2008 03-18 MediaBytes: CBS - DISH - Supreme Court - Microsof

CBS has launched the CBS Local Ad Network for owned-and-operated television stations. The network will offer local web sites and bloggers widgets that provide local news, video and advertising. O&O's will sell all advertising and give widget publishers a cut of the proceeds. Jeff Jarvis reports that stations will sell the ads at around $10 CPMs while paying bloggers around 50-cent CPMs.

DISH NETWORK suffered a blow to its high-def expansion plans when a satellite that promised to increase HD capacity failed to reach the proper orbit. Launch complications left the satellite in a lower orbit, which will decrease the number of HD channels that it can now transmit. DISH will attempt to correct the orbit using rockets but the company expects this to drastically increase costs and decrease the life of the satellite.

THE SUPREME COURT has agreed to hear the FCC's appeal of a ruling that undermined its "fleeting expletive" rule. The FCC had used the rule to threaten networks with fines for airing singular profanities blurted out during live programming. However, FOX, CBS, NBC and ABC filed suit against the Commission, claiming that the rule was arbitrary and capricious. The networks won and now the FCC's appeal will be heard by the highest court in the country. This will be the first indecency case that the Supreme Court has heard in 30 years.

MICROSOFT has licensed ADOBE's Flash Lite for cell phones and will distribute it with phones running the Windows Mobile operating system. These phones will now be ready to view rich, online media right out of the box. The deal could put pressure on Apple to finally add Flash support to the iPhone, a feature the device is sorely lacking. In related news, Adobe will reportedly include its forthcoming Adobe Media Player in software updates to Flash, Adobe Reader, Shockwave and other Adobe products. That approach could help speed its adoption, as over 90% of computers currently have Flash installed.

THE EU has chosen DVB-H as the standard for mobile television. The format is already supported by Nokia, Motorola, Philips, Sony and other major handset-makers. European governments are required to give DVB-H privileged status, while reducing support for Qualcomm's MediaFlo and other competing formats.

CHINA blocked access to YOUTUBE this weekend to prevent citizens from viewing videos of protests and riots in Tibet. Signs of Internet filtering have arisen elsewhere, as searches on Baidu for news related to this weekend's skirmishes turn up no relevant results. According to the Wall Street Journal, the government's extensive technological filtering has successfully limited awareness of this weekend's events to a small percentage of the population.

Read more at http://www.ShellyPalmer.com

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