In the week leading up to the start of the Christmas season on December 15, apart from the turmoil caused by Westeros' sudden announcement to reduce its stake in Daenerys Entertainment, another major event occurred. This was the official passage of the new U.S. Telecommunications Act through Congress.
In the original timeline, the Telecommunications Act pushed by the Clinton administration was not passed until 1996. This time, thanks to the concerted efforts of multiple forces, including the Westeros system, the bill was introduced ahead of schedule. It became the most significant legislative act of 1995.
Unlike other minor bills that only addressed specific issues, this Telecommunications Act was essentially a new law—a substantial overhaul of the 1934 Communications Act.
The 1934 Communications Act was born out of the U.S. anti-monopoly wave, and its core was to prevent monopolies, very strictly so. Over the decades, subsequent related laws were mostly centered around the 1934 Act. These included strict limitations on cross-ownership of different media platforms, restrictions on business crossovers between different types of communication companies, and limitations on national telecom giants merging with regional telecom companies.
The Clinton administration's Telecommunications Act, however, represented a comprehensive relaxation of these rules.
Of course, that's not how it was presented on the surface.
Publicly, the Act's stated goal was to open up the competitive market by eliminating regulatory barriers, promoting the use of advanced technologies by private enterprises, and encouraging resource integration between different types of telecom operators. All of this was to ostensibly provide Americans with better and more affordable information technology and services.
This lofty goal was followed by a lengthy document covering seven major areas, including "Telecommunications Services," "Broadcasting Services," "Cable Services," and "Communications Ethics."
Although the Washington administration, in the name of transparency, immediately uploaded the full content of the Act to the government website, it was clear that very few members of the public had the time or the expertise to study the entire law and discern the true impact of its clauses.
This was the desired result.
As for the media, there was no shortage of discerning observers.
Many in the media promptly criticized the Act after the congressional vote, arguing that it would not promote competition but instead lead to further consolidation and monopolies.
However, since the telecom and media giants who controlled most of the core American media had long awaited this Act, most of the critical voices barely caused a ripple. Instead, the media began touting the convenience that the so-called "Triple Play" (integration of telecom, internet, and cable services) would bring to American households.
In Simon's memory, neither better telecom services nor lower costs ever materialized. Even years later, awkward situations would arise, such as when Steve Jobs famously struggled to find a signal during an Apple keynote event. And that was in the bustling heart of San Francisco, not some remote area.
In reality, the outcome of the Clinton administration's Telecommunications Act was simply the rapid consolidation of telecom resources by major companies nationwide, recreating a de facto monopoly in the telecom sector.
As for better service and cheaper rates?
That never happened.
Companies, driven by the pursuit of maximum profit, naturally aimed to extract the highest fees with the least capital investment.
Regardless, now that Washington had opened the door, Simon had no intention of holding back. He began accelerating Verizon Telecom's IPO process to facilitate a future merger with AOL.
AOL, having undergone years of rapid expansion and built its own substantial network infrastructure, was also preparing to move beyond internet access services to offer fixed-line telephone and cable TV services, thus formally stepping onto the path of "Triple Play." Simon had laid the groundwork for this long ago, with significant spare capacity built into the lines AOL had been laying over the past few years, which could now be fully utilized.
In addition, following the congressional vote on the Telecommunications Act, the stock prices of General Electric and Time Warner, both undergoing a merger review by the U.S. Department of Justice, saw simultaneous increases.
Time Warner owned Warner Communications, which operated a cable TV business. With the passage of the Telecommunications Act, Warner could now break through previous legal barriers and enter the increasingly popular internet services and traditional fixed-line telephone markets.
December 15 arrived.
The North American Christmas season officially kicked off.
Despite knowing that "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" would dominate the box office next week, three major commercial films, each opening on more than 1,000 screens, took the risk of premiering this week. Each one was a major release.
First was Paramount's remake of the classic film Sabrina, originally starring Humphrey Bogart and Audrey Hepburn. The new version featured Harrison Ford, with Sidney Pollack, Billy Wilder, and Fanny Ardant all involved. With a production budget of $50 million, it opened on 1,821 screens.
The second was Fox's Waiting to Exhale, directed by Cannes-winning actor Forest Whitaker and based on a novel. This drama, featuring Whitney Houston and Angela Bassett, had a $16 million budget and opened on 1,253 screens.
Lastly, Sony Pictures released Dracula: Dead and Loving It, a spoof comedy starring Leslie Nielsen. It had a $30 million budget and opened on 1,425 screens.
Even though none of the films received bad reviews on opening day, their release strategies were cautious.
On December 15, the biggest attention-grabber was the release of the American Idol theme song "Dream It Possible," written by Simon himself for the show. The song was simultaneously launched on ABC TV, ABC Radio, and YouTube, and also made available for paid download on Tinkerbell's Broadcast website for iPlayer users.
The song did not disappoint the fans who had petitioned for it.
By 8 p.m., less than 20 minutes after its YouTube release, "Dream It Possible" had surpassed 10 million views. Within two hours, the Broadcast website recorded one million sales, and the catchy tune quickly spread across North America over the weekend.
On December 18, a week after passing both houses of Congress, the Telecommunications Act was signed into law by President Clinton.
Since Westeros had announced its reduction of shares in Daenerys Entertainment last week, Simon had been closely monitoring the reactions from all sides. Following the passage of the Telecommunications Act and President Clinton's signature, the stock market, which had been affected by the previous week's news, seemed to stabilize as the new week began. With this, Simon quietly flew to the East Coast to personally oversee some matters.
At the Greenwich estate in the northern suburbs.
The East Coast had already seen several snowfalls. Though it was a sunny day, the estate was blanketed in snow, and daytime temperatures were below freezing, making the villa feel warm and cozy inside.
It was the afternoon of Tuesday, December 19.
Joseph Schlarpp, one of the Westeros family's political lobbyists, had just arrived at the villa. Earlier, Simon had also met with another political affairs manager, Paul Speitz, to primarily discuss arrangements for the upcoming elections.
In 1996, in addition to the presidential election, there would also be congressional midterms.
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