Barry Willis

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Barry Willis  |  Oct 03, 1998

Where do captains of industry go when their cash cows begin to produce sour milk? To Washington DC, where they beg for regulatory intervention. That's where CBS Station Group Manager Mel Kazmarin was last week, and that's what he was doing---asking the Federal Communications Commission to reconsider its prohibition against one TV network owning more than 35% of the available commercial broadcast stations in the country.

Barry Willis  |  Jan 16, 2000

A war of words has broken out between television networks <A HREF="http://www.nbc.com/">NBC</A> and <A HREF="http://cbs.com/">CBS</A> over the use of digital effects that altered the background during CBS coverage of New Year's Eve festivities in New York's Times Square. "Shocked and outraged" is one of the milder phrases used by NBC executives over the use of digital effects by CBS technicians to block a huge NBC video sign visible behind newsman Dan Rather during the broadcast. A CBS logo was inserted in its place.

Barry Willis  |  Mar 21, 1999

According to the March 15 edition of <A HREF="http://www.wsj.com/">The Wall Street Journal</A>, satellite broadcaster <A HREF="http://www.directv.com/">DirecTV</A> will stop beaming network signals to ineligible customers and offer to install terrestrial antennas at a discount as part of an agreement reached with several TV networks. The satellite service has been <A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/shownews.cgi?239">wrangling</A> with four major networks---ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox---over rights to deliver network programming to customers in areas served by local broadcasters.

Barry Willis  |  Jan 30, 2000

The Internet's video parallel to the controversial MP3 free-music phenomenon&mdash;currently being contested in US courts&mdash;quickly reached crisis proportions last week. A judge in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania ruled against <A HREF="http://www.icravetv.com/">iCraveTV.com</A>, a Canadian startup that late last year began retransmitting Canadian and American TV programming over the Internet without permission. On January 28, the judge found in favor of a coalition of plaintiffs, including three of the four major television networks, several movie studios, the <A HREF="http://www.nba.com/">National Basketball Association</A>, and the <A HREF="http://www.nfl.com/">National Football League</A>. At the moment, iCraveTV's site has a notice informing visitors that "access to stations and program listings is not available."

Barry Willis  |  Sep 06, 2004  |  Published: Sep 07, 2004

This week's CEDIA Expo 2004 in Indianapolis is certain to offer a few head-turning new products, among them <A HREF="http://www.bostonacoustics.com/">Boston Acoustics</A>'s Avidea 610 integrated home theater system and NAD Electronics' new NetCap network receiver.

Barry Willis  |  Apr 09, 2000

The <A HREF="http://www.bbc.co.uk/">British Broadcasting Corporation</A> is creating a new film division that will develop projects with American producers and distributors for theatrical release in the US and elsewhere in the world, according to an official announcement made April 4 in London. The new division is part of a corporate restructuring that will free up $318.5 million annually for dramatic programming, according to the BBC's new director general, Greg Dyke.

Barry Willis  |  May 06, 2001

In a move that will keep union members working for at least the next three years, negotiators for the <A HREF="http://www.wga.org">Writers Guild of America</A> agreed to a new contract on May 4, three days beyond the date of a threatened strike. The WGA had agreed to let its members keep working as discussions continued beyond the renewal date for the old contract, which expired May 1.

Barry Willis  |  Aug 02, 2004

The DVD format war needn't concern you if you pick up one of Samsung's new digital video recorders, due this fall.

Barry Willis  |  Sep 29, 2003

<A HREF="http://www.sim2.com">SIM2 USA, Inc.</A> has announced the addition of a second generation remote "DigiOptic" Image Processor (DOIP) to the new HT300 LINK DLP front projector to provide greater installation flexibility and a wider choice of inputs. The advanced technical solution is said to provide quality connections to video sources up to 1600 feet away.

Barry Willis  |  Oct 10, 1999

The high-resolution benefits of digital television could reach millions of consumers within a year or two, thanks to a new module from electronics giant <A HREF="http://www.motorola.com/">Motorola</A>. On October 4, the company announced its MCT5100 M-DTV module, an integrated device combining the functions of Motorola's 8-VSB demodulator, the MCT2100, with an MPEG decoder and controller. Installed in an appropriate monitor, the module will "implement a complete Advanced Television Standards Committee (ATSC) digital television," according to advance publicity.

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