Broadcast Stations, Cable Battling Over Fees
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By Joe Walker, The Paducah Sun, Ky.  Feb. 18-- -- The gauntlet is down in the high-stakes battle for television watchers.
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Leading U.S. cable company's results impacted by cost to lure subscribers.
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By Charles Babington, Washington Post Staff Writer  The nation's two satellite-radio companies promised yesterday to refrain from raising prices, for a time at least, if they are allowed to merge. But some lawmakers and consumer groups appeared dubious.
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By John Dunbar  Cable television rates keep going up while prices for other communications services are going down, says the nation's chief communications regulator, and he blames local governments for blocking competition.
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By Moriah Balingit, The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.  Dec. 16--As of Friday, Time Warner Cable and Fox 28, a local Fox affiliate, remained at an impasse over whether the cable company should have to pay the station to carry its programming.
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Most people would end up paying more for cable and satellite television if they could pick  the channels they wanted to watch instead of having to buy large packages, according to a study. -The Washington Post
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By Andrew D. Smith, The Dallas Morning News  Mar. 6--Today marks the beginning of a battle for cable TV and broadband Internet customers around Dallas and Fort Worth -- a battle that may mean sharply lower prices for all consumers.   AT&T Inc.
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SoundExchange says it will limit "per channel" fees to $50,000 a year for major internet radio companies streaming music on multiple channels. The ruling means large webcasters, such as Pandora Media and Time Warner's AOL face much higher payments than in the past.
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By JOHN DUNBAR  WASHINGTON - Cable television rates keep going up while prices for other communications services are going down, says the nation's chief communications regulator, and he blames local governments for blocking competition.
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The high bids totalled $3.2 billion in the U.S. Federal Communications Commission&#39;s&#160;auction of wireless spectrum licenses in the 700MHz band&#160;after three rounds and a day and a half of bidding.That figure is far short of the $10 billion Congress and the FCC expect to raise in&#160;the auction, which opened Thursday, but bidding could continue for weeks. In most cases, the high bids don&#39;t yet meet the FCC&#39;s reserve price set for minimum winning bids.A fourth round of bidding will happen Friday afternoon.The 700MHz auctions represent the last large chunk of spectrum available for the FCC to auction in the foreseeable future. The spectrum, now used to carry over-the-air television signals, can be used to carry long-range wireless broadband traffic. Consumer groups have said the spectrum represents the &quot;last, best hope&quot; for a nationwide wireless broadband network that competes with cable and telecom broadband services.For sale is 62MHz of spectrum in the 700MHz band. In late 2005, after a decade of debate, Congress passed a law requiring U.S. TV stations to move to all-digital broadcasts and abandon analog spectrum between channels 52 and 69. The deadline for TV stations to end broadcasts in the 700MHz band is February 2009.After three rounds, 906 of the 1,099 available spectrum licenses had bids, with four more licenses receiving bids than at the end of round two late Thursday. High bids had totalled just under $2.8 billion after round 2, and just over $2.4 billion after round one Thursday morning.The top bid after the third round was $1.49 billion for eight of 12 regional licenses in the C block, a 22MHz block of spectrum covering all 50 states. The bidding for those C block licenses was up from $1.24 billion at the end of the second round. The FCC&#39;s reserve price for the C block is $4.6 billion, and the winning bidders of C block spectrum must allow any legal devices to connect to their network, including mobile phones purchased from other carriers.The second highest bid remained $472 million for the D block, a nationwide 10MHz chunk of spectrum to be paired with another 10MHz set aside for public safety agencies. The bidder of the D block would be required to build a national network to be jointly used by public safety agencies and commercial customers. The high bid for the D block has remained unchanged since round one.Bidding in the auction is anonymous.The A block, a 12MHz piece of spectrum covering parts of New York and the northeastern U.S., also generated interest. The high bid was $119.8 million after the third round, up from $100 million after the second round and $83.2 million after the first round. A similar chunk of spectrum in the E block, also covering the same area, has generated a high bid of $59.9 million after the third round.The high bid for a 12MHz block called the B block, for a local New York City license, stood at $85.6 million after rounds two and three.High bids for five blocks in the Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., areas were between $28 million and $55 million after round three.
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Cost of programming steers Dish Network and DirecTV away from a price war with cable rivals.
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Some U.S. consumer advocates on  Monday threw their support behind legislation that would limit  fees that wireless, telephone and cable companies can charge  dissatisfied customers who want to end service before their  contract expires.
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By Sanford Nowlin, San Antonio Express-News  Dec. 8--Even though consumers have more choices than ever for video  programming, cable and satellite TV, fees are expected to go up again in 2007.
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Hundreds of US net radio stations face potential closure from Monday when a new royalty fee begins.
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The National Football League has run into a granite wall in its battle against several major cable companies.
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Verizon and Qwest have asked a federal court to force the FCC to drop its price freeze on the fees their competitors pay to connect to their regional networks.
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Several companies have challenged spectrum auction rules recently set by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, with Frontline Wireless LLC protesting that the auction of the 700MHz band to be auctioned in January could shut out small bidders.