News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Local TV stations pushed the same Amazon-scripted segment by JackFr on Tuesday May 26, 2020 @05:45PM (#23316794)
So it turns out local news isn’t actually public service, but really just the cheapest crap they can produce to run between ads for local car dealers. Go figure.
Re:Local TV stations pushed the same Amazon-scripted segment by bosswipe on Tuesday May 26, 2020 @06:22PM (#23317133)
Didn't used to be this way, the FCC used to be much more serious about treating public airways as the public resource that they are.
Re:Local TV stations pushed the same Amazon-scripted segment by thephyber on Tuesday May 26, 2020 @07:22PM (#23317607)
Re:Local TV stations pushed the same Amazon-scripted segment by AnthonyMouse on Tuesday May 26, 2020 @10:19PM (#23318747)
It used to be "broadcast" was really broadcast over limited public airwaves. Now it's all IPTV and streams and there is no practical limit on the amount of content that can be distributed, which was always the justification for regulating it.

The real problem now is nobody wants to pay for anything when the competition is free. "You're not the customer, you're the product" doesn't only apply to Google.

Re:Local TV stations pushed the same Amazon-scripted segment by ac29 on Tuesday May 26, 2020 @10:39PM (#23318835)
100% percent of the stations listed in the article have broadcast over the air stations (their FCC callsigns are given). I couldn't speculate how many people consume these station's content via broadcast versus some other medium, though. I wouldn't be too surprised if it was more than a few years ago, but definitely significantly less than 20+ years ago.

As as aside, as someone who works in the regulated radio industry, I actually wish there was more enforcement of FCC rules. As is, they are mainly a regulatory body, not an enforcement one - its extremely unlikely you will receive the FCC's attention for operating without a license or breaking other rules. But, please dont do these things, its easy and inexpensive to get amateur/personal/business licenses and you risk interfering with public safety or other critical users of the radio spectrum. Here's a list of enforcement actions for rule violations and unlicensed operation: https://transition.fcc.gov/eb/FieldNotices/

Re:Local TV stations pushed the same Amazon-scripted segment by AnthonyMouse on Wednesday May 27, 2020 @01:17AM (#23319602)
> 100% percent of the stations listed in the article have broadcast over the air stations (their FCC callsigns are given). I couldn't speculate how many people consume these station's content via broadcast versus some other medium, though.

Even the percentage doesn't really matter because the scarcity isn't there anymore. You don't have to get on broadcast TV in order to reach an audience anymore. PewDiePie has more subscribers than Fox and NBC have viewers combined.

When broadcast TV was the only way to deliver video to millions of people, you had to care what was using that capacity because it came at the expense of carrying something else. Now it's just one more way to deliver bits.

If anything it's now YouTube in that position, because they're just about the only way for ordinary people to reach a large audience. But in that case the constraint still isn't that they're carrying something bad instead of something good, since everything is carried in addition to rather than instead of everything else, but rather that they might refuse to carry something good which then has no other reasonable alternative for distribution.

Re:Local TV stations pushed the same Amazon-scripted segment by Spooky23 on Tuesday May 26, 2020 @07:57PM (#23317885)
At least that is legit business.

If you have the misfortune to listen to the really crazy radical talk radio, it’s all scams and thinly veiled money laundering via ads.

Re:Local TV stations pushed the same Amazon-scripted segment by zouhair on Wednesday May 27, 2020 @01:19AM (#23319614)
Actually it's more dangerous than some lunatic. Their lies are more likely to become the truth for the majority.
Re:Local TV stations pushed the same Amazon-scripted segment by wolco on Tuesday May 26, 2020 @10:17PM (#23318741)
I would welcome something radical. Most stations have been taken over by some national streaming entity.