First of all, nobody panic...

If you're watching television or listening to the radio tomorrow at 2 p.m., you'll experience a 30-second test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) that on the surface will seem like every other EAS test you've ever suffered through, except for the first time, Wednesday's test will be broadcast nationwide.

The test is a joint effort by the FCC, the Department of Homeland Security, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. According to the FCC, the purpose of the test is to assess the reliability and effectiveness of the EAS as a way to alert the public of national emergencies.

If you're up late tonight -- 2 a.m. -- and feeling a little subversive, check out "F**K" (Documentary Channel, DISH Network, DIRECTV video-on-demand or in its entirety online at www.documentarychannel.com).

It features everyone from Pat Boone to Chuck D. to Bill Maher to Alan Keyes discussing the F-word; its origins (despite what you may have heard a king's consent had nothing to do with it), its power, its infamy, its flexibility.

The film takes mostly a light-hearted approach, but some interesting points are raised. For instance, in 2000, the FCC lodged a little more than 100 indecency complaints. During the first years of the Bush administration, under Michael Powell's leadership, that number jumped to more than a million. Politics! Still, points are scored on both sides of the free speech versus indecency debate.

In fact, you could argue the movie is a little too balanced; there's not really a point made, just a lot of talking heads. That makes some of it funny, but it also makes the 90 minutes feel a little long at times.

But as an exploration of a word that can still rile and delight, it's worth a little late night viewing.
 

Meredith Attwell Baker was one of four FCC commissioners to approve the Comcast-NBC deal just a few months ago. When Baker's term as an FCC commissioner ends in June, she'll be joining Comcast as an executive.

It is not illegal nor uncommon for commissioners to join companies they regulate during their FCC term. It certainly has ruffled feathers in some circles.

Craig Aaron, president and CEO of Free press,  said in a statement, "This is just the latest, though perhaps most blatant, example of a so-called public servant cashing in at a company she is supposed to be regulating. No wonder the public is so nauseated by business as usual in Washington, where the complete capture of government by industry barely raises any eyebrows."

Even if you think Mr. Aaron's response is sullied with his own bias, you'd have to be pounding the cool-aid not to scrutinze the move. And not just this one.

The FCC approved the deal between Comcast and NBC today, and the Justice Department almost immediately followed suit. The whole thing could be finalized by the end of January.

What does that mean? Read more here at The New York Times. 

There's a new financial feud brewing among two media titans that could disrupt local cable-TV viewers later this summer.

This time, the dispute could knock out ABC programming for thousands of Time Warner Cable customers in the Triangle.

This market's ABC station, WTVD, is one of 10 ABC affiliates across the country that's owned by the Walt Disney Co. And Disney ABC Television's contract with Time Warner Cable is set to expire at the end of August.

Disney and other broadcasters want to collect new fees from cable providers to boost revenue. Time Warner Cable isn't eager to hand over any money for what has been free programming. The battle looms as advertising revenue remains soft and viewers defect from traditional TV fare.

"I think they will likely go toe-to-toe to the end," said Todd Mitchell, an media analyst with Kaufman Bros. in New York. "This is a hard time for both parties."

An ABC blackout would upset fans of popular sitcoms such as "Modern Family," dramas such as "Desperate Housewives," talk shows such as "Jimmy Kimmel Live," sports programming and more.

The Tar Heel native who recently served as the nation's top communications regulator is returning to his roots.

Kevin Martin, who stepped down as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission a year ago, is starting a private equity firm that will be based in Charlotte. Carmichael Partners will invest in family owned and privately held businesses with growth potential.

His partner is Brian Bailey, who recently left Carousel Capital, another Charlotte-based investment firm.

Martin, 43, grew up in Waxhaw, just south of Charlotte, and later earned degrees from UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke University. He joined the FCC as a commissioner in July 2001 and was named chairman of the agency by President Bush in March 2005.

Unhappiness is a staticky TV.

The switch from analog to digital has many TV viewers suffering through some unanticipated pain
this week. Check out these articles on antenna and power supply problems at UNC-TV and also at WTVD (ABC), the two local stations who seem to be having the most trouble right now.

If the information there doesn't help you, try some of the numbers listed below. Or if you have information that might help other readers, leave it in the comment section.

Oh yeah, and double-rescan!

Since digital conversion was completed on Friday, June 12, some local UNC-TV viewers have still had problems picking up the public television channels, even with the requisite digital televisions and converter boxes.

Because of problems with a tower in Chatham County, the problems have been bad throughout the Triangle. Here's what happened.

Based FCC rules regarding the broadcast of profane language, UNC coach Roy Williams' timing was inadvertently impeccable. Meanwhile, Fox television stations and the FCC are awaiting a U.S. Supreme Court decision on their legal battle over the F-word.

More than a month has passed since an FCC official ordered Time Warner Cable to begin carrying the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network's programming on basic cable within 30 days.

As you might have guessed, TWC subscribers still can't get MASN. Time Warner, which had vowed to appeal the Oct. 30 decision by Monica Shah Desai, chief of the FCC's Media Bureau, indeed filed an appeal to the five-member Federal Communications Commission last week. The FCC has not specified how long it would take for the full commission to hear and rule on the case.

The bureau chief, backing the decisions of two separate arbitrators, ruled that Time Warner Cable had discriminated against the regional sports network by refusing to put it on an analog tier that most of the cable company's estimated 1.5 million North Carolina subscribers receive. TWC has offered to make MASN available on a more expensive digital sports tier.

MASN carries the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals, Major League Baseball's designated home teams for this market, and an extensive slate of college sports programming, including about 25 non-ACC college basketball games involving North Carolina teams such as UNC-Wilmington and Charlotte.

“TWC is flouting the law, the intent of the FCC and the will of their customers,” MASN spokesman Todd Webster says of the latest appeal.

The intent of the FCC may be what Time Warner and other cable companies are seeking to change.

According to a report last week by Multichannel News, which covers the cable television industry, Cablevision is pitching a plan that would bar programmers from demanding carriage that would reach a specified number of subscribers on a cable system, and that the FCC is listening.

“It has been the longstanding view of ... Cablevision that programmers should not be able to withhold their programming from cable, satellite and telco distributors unless it is carried in a designated tier. We believe that programming should be sold on a per-viewing-subscriber basis, and not be required to be distributed to all customers as a condition of carriage,” Cablevision said in a prepared statement published by Multichannel News.