After weathering downturns in the 1970s and 1990s, the commercial space industry might now be in a "third delusion" economic bubble, Orbital ATK CEO David Thompson said Tuesday at a Washington Space Business Roundtable (WSBR) event. "When you're in a bubble, it's hard to know you're in the bubble," he said.
Skepticism abounds on a black-owned independent programmer's escalating quest to get wider carriage for its network by pursuing litigation and public and investor relations strategies against pay-TV providers that aren't minority owned. Already pursuing a $10 billion lawsuit against Charter Communications and the FCC (see 1601280063) and a $20 billion suit and separate commission complaint against Comcast (see 1603280030), Entertainment Studios is planning a “disconnect and divest” campaign to target investors of pension funds with Charter and Comcast holdings, as well as suits against those pension funds, CEO/founder Byron Allen told us. Industry lawyers, including some who represent the defendants, said in interviews they see Allen's quest as more of a business decision than a way to bolster diversity.
Both broadcast and cable interests continue to lobby the FCC on proposed changes to retransmission consent negotiation rules. People who have been part of recent retrans ex parte meetings told us the agency doesn't seem ready to circulate soon for commissioner approval new rules for the totality of circumstances test for good-faith negotiations, with the FCC perhaps still trying to figure out what it plans to do. But, given the agency staff taking part in those meetings, it seems likely the FCC is intent on getting feedback on the NPRM on 15 negotiation practices (see 1509020061). In a meeting with Chairman Tom Wheeler aide Jessica Almond, NAB said it cited the pro-competitive aspects of bundling, such as efficient economies of scale and cost savings, and the role they play in fostering creation of new and diverse programming, said a filing Thursday in docket 15-216. NAB also said multichannel video programming distributors "are the true masters of the bundle" with their double-, triple- and quadruple-play packages, "sometimes giving consumers little or no choice to select just one service if they prefer." NAB said the FCC should be "tickle[d] that MVPDs -- in this one instance -- are asking for the government to intervene to severely curtail or eliminate completely the ability of broadcasters to offer programming bundles." NAB also said it backs changing or eliminating media cross-ownership rules, citing "today's intensely diversified media marketplace." The American Television Alliance and member Mediacom, meanwhile, met with Media Bureau and Office of General Counsel staff to argue the FCC has authority to direct broadcasters to grant retrans consent for a limited period, said a Thursday filing in the docket. While Congress said MVPDs can't retransmit a broadcaster signal without that broadcaster's consent, lawmakers never limited FCC authority to require a station to give consent on a limited-time basis, ATVA/Mediacom said. Instead, Section 325 of the Cable Act and sections 201(b) and 303(r) of the Communications Act are sources of FCC authority to adopt such a rule, they said: "It is safe to say that there is virtually no part of a broadcaster's operations that are within its 'unqualified' control and immune from the Commission's regulatory authority absent an express and specific withdrawal of that authority by Congress." ATVA/Mediacom also said the FCC's requiring that a broadcaster consent to interim carriage would be akin to its authority to deem an interim franchise to have been granted to a competing cable operator after a franchising authority failed to act on a pending franchise application. Congress directed the agency to prohibit unreasonable denials of franchises, and the FCC would be now allowing unreasonable denials of retrans consent by requiring interim carriage, they said.
The FCC signed off officially on Charter Communications' buys of Bright House Networks and Time Warner Cable with conditions, the agency said in a news release Friday. The order, including conditions, is expected to be issued in the coming days, one agency source told us. Charter in a statement said the conditions in the order largely "codified or reflected specific commitments" it made at the start of the transaction review process. The operator noted that the curbs include settlement-free peering, no usage-based billing, provision of a low-income broadband program and buildout of its high-speed broadband footprint. An OK was expected after the deals worth about $90 billion were announced (see 1507160021) and last week, when most FCC members had OK'd the deals (see 1605050049).
A majority of commissioners have signed off on Charter/TWC/BHN approval, with it now in "must-vote" status, FCC and cable industry sources tell us. Commissioner Mike O'Rielly approved Charter Communications' buying Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks, with dissents in some parts, while Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel also approved, an FCC official told us. The official didn't provide details on the dissents. Meanwhile, Commissioner Ajit Pai voted "no" Thursday, an FCC source said. Commissioner Mignon Clyburn's office didn't comment.
The FCC staff's final OK of Altice's buy of Cablevision is notably absent of conditions, in contrast to those in a draft order OK'ing Charter Communications' buys of Bright House Networks and Time Warner Cable, said cable insiders and observers Wednesday. That could reflect the smaller size of the Cablevision deal or just that the FCC has been particularly preoccupied with Charter/TWC/BHN, they said in interviews. "I have to believe in many ways Altice benefited from Charter coming in," one independent cable programming executive said. "Charter sucked all the wind out of the room."
Comcast's trial of a 1 terabyte monthly data allowance (see 1604270058) could mean more companies offering similar large data caps, industry experts tell us. Some public interest groups, meanwhile, said the Comcast plan is evidence that data caps themselves are somewhat indefensible. "Comcast's sudden shift to a larger cap now indicates just how easily it could shift back down in the future, perhaps under a more favorable regulatory environment," emailed Sarah Morris, director-open Internet policy at New America's Open Technology Institute.
Arguments that only money, not in-kind requirements, can be counted as franchise fees by local franchise authorities (LFAs) were settled by 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in its 2008 Alliance for Community Media v. FCC decision (see 0806300119) and shouldn't be rehashed, said the FCC and intervenor allies in briefs in a newer 6th Circuit case. They (see here and here in Pacer) were filed Friday with the 6th Circuit in a consolidated challenge to 2007 and 2015 FCC orders on video franchising rules. A lawyer for one of the parties said there likely will be oral argument this fall, after a reply brief by the petitioners.
With OneWeb hoping to get the beginnings of its planned 720-satellite network in orbit as soon as late 2017, the company is seeking access to the U.S. market for its planned low earth orbit (LEO) non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) constellation. But OneWeb's petition for declaratory ruling (PDR) filed Thursday with the FCC International Bureau could face challenges in the first major test of NGSO fixed satellite service (FSS) rules crafted during the last NGSO satellite boom, but for much smaller constellations, satellite industry experts tell us. Meanwhile, the agency is preparing some updates.
Charter Communications hopes to close on Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks "within a few days" of the California Public Utilities Commission's expected May 12 vote, if the CPUC approves it and the FCC has given approval by then, CEO Tom Rutledge said during the company's Q1 earnings call. TWC CEO Rob Marcus, in a separate earnings call also on Thursday, said the company is "optimistic the transaction will close sometime next month."