Imposing the right window determining how soon consumers can watch Viacom shows online or on mobile devices is vital to the company’s strategy in extending its distribution to the platforms, CEO Philippe Dauman said Thursday on the fiscal Q1 earnings teleconference. “A window makes it complementary” to Viacom’s traditional businesses “and makes the revenue that we're getting under this deal incremental,” he said. Dauman was referring to a new deal with Hulu that will bring some Viacom shows back to Hulu.com and add programming to Hulu’s nascent subscription service, Hulu Plus.

The FCC expanded its ex parte rules to require filings be made in most active proceedings after any lobbying conversation with commissioners, their aides or other agency officials. An order approved by the commissioners and released late Wednesday largely stuck to a draft that circulated in October (CD Oct 29 p2) in also doubling the amount of time in which most ex parte filings can be made to two business days. That would have made on-time some of the recent late filings we found in our review, as many were made a day late. But advocates for ex parte reform focused on the order’s expansion of the ex parte rules.

An FCC data roaming mandate is critical to help a newer challenger like T-Mobile complete with Verizon Wireless and AT&T, T-Mobile told the commission by letter. Data roaming means job growth, the carrier said. Sprint Nextel also urged the FCC this week to move forward on a data roaming requirement, which was recommended in the National Broadband Plan.

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The Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bipartisan measure designed to speed up the patent system. The committee voted 15-0 on S-23. Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, voted present. The committee delayed a vote on a separate bill by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., to extend until December 2013 three provisions of the Patriot Act scheduled to expire Feb. 28.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected Verizon’s request that the panel of judges who heard the Comcast case and ruled in April against the commission be assigned to its challenge of the FCC’s net neutrality order. The court has yet to rule on a motion asking the court to accept the case. Other challenges to the order, approved 3-2 in December, are considered likely, including from net neutrality supporters who want tougher rules.

Alaska’s second statewide test of its emergency alert systems through radio and TV stations and cable operators last week -- following one a year ago that had major problems -- was a success, participants told us. The lessons from those tests, and exercises across other states, may help prepare broadcasters, cable operators, government officials and others for a nationwide emergency alert test, industry officials said. The national test could come late this year (CD Feb 2 p3), under draft FCC rules that some commissioners have already approved, agency officials said.

NTIA must soon convince a Congress concerned about federal spending to pay millions of dollars so the agency can conduct oversight of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s $4.7 billion Broadband Technology Opportunities Program. In December, the lame-duck Congress passed a continuing resolution increasing NTIA’s budget by about $20 million to $40.6 million, in part to pay for BTOP oversight. The resolution expires March 4. With one month to go and the GOP-controlled House looking for budget cuts, some fiscal conservatives are looking at NTIA.

Cable and telecom companies in Virginia back a state legislative proposal to cap pole attachment rates, while co-ops are pushing their own measures in the state legislature, officials told us. Meanwhile, the State Corporation Commission raised concern over the proposed 2011 Telecom Modernization bill. Legislation sponsored by Del. Bill Janis (R) would alter the current arrangement by making the State Corporation Commission the arbiter of disputes between co-ops and companies seeking to link to their poles. The bill would cap the rates that co-ops can charge at an amount not higher than what regulated utility companies charge for similar pole connections.

Dish Network’s proposed purchase of bankrupt S-band licensee DBSD (CD Feb 2 p8) came right after the FCC’s LightSquared waiver approval (CD Jan 27 p1), yet it remains difficult to predict if Dish could garner similar waiver treatment from the agency, said industry executives. Dish has numerous options for use of the spectrum and much will depend on specific plans before it’s clear that Dish will even need such approval, they said. Its agreement to buy DBSD for $1 billion is still contingent on bankruptcy court and FCC approval.