Measuring cable penetration in the US is critical to a wide range of communications policymaking, from broadband deployment strategies, to  public access TV requirements, to the contentious conversation around ‘a la carte’ cable—the debundling of programming.  In the fall of 2007, it became apparent that the FCC had no good way to measure cable penetration in the United States.  FCC conversations about its regulatory role with respect to cable were blocked for lack of good data. As a result, the FCC placed a new emphasis on gathering accurate data and will seek comment on appropriate methodologies.  How was it possible for the FCC to err so badly?  What standards should the FCC adopt going forward?  The Media Access Project seeks a collaborator who can provide an account of this process and help develop an effective strategy for FCC data collection on cable penetration.

HD radio has the potential to reinvigorate radio through the creation of anywhere from three to five times the number of stations than are currently possible in a local market with analog technologies. However, HD radio’s rollout has also raised a number of questions. The FCC has essentially handed over this additional spectrum to incumbent broadcasters without thinking seriously about the long-term implications of this transition, how it related to media ownership in local markets and its bearing on the Commission’s public interest obligations.

FMC proposes a HD radio playlist analysis project during which a researcher would examine HD radio programming, and determine whether programming is increasing diversity, or addressing local issues or community interests. The completed research would be published and submitted to the FCC, along with any appropriate policy recommendations that would be determined based on the results.

Low-power FM (LPFM) was established to give non-profit, educational organizations an outlet for local programming and community news. Religious organizations, many of them evangelical Christian churches, comprise approximately half of the applicants for low-power FM licenses approved by the FCC. Evangelical broadcasting corporations have also been effective in leveraging the low-power translator service, which allows a primary FM station to be simultaneously rebroadcast on a different frequency, to start hundreds of low-cost translator stations across the country.   We would like to see a research project that explores the business models of the major Christian broadcasting companies—their organizational structure, sources of revenue, financial make-up, and affiliate churches. The research should also determine what links these organizations have to larger social movements and in what way and to what extent the stations serve their local communities. Analysis of the local/non-local nature of the programming on these stations, and their local public service would also be very illuminating and useful.

The rise of network neutrality as a crucial Internet policy debate has produced a situation in which current events far outpace theoretical and historical analyses. This is a call for research to address this lag, with three primary goals:

• Contextualizing recent events in relation to historical telecommunications antecedents.

• Critically evaluates the current network neutrality debate and offers a set of technical and policy guidelines for a new, more broadly defined network neutrality.

• Move debate toward a more holistic account of Internet freedom.

A publishable research paper, plus one or more shorter versions usable in other contexts, would be the desired outcome of this call. This work could be integrated into a range of New America Foundation activities, including public forums, and also support the work of its partner organizations.

In the spring and summer of 2007, the Public Interest Spectrum Coalition (PISC) pressed the FCC for significant changes to the process auctioning spectrum licenses for the returned analog broadcast spectrum.  The purpose of these reforms was to (a) introduce new entrants into the wireless world -- particularly women and minorities, and (b) prevent incumbents from colluding to distribute licenses at artificially low prices.  Many of the reforms of the public interest groups were adopted.  The desired research would examine (a) whether these reforms achieved their goals; and (b) what further reforms are necessary? 

The desired study would be a comparative analysis of approaches to bundling and unbundling video products (e.g., traditional TV channels, pay-per-view), in order to evaluate the benefits and costs to consumers of each approach.  This study would be instrumental in advancing a contentious and largely data-free debate about the consequences of debundling programming—a debate that divides not only industry but public-interest advocacy groups