Multichannel News

When a group of companies with a combined market value of nearly $1 trillion decides it wants a favor from the federal government, it shouldn’t have trouble making quick time of the opposition.

Such a super-wealthy group is the White Spaces Coalition, formed by the likes of Google, Microsoft, Intel, Dell and Hewlett-Packard. Their goal is to provide advanced wireless communications services on vacant TV channels without having to secure licenses from the FCC at auction.

But the alliance of deep-pocketed technology… more

My cable bill hits $140 a month. That includes a $47 package of family cable channels, a digital services package, a digital set-top box, a digital recording service, Internet access, one phone line and $7.52 of taxes and fees. No payments for premium networks, such as Showtime or HBO.

And no payments to local television stations...

To provide that choice, cable operators have to have the right — like satellite competitors do — to place the stations in a local broadcast… more