KEVIN MARTIN conceded defeat yesterday for his suggestion that the 70/70 rule is in effect. He withdrew a report that contained the 70/70 claim as justification for further cable regulation and will re-submit his proposal without it in the coming months. Martin’s plan to lower channel lease fees for independent networks was passed and will go into effect early next year. His proposal to relax media-ownership rules will be voted on in December.
VERIZON shook up the mobile industry yesterday by announcing plans to open its network to any device or phone that meets a set of minimum standards. Verizon will release the technical standards required for access early next year. Google CEO Eric Schmidt called the move “a great step forward” and FCC Chairman Kevin Martin released a statement supporting the move.
YOUTUBE will host its Republican debate tonight on CNN. Almost 5,000 users have submitted video-taped questions for the candidates – twice the amount that participated in YouTube’s Democratic debates in July. This debate may have serious ramifications. The pivotal Iowa caucuses are only 6 weeks away and the polls show a tight race.
BRIGHTCOVE will stop accepting user-generated uploads to its consumer-oriented site after December 17. Brightcove.tv was a YouTube-like video destination that accepted uploads from ordinary users as well as professionals. The site is dropping the user-generated focus and turning Brightcove.tv into an outlet for its professional and semi-professional customers.
GANNETT has chosen thePlatform to manage video content for more than 150 newspaper websites, including USAToday.com. thePlatform will handle video aggregation, distribution and syndication to external sites. Gannett has chosen Maven to handle its video advertising.