On Franchise Players
The U.S. Conference of Mayors is meeting in Washington this week. The big issue is about how to handle local television franchises. The Baby Bells, who aren't such babies any more, are rolling out video services to compete with cable TV. The telecoms don't want to pursue franchise agreements with each city they serve, as cable companies have done for years. Rather, they'd like to see franchising on a statewide basis (as Texas passed last year) or wrap a national-level franchise agreement into a re-write of the federal Telecommunications Act. Governing.com
