National Association of Broadcasters, of course. That’s the group (along with the RIAA) that doesn’t want you to have a choice of what platform you want to listen to your music. […]