A group of broadcasters and the NAB asked the FCC to stay a recent order that will let the so-called DTV viewability requirements for cable operators expire (CD June 13 p6). In a stay petition filed this week (http://xrl.us/bni6du), Agape Church, London Broadcasting, Una Vez Mas and the NAB argued the commission’s June order was counter to multiple sections of the Communications Act, violated the Administrative Procedure Act and will lead to irreparable harm to TV stations if it’s not stayed. The order let cable operators stop carrying must-carry stations in both analog and digital after Dec. 12, if they make certain equipment available to analog subscribers.

DirecTV growth in its Latin American market continues to exceed expectations and it had strong average revenue per user (APRU) growth in its U.S. market, as total Q2 revenue grew 9 percent to $7.22 billion. But the carriage agreement dispute with Viacom last month increased churn, though it allowed the company to stress its concern for keeping prices low for subscribers, DirecTV CEO Mike White said Thursday during an earnings call. Other multichannel video programming distributors also have had blackouts with broadcast and pay-TV programmers amid rising MVPD concerns about increasing content costs. (See separate report in this issue.)

Hopes for a comprehensive cybersecurity bill collapsed Thursday as the Senate failed to invoke cloture on the Cybersecurity Act (S-3414) by a 52-47 vote. Sponsors and opponents of the bill were unable to agree on the best way to secure critical infrastructure from attack, despite a flurry of last-minute meetings to hammer out a solution to their differences. Though members said they would continue to refine the bill, the Senate leaves on recess Friday without a clear path forward on cybersecurity and won’t return until September when the electoral season will be in high gear.

Charter Communications, in bankruptcy three years ago, is impressing Wall Street with a growing subscriber base and favorable positioning against competitors under its third CEO in two years. That’s setting up a revival that could enable it to expand its broadband network and boost its presence in Washington, D.C., industry and company officials told us. A question is whether Washington could help fuel growth for Charter through money from the FCC’s new USF for broadband fund, industry officials said.

FCC staff Wednesday conducted a last instructional webinar for broadcasters preparing for the new online public file display system debuting the next day that staff said will make it easy for the public to access the documents without having to physically view them at a TV station. The online instructional was hastily scheduled after audio problems delayed Tuesday afternoon’s session by more than an hour, causing many participants to leave early, said broadcast lawyer Harry Cole of Fletcher Heald (http://bit.ly/OpVRk3).

The U.S. will attempt to block controversial Internet regulatory proposals, which the government believes would threaten the Web’s free flow of information, ahead of the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT), U.S. delegation head Terry Kramer said Wednesday, in remarks at the Information Technology Industry Council. The U.S. plans to release a key document Friday, when it will submit its initial set of proposals for WCIT to the ITU, which is hosting WCIT in Dubai Dec. 3-4 to revise the treaty-level International Telecommunications Regulations (ITRs).

Halo Wireless lost another battle in Missouri as the Public Service Commission ruled the company that recently converted to Chapter 7 liquidation was operating illegally and without proper certification. “Halo has committed a material breach of the ICA [interconnection agreement] with AT&T Missouri by delivering substantial amounts of landline-originated traffic and therefore authorizes and directs AT&T Missouri to immediately cease performance under the ICA with Halo,” the PSC said. “Halo is liable to AT&T Missouri for access charges on the interexchange landline traffic that Halo delivered to AT&T Missouri and that AT&T Missouri delivered to its end user customers.” The Missouri investigation into the Texas-based Halo will continue for two more weeks, and the PSC order will become effective Aug. 13 and the file closed Aug. 14, the 70-page ruling late Wednesday said (http://bit.ly/QssYnq).

The FCC has a “very solid record” for launching a rulemaking on a Next Generation Air-Ground Communications Service on a secondary licensed basis in the 14.0-14.5 GHz band, for offering broadband on commercial flights, Qualcomm said in reply comments filed at the FCC in docket RM-11640. Qualcomm filed technical papers earlier this year, making its case for the allocation, along with petition for rulemaking. In May, the International Bureau sought comment.

The White House and leaders from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and National Security Agency (NSA) threw their weight behind the floundering Senate Cybersecurity Act (S-3414) Wednesday. Meanwhile, the bill’s sponsors held a series of meetings at the Capitol with Senate negotiators and the opponents of the bill to try to reach an accord before the chamber leaves for its August recess. The Senate was expected to hold a cloture vote on Thursday to consider the bill.

Public Knowledge brought to the FCC allegations that Comcast has been favoring its Internet Protocol-video traffic over that of third parties (CD May 16 p3). In a petition filed with the agency Wednesday, the nonprofit group that’s backed the commission’s net neutrality rules said the way Comcast treated video traffic for its Xfinity video apps on TiVos and Xboxes hits on the concerns the regulator raised in the 2011 order approving Comcast’s takeover of NBCUniversal. “A consumer trying to decide between a number of OTT [over the top] video options on her Xbox 360 or TiVo knows that all of her choices count against her Comcast broadband data cap -- except the choice offered by Comcast,” the petition said.