Cable and phone firms this year have spent nearly $1 million weekly on ads lobbying for video franchise reform and other issues related to broadband and fiber video, consultant Gary Arlen said. That's about 4 times spending for Tauzin-Dingell bill ads, Arlen told us: 揟his is a phenomenal sum.?Except for the National Cable Telecom Assn. (NCTA), which Arlen expects to run through $50,000 weekly for a year, most outlays will occur in less than 2 months, he said. AT&T is burning $600,000 weekly, outspending any entity Arlen studied. The figures, mostly on D.C.-area broadcast TV ads, came from Arlen's talks with ad executives and analyses of broadcast data. USTelecom spending is 2nd, at about $250,000 weekly. TV4US is spending $75,000 weekly, Arlen said. NCTA wouldn't discuss its spending, but a spokesman said: 揟he volume of advertising clearly shows the Bells are spending significantly more.?Officials at TV4US and AT&T didn't comment.nnA USTelecom spokeswoman said Arlen's figures were wrong, but declined to comment on its spending. A study funded by that group found telco entry into video markets will up payments to municipalities for video services as much as 20%. AT&T and Verizon fiber TV products, by getting people to spend more on 搘ireline video services,?would boost such payments $249 million-$413 million annually, said Brookings economists Robert Crandall and Robert Litan.
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