http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/30/us/politics/conservative-talk-radio-trump-cruz.html
For the NY Times, this is an amazingly objective fact based summary. Conservatives were not called names. It has a picture of Michael Savage in his studio (in 2007). They explain the situation with Limbaugh, Savage, Laura Ingraham, Glenn Beck, Hannity and a mention of Mark Levin. That’s pretty much the list of those in talk radio who still matter.
Unrelated, the FCC wireless incentive auction gets underway at 6 PM ET today. I figured Comcast (which owns NBC) may benefit. Comcast has said it may buy up some of the spectrums without saying why. Perhaps they have plans for wireless IP pay per view porn.
Okay – you lost me there. Wireless bands – pay per view? Doesn’t that stuff exist already? So much of technology has been driven by such things.
Because video is very bandwidth intensive, IP based video (using multicast) is still somewhat experimental. Verizon has been experimenting with Wireless IP multicast at sporting events inside the stadium.
Pay per view is a different matter, where it is one person, one stream. Comcast is not aggressively intending to buy the spectrum. Keep in mind while Comcast is a big cable company, it can only operate in cities where it has a franchise agreement, and isn’t currently in the cell phone business. Cell phone providers need national coverage to be viable. Comcast might use wireless to somewhat circumvent local regulation. Whatever their plans, they are not being specific.
In this auction, AT&T and Verizon are not allowed to bid in major markets where they already control most of the spectrum. Sprint and Google have said they aren’t interested. T-mobile will be the big winner. Third parties like the owner of Dell will play in the auction not because they intend to become a cell phone company, but longer term to lease or resell the license.
This bidding process is somewhat secretive. I’m not sure when or how we’ll know the outcome. There is a chance the buyers won’t pay what the sellers want and the entire thing falls apart.