> Financial analyst site The Motley Fool is trying to curb some of the irrational enthusiasm surrounding the over-the-top, cord-cutting, video streaming space. As Dan Rayburn posts: "Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) has already been streaming for three years and while it has been the hands-down leader, cable TV is not going away anytime soon. Many seem to think that Netflix has changed the industry overnight, but it has taken it more than three years to get even this far."
> Soon, when a commercial urges a viewer to "shout out" clothing stains, it will do so in restrained tones, according to legislation that has passed through the Senate and is headed to the House of Representatives. With little better to do, apparently, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island sponsored a bill that addresses the problem of commercials that are louder than the TV show. "Every American has likely experienced the frustration of abrasively loud television commercials," Whitehouse said, noting that these loud ads contribute "unnecessary stress to the daily lives of many Americans." What's not addressed is that many Americans are also exposed to quietly offensive advertisements for political campaigns and that just as many happen to be watching television because the economy, despite what economists say, is still in the tank. Still, it's probably a good first step. Story.
> Speaking of political actions and benefiting the public, members of Great Falls, Montana's public access television board which has, in the past, been partially funded by $626,000 in franchise fees paid by Bresnan Communications to the city, have voted to dissolve the corporation. The board had asked the city for $3,000 to renew its insurance coverage and $15,000 for a studio-bare bones financing, at best-but the city declined to budget anything. Story.
> In more board action, Sprint (NYSE: S) executives Dan Hesse, Keith Cowan and Steven Elfman have resigned from the Clearwire (Nasdaq: CLWR) board of directors "out of an abundance of caution to address questions raised by Clearwire regarding new developments in antitrust law," Clearwire said in a news release. Of course it had nothing to do with rancorous discussions around whether Sprint would buy up the entity, in which it holds a majority investment along with minority investors Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA), Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC-WI) and Bright House Networks but it might be related to reports that Clearwire was looking to have T-Mobile join its party. News release.
And finally... like Chickenman, CableCARDS are everywhere, they're everywhere. According to a story in Multichannel News the nation's 10 largest MSOs have deployed "more than 22.75 million leased set-top boxes with CableCARDS. They've also deployed 531,000 of the cards for use in retail devices. Story.