EDITORIAL CLASH OF THE TITANS.IT might look like the ``Thrilla in Manila'' ended before it really started after Time Warner abruptly consented to put ABC ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. back on all of its cable systems. Don't touch that dial. This clash between two corporate titans is far from over and promises to be the fight of the century. At stake is far more than a few million people nationwide losing out on the first night of celebrity ``Who Wants to be a Millionaire,'' although that was a life-defining moment for a vast TV audience. And it is more than a multimillion-dollar contract dispute over how much Time Warner will pay Disney for the right to carry its programs, or Disney trying to muscle its cartoon network onto cable. In reality, the two are fighting over the future of telecommunications. Disney wants clearly defined rules before Time Warner completes its merger with AOL (A division of Time Warner, Inc., New York, NY, www.aol.com) The world's largest online information service with access to the Internet, e-mail, chat rooms and a variety of databases and services. and ends up governing how the Internet and interactive TV will be delivered to America's homes - and, of course, who profits the most from the new technology. Both are playing brinkmanship brink·man·ship also brinks·man·ship n. The practice, especially in international politics, of seeking advantage by creating the impression that one is willing and able to push a highly dangerous situation to the limit rather than concede. public relations games. Disney forced Time Warner's hand by upping the demands, and Time Warner pulled the plug at the beginning of sweeps months in some of ABC's top television markets, including New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. and Los Angeles, including the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. and Canyon Country. It would seem that Time Warner blinked first and announced Tuesday that it would return ABC to its cable systems, at least temporarily bringing ``Good Morning America'' and ``Who Wants to be a Millionaire'' back to the 3.5 million customers who had the channel blacked out. Much of America might think this is going to be a great grudge match as two tough, well-run companies try to pummel pum·mel tr.v. pum·meled also pum·melled, pum·mel·ing also pum·mel·ling, pum·mels also pum·mels To beat, as with the fists; pommel: The angry crowd pummeled the thief. each other senseless. As much fun as that sounds, it's worth noting that consumers and ordinary citizens could end up getting knocked out for the count if no one stands up for them. What consumers need is an honest referee who will ensure this is a clean, fair fight for all parties and that consumers get what they're paying for. And that's exactly the role the Federal Communications Commission Federal Communications Commission (FCC), independent executive agency of the U.S. government established in 1934 to regulate interstate and foreign communications in the public interest. is designed to play. The FCC needs to ensure that the public interest is served and that fair rules apply to all businesses, even 5,000-pound gorillas like Disney and Time Warner. But, especially, the federal government needs to ensure that consumers aren't gouged or end up paying for free broadcast TV like KABC KABC Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (Channel 7). A good referee will let Time Warner and Disney fight it out for their selfish interests and ensure that consumers don't go down for the count in the process. |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion