Comcast said it wouldn’t change NBC Universal’s relationship with Hulu.com. The renewed promise came after a blackout by News Corp. of Fox video on the website was brought up in relation to Comcast’s deal to buy control of NBC Universal. It was Comcast’s first comment to the FCC on the Cablevision-Fox retransmission consent dispute and on News Corp.’s decision to temporarily block Cablevision broadband customers from Fox video on Fox.com and Hulu, which is partly owned by NBC Universal and News Corp. (CD Oct 19 p5). The FCC criticized Cablevision for using PR tactics in the retrans dispute. About 18 hours later, Cablevision said it’s willing to pay what News Corp. seeks from another major cable operator for carriage of two of three blacked-out TV stations. Fox rejected the offer hours after it was made.
Career FCC staffers are reviewing responses from Cablevision and Fox to see whether negotiations that led up to a carriage blackout that’s in its 12th day were done in good faith, agency and industry officials said. They said Media Bureau staffers are reviewing the responses received late Monday from the companies on their retransmission consent dispute (CD Oct 26 p8) to determine whether to fine either or both if they're found to have acted in bad faith. If the bureau finds that FCC rules on retrans talks were broken, it could have the policy basis to order interim carriage. Because the bureau still lacks a complaint, it may not have statutory authority to order Fox’s three stations in the New York and Philadelphia areas back onto Cablevision, agency and industry officials said.
CTIA urged the FCC to rely on a collaborative process for developing requirements for hearing-aid compatible (HAC) handsets based on new technologies that go beyond CMRS. But two groups representing the hearing impaired said the FCC should adopt strong requirements that are of maximum benefit for those with hearing loss. Comments were due this week on a rulemaking approved by the commission at its Aug. 5 meeting.
Industry commenters saw potential problems in various proposals by the FCC to change its rules to push more use of spectrum for wireless backhaul, as proposed in part in the National Broadband Plan. Comments on the Aug. 5 proposals were due this week. The comments said more use of wireless backhaul could both cut the cost of CMRS service and mean better coverage in rural areas (CD Aug 6 p5). The NBP proposed extensive spectrum sharing among the Broadcast Auxiliary Service (BAS), the Cable Television Relay Service (CARS) and the Fixed Service, sought comment on the use of adaptive modulation and on a Wireless Strategies proposal to allow FS licensees to coordinate primary and multiple auxiliary links.
NEW ORLEANS -- In a move likely to raise industry hackles, some senior cable engineers are pushing for cable operators to adopt more flexible programming packages to stave off growing competition from such over-the-top (OTT) video providers as Apple, Netflix and Google. Without using the dreaded “a la carte” term, cable technology executives at the Society of Cable Telecom Engineers (SCTE) convention last week urged their counterparts to consider breaking up their traditional subscription packages into smaller chunks of channels and shows. Now that Internet video providers are offering consumers the ability to order individual shows, the engineers said, cable operators should think about changing their decades-old practice of only selling broad tiers and packages.
A term sheet on NAB’s performance royalty position adopted by its radio board late Monday and approved Tuesday by the TV board drew criticism from other industry groups. The NAB sent the term sheet to the MusicFirst coalition Monday night and said it would only support legislation to institute a performance royalty for terrestrial radio broadcasters that mimicked it. The coalition said it differed from an agreement the groups had reached over the summer. But NAB CEO Gordon Smith said no such agreement had been reached as talks between the parties continued (CD Sept 29 p6).
The S-band spectrum allocated to mobile satellite service is largely expected to be lost as a primarily satellite band, satellite industry executives and lawyers said. The FCC proceeding involved isn’t a major source of interest to companies outside the bands, and there’s little concern over other domestic repurposing of satellite spectrum, they said.
Lack of clarity on VoIP at the federal level opens the door to additional state activity, state officials told us. Regulators in states like Wisconsin are looking at VoIP issues, including authority over the technology. The Wisconsin Public Service Commission had a prehearing Tuesday and will look into the appropriate level of regulation on VoIP. A decision is expected in July.
Congress is unlikely to make changes soon to retransmission consent rules despite stepped up lobbying by pay-TV companies trying to make the most of an ongoing dispute between Cablevision and News Corp., according to broadcast, cable and Capitol Hill officials. A bill on FCC handling of such disputes that Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., has said he'll introduce soon (CD Oct 20 p1) seems unlikely to pass this Congress, they said. Legislators focused on getting re-elected means there’s less time to pay attention now to the blackout of three Fox TV stations owned by News Corp. on Cablevision systems in the New York area, a cable executive acknowledged.
An FCC vote on net neutrality principles proposed by Chairman Julius Genachowski in September 2009 appears unlikely before the January open meeting, industry and some agency officials said. Genachowski in particular appears ready to give Congress one last chance to approve net neutrality and broadband reclassification legislation during an expected lame-duck session, though congressional action seems unlikely.