CES 2018 Officially Underway With FCC Commissioners, Ford Boss, A News Talk, And More

Tuesday

By PERRY MICHAEL SIMON in LAS VEGAS: TUESDAY marked the official opening of CES 2018 after two days of media activity, with CONSUMER TECHNOLOGY ASSOCIATION Pres./CTO GARY SHAPIRO and SVP/CES Corporate and Business Strategy KAREN CHUPKA and FORD President/CEO JIM HACKETT kicking things off with keynote addresses.

After SHAPIRO entered to the strains of IMAGINE DRAGONS' "Thunder" and offered his welcome to attendees, CHUPKA addressed the controversy about the lack of female representation in the keynotes, assuring critics that "we hear you" and pointing to diversity among the panelists at the convention. She touted the size of automotive industry representation at CES, noting that CES is now the fifth largest auto show in the world, and the introduction of a design and source marketplace to the show. SHAPIRO returned to highlight 5G connectivity, which will also be the focus of HUAWEI Consumer Business Group CEO RICHARD YU's keynote in the afternoon.

HACKETT focused on his company's role in smart cities (although he balked at the term and the concept) and transit systems, with an animated demonstration of FORD's "Living Street" project involving autonomous cars and city grids changing to accomodate them. HACKETT, joined by some of his executives working on the project and the C-V2X technology allowing cars and sensors to communicate information, imagined a more human-centric vision than the standard idea of "smart cities" while acknowledging moral and ethical issues to be worked out in the process.

Hi-Res Audio Tries To Make The Buzz Louder And Clearer

At the Hi-Res Pavilion in the LAS VEGAS CONVENTION CENTER's Central Hall, the media was briefed on new developments in the category, including LINCOLN's premium automotive hi-res music system, smart phones from LG and SONY that can play hi-res music, and research showing consumer demand for the format.  Also highlighted was the "Stream the Studio" campaign to promote hi-res streaming; a "Stream the Studio" stage at the pavilion will feature panels, presentations, and performances including STYX's TOMMY SHAW and Country artist CLARE DUNN.

FORD Senior Technical Leader ALAN NORTON, in a press release issued at the briefing, said, “The growing acceptance of Hi-Res Audio by music enthusiasts creates an opportunity for LINCOLN. It enables us to demonstrate the capabilities of our Revel sound system in the most impactful way possible, while providing our customers with an incredible listening experience."  

UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP EVP of Digital Strategy MICHAEL NASH added, “Passionate fans around the world are seeking new, exciting ways to experience the music they love, and with Hi-Res Audio streaming they’re able to listen to music on their consumer electronics devices as it sounds in the recording studio. With an expanding number of Hi-Res Music titles available, the industry is working closely with device manufacturers and digital services to make studio quality sound widely available to everyone. We’re very proud to advance those efforts this year at CES with THE LINCOLN MOTOR COMPANY by demonstrating the broad consumer appeal for Hi-Res Audio in vehicles.”

The pavilion is offering listening stations for attendees to sample some of the over 500 hi-res titles, and TIDAL and EUROPE's QOBUZ are making their CES debuts at the pavilion.

The New 'News'

A panel on the "future of news" had BEN SHAPIRO on the right and, nominally, THIEL CAPITAL's ERIC WEINSTEIN from the left discussing fact, opinion, and "fake news" with AXIOS' SARA FISCHER (literally) between them.  (Journalist YASHAR ALI was absent due to a family emergency.)  

The discussion covered the difference between news and opinion (SHAPIRO contended that "objective media has done itself a disservice" by not beng honest about their biases, then went on to accuse CNN WHITE HOUSE Correspondent JIM ACOSTA of being "a partisan hack"; FISCHER said that AXIOS is using design and UX to signal to readers the difference between news and opinion; WEINSTEIN asserted that there is "no way to produce news that's purely fact-based" but that the key is to know how to "un-spin" the news, knowing what biases are built into the reporting).

On the term "fake news," SHAPIRO said that it should mean a storu that is "objectively false, not an opinion you don't like."  But on the kind of clickbait stories that aren't hard news but that the public wants, FISCHER said that news outlets have to find a balance between hard news and the trashier stories that draw greater attention ("it's not a lleft or right or middle-ground thing," she noted of the need to get attention).

WEINSTEIN complained of mainstream media, "you really have to work to make the news this boring."  He pointed to a wide range of news outside the traditional news coverage that he finds "fascinating."  Comparing traditional news coverage to a "guided tour," he advised to "get off" the tour (and away from what he characterized as "stage management") and look to primary sources like tweets from people on the ground at news events.  But SHAPIRO noted that "the number of people who are gonna do that is extremely low" and the better way to approach the news is to follow people on the other side who "aren't stuck in the bubble."

The panel, despite its being part of a technology show, was short on technology or related discussions, only giving a glancing reference to subscription models and how technological changes are affecting news coverage and the industry's financial issues, instead going into an extended discussion of MICHAEL WOLFF's "Fire and Fury" book and other general news topics.

FCC/FTC Roundtable, Minus A Couple Of Participants

FCC Commissioners MIGNON CLYBURN, BRENDAN CARR, and MIKE O'RIELLY were joined by moderator JULIE KEARNEY of the CTA for a roundtable previewing regulatory issues for 2018.  FCC Commissioner JESSICA ROSENWORCEL and FTC Commissioner TERRELL MCSWEENY were late scratches for the session.

The talk went directly to the hot button issue of net neutrality, with CLYBURN noting her opposition to the Commission's reversal, but she and O'RIELLY proclaimed their preference for maintaining collegiality despite their differences; O'RIELLY said he expected that between procedural delays and channels, changes in the net neutrality rules will likely take a year or more to implement.  CARR, on the other hand, said he is "excited" about killing off net neutrality, which he said would benefit consumers, and decried the opposition "fanning the false flames of fear" and issuing death threats and racist comments at Chairman AJIT PAI, who declined to attend CES this year because of concerns about the death threats; he, too, said that he and CLYBURN can work together despite their disagreements.

On the possibility of a total rewrite of the Telecommunications Act to address new technological developments this year, O'RIELLY said that would be a "heavy lift," and CLYBURN said she hoped Congress would recognize the FCC's history of dealing with applying the rules in real time, and does not expect a total rollback of regulations.  The panel also discussed wireless broadband deployment and 5G.

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