An era in American broadcast television will end Friday as the nation finishes its delayed transition to digital TV.
Phones at help centers across the country rang Saturday, a day after broadcasters halted the transmission of analog signals long depended on by many people without cable or satellite television.
In less than 24 hours all full-power broadcast TV stations in the U.S. will flip a switch to stop broadcasting their analog TV signals and will only broadcast TV signals in digital. And for millions who are unprepared, it could mean lights out on their favorite TV shows.
The Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday federal regulators have the authority to clamp down on the broadcast TV networks that air isolated cases of profanity, known as "fleeting expletives."
The effort to delay next month's scheduled death of analog television suffered a setback in Congress on Wednesday, despite warnings that millions of American homes will not be able to see broadcast shows in three weeks.
Congress postponed until Wednesday a vote to delay next month's scheduled death of television as you've known it.
Researchers have developed a new anti-reflective coating that boosts the efficiency of solar panels and allows sunlight to be absorbed from almost any angle.
An audience of millions watched Cher drop a verbal bomb when she uttered the f-word on an awards show. Bono said it, too, a year later, and Nicole Richie uttered it and s--t in the same sentence.
As the highest court in the U.S. begins its 2008 term on Oct. 6, TIME breaks down four significant cases to watch
A divided Federal Communications Commission has ruled that Comcast Corp. violated federal policy when it blocked Internet traffic for some subscribers and has ordered the cable giant to change the way it manages its network
An era in American broadcast television will end Friday as the nation finishes its delayed transition to digital TV.
Phones at help centers across the country rang Saturday, a day after broadcasters halted the transmission of analog signals long depended on by many people without cable or satellite television.
In less than 24 hours all full-power broadcast TV stations in the U.S. will flip a switch to stop broadcasting their analog TV signals and will only broadcast TV signals in digital. And for millions who are unprepared, it could mean lights out on their favorite TV shows.
The Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday federal regulators have the authority to clamp down on the broadcast TV networks that air isolated cases of profanity, known as "fleeting expletives."
The effort to delay next month's scheduled death of analog television suffered a setback in Congress on Wednesday, despite warnings that millions of American homes will not be able to see broadcast shows in three weeks.
Congress postponed until Wednesday a vote to delay next month's scheduled death of television as you've known it.
Researchers have developed a new anti-reflective coating that boosts the efficiency of solar panels and allows sunlight to be absorbed from almost any angle.
An audience of millions watched Cher drop a verbal bomb when she uttered the f-word on an awards show. Bono said it, too, a year later, and Nicole Richie uttered it and s--t in the same sentence.
As the highest court in the U.S. begins its 2008 term on Oct. 6, TIME breaks down four significant cases to watch
A divided Federal Communications Commission has ruled that Comcast Corp. violated federal policy when it blocked Internet traffic for some subscribers and has ordered the cable giant to change the way it manages its network
A federal appeals court threw out a $550,000 indecency fine against CBS Corp. for the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show that ended with Janet Jackson's breast-baring "wardrobe malfunction"
The proposed merger of the nation's two satellite radio broadcasters -- bogged down in the regulatory process for over a year -- has cleared a major hurdle: The Federal Communications Commission chief is recommending approval of the $3.8 billion deal
A plan to provide free wireless high-speed Internet service hit a snag this week over concerns about possible interference and a proposed censoring feature that upset free speech advocates
XM Satellite Radio reported Monday more of the same as it limps toward a final decision on its proposed merger with rival Sirius Satellite Radio: Slower growth and wider losses.
Federal regulators approved a plan late Wednesday to create a nationwide emergency alert system using text messages delivered to cell phones
Cell phone users will get text message alerts of emergencies under a new nationwide alert system approved late Wednesday by the Federal Communications Commission, according to FCC spokesman Robert Kenny.
A nationwide alert system will use cell phones or other mobile devices to send text messages to Americans when an emergency occurs, the Federal Communications Commission will announce Wednesday, according to an FCC representative.
Government lawyers Friday sued FOX Television and eight of its stations to force payment of FCC fines imposed for broadcasting "titillating and shocking" sexually oriented material during prime time.
The U.S. Justice Department approved the merger between satellite radio companies Sirius and XM Monday, more than a year after the two companies first announced their deal.
The merger of satellite radio services XM and Sirius, an improbable deal that stalled in Washington for a year, is now facing impending approval.
The two largest cell phone companies dominated bidding in a record-setting government airwaves auction, according to results released Thursday
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to jump back into the free speech debate over whether broadcast television networks should be penalized for indecent or vulgar language that slips through inadvertently on a live or unscripted broadcast.
The stalled merger between satellite radio duo XM and Sirius has suddenly lurched into the unknown as Wall Street continues to wait for a verdict from regulators.
Happy Presidents' Day! Since the U.S. markets are closed, businesses don't usually make big announcements on this holiday.
In 2004, President Bush pledged that all Americans should have affordable access to high-speed Internet service by 2007. A report to be released Thursday by the administration says it has succeeded -- mostly
The FCC's auction of rights to a huge chunk of radio airwaves invites new players to the telecom game. If Google bids big, it could mean open wireless access for all
A report by the Federal Communications Commission will show that cable TV companies have met a subscriber saturation point that may lead to the agency exerting greater regulatory authority over the industry.
On his long commute to the office, George Doty snakes through Houston, Texas, accompanied only by the two satellite radios on the dashboard of his Chevrolet pickup truck and the hum of whatever he has playing.
What was good for our country was good for General Motors, and vice versa. - Charles E. Wilson, president of GM, 1953
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday voted to shake up the wireless market by approving a set of ground-rules for a big airwaves auction that would require the winner to make them accessible to any cell phone, device or application.
It has been nearly five months since Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio announced plans to merge. But the likelihood of the deal passing regulatory muster is still highly uncertain, leaving investors in an uncomfortable state of limbo.
Fearing a legislative push from Democrats to "fix" conservative-dominated radio shows, Republicans are starting to fight back
If you are more than about 45 years old, you probably can't forget when you first heard a 1972 monologue by comedian George Carlin titled "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television." Ordinarily w...
The crackdown on broadcast indecency that began with an exposed breast turns out to have legs - as well as serious consequences for the television business.
Mario Gabelli is doing what he does best: talking.
It's a nightmare for any electronics maker planning a splashy launch: Key technical details and photos of the gadget show up on the Web prior to its premier. But Danger Research, the designer of the popular Sidekick smartphone, doesn't have a disgruntled employee to blame for the leak: It turns out the Federal Communications Commission published details of the new Sidekick III on its website, as it does with all new wireless devices that run on FCC licensed airwaves, unless manufacturers request confidentiality. Ironically, the FCC also published the request for confidentiality that Danger's manufacturing partner, Sharp, filed along with the photos.
Every Sunday morning, The New York Times lands on my driveway with a thud. I customarily discard the Styles section (no interest in weddings), the Travel section (no vacations being planned) and the Sports section (dull, dull, dull). But it never occurred to me -- until now -- to call up the people at The Times to tell them that I would like to buy only certain sections of the newspaper and not others. And if The Times were to tell me the paper is an all-or-nothing deal, well, maybe I should ask my Congressman to require The New York Times Co. to sell its newspapers a la carte.
Almost half of cell-phone users feel hemmed in by the hefty fees they face for early termination of their contracts, according to a new survey from a consumer advocacy group.
On Oct. 13, 1983, Bob Barnett, an executive at Ameritech, the erstwhile Baby Bell, sat in a car parked outside Soldier Field in Chicago and made the country's first commercial cellular phone call. ...
Indecent material broadcast on Howard Stern's radio show may cost six Clear Channel stations a total of $495,000, the Federal Communication Commission said Thursday, prompting the radio chain to drop Stern's show from six stations.
Worried about media concentration? Don't be. But do be worried about what's happening in media. To see why, look past the FCC's latest decision allowing media mammoths to grow even bigger, and cons...
So much for consumer choice. The Federal Communications Commission has turned its back on the public by abandoning rules that require the Baby Bells to accommodate competition in broadband services...
The Federal Communications Commission, the sleepy government agency perhaps best known for fining radio shock jocks, is grabbing headlines. Aside from the FCC's EchoStar decision, which roiled the ...
From Washington ...
Even for a time of bitter harvests in Silicon Valley, longtime tech executive Eric Benhamou has had a particularly frustrating year. Benhamou is chairman of 3Com, a producer of data-networking gear...
Michael Powell got lots of unsolicited advice when President Clinton appointed him to the Federal Communications Commission in 1998. He was, after all, just four years out of law school, a burly ch...
It takes a lot of work to find the Federal Communications Commission. You have to trudge south from the National Mall and pass eight other sprawling, squat buildings until you reach the one that ho...
If there's anything a baby hates, it's the arrival of a newer, cuter baby. For some, that day never comes; but for the Baby Bells (and let's face it, they're not getting any younger) the time is he...
Since the telephone industry was deregulated three years ago, $4 billion worth of new fees have shown up on our bills, according to Consumers Union. The latest: a charge for an option most of us do...
The Federal Communications Commission is taking stronger steps to prevent companies from changing your phone carrier behind your back, a.k.a. slamming. Come mid-April, a firm can legally switch you...
Have you ever noticed a rogue $5 calling-card charge from an obscure long-distance company on your phone bill? If so, you're not alone. Over the past three years, the Federal Communications Commiss...
Whoever said "bigger is better" has never carried a cellular phone around--or even shopped for one lately. But the big news in cellular phones this year is not their decreasing size, or even their ...
Q. My wife and I retired three years ago, at age 50. Now we spend most of our time cruising the East Coast and the Bahamas in our sailboat. We love the itinerant life so much that we plan to sell o...
CALLERS TO OUR NATIONAL RADIO SHOW AS WELL as securities regulators we've recently interviewed reveal the same thing: Americans are losing hundreds of millions of dollars in three growing investmen...
Ever since game theory was invented half a century ago, people have been prophesying that it was about to revolutionize economics and management. It's easy to see why. One definition of it--the stu...
REMEMBER not so long ago when no one had a personal computer, and roller skates had metal wheels, and there was only one telephone company and everybody hated it? Simpler times, simpler feelings. T...
Before slamming your phone down when a long-distance carrier calls to describe its latest fee plan, be sure that you haven't gotten slammed yourself. Despite 1991 Federal Communications Commission ...
Your basic cable-TV bill could decline by 10% after the Federal Communications Commission begins enforcing the cable law Sept. 1. If your basic bill doesn't go down by November, call your company o...
Soon after the 1992 cable-TV law takes effect April 1, the Federal Communications Commission will issue guidelines covering the price of basic cable service, which could lower your rate by as much ...
''DADDY TOLD ME THAT WHEN I'M 65 IT'S GOING TO TAKE ALMOST $2 MILLION A YEAR TO LIVE THE WAY I DO NOW. . . . SOUNDS LIKE A LOT OF MONEY. CALL MY DADDY. SHEEN FINANCIAL GROUP WILL MAKE SURE YOUR NES...
EVER WONDER why there's no Channel 1 on your TV? Half a century ago, when TV was a baby, there was a Channel 1. But ham radio and aircraft communications on adjoining frequencies caused serious int...
Ruby Jean and Tolbert Moore, owners of Santa Rosa Beauty College, were winners in one of the richest lotteries ever held. So, as part of a syndicate, was Ernest Borgnine, the actor. In the lottery,...
In the ludicrous congressional hearings that recently culminated in House and Senate passage of the Children's Television Act, our own favorite moment was supplied by Senator J. James Exon, Democra...
Transcripts of Supreme Court proceedings often make fascinating reading, and we lead with this thought not only to mollify the business department, which shelled out over $300 so we could fascinate...
YOUR TELEPHONE company wants to wire your house with glass. Replacing your old copper telephone lines with the latest in fiber optics -- glass filaments that use lasers to transmit signals -- would...
CRITICS WERE nearly apoplectic when the Justice Department, citing antitrust laws, moved to break up the phone company. The laments echoed across America: Why mess with a telecommunications system ...
No man wields more power over any industry than Judge Harold H. Greene of the U.S. district court in Washington, D.C. He transformed the telecommunications business by approving the breakup of AT&T...
WHEN color television burst upon the world in the early 1950s, the U.S. was in the vanguard: The first commercial broadcasts used a pioneering system developed by RCA. It was the end of the decade ...
THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS equipment market totals over $10 billion a year and is growing fast, but AT&T's share has shriveled from 75% to 35% since 1980 -- and not just because Ma Bell had to divest i...
ONE OF THE WORST things that could have happened to the television industry finally has: the financial markets have fallen in love with it. Like an Edenic resort that loses its charm as it gains po...
IT'S A SALES PITCH that should appeal to many an owner of a bar or convenience store: Why settle for a paltry 4% to 6% of the revenues from the pay phone installed on your premises by the telephone...
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