Accessibility rules for TVs, set-top boxes and devices designed to receive or play back video took effect Tuesday, said the FCC Media Bureau in a reminder public notice included in Tuesday's Daily Digest. The rules require manufacturers of devices built beginning that and designed for watching video -- such as TVs, smartphones and tablets -- ensure the basic functions of such devices are accessible to the visually impaired and include a simple way to activate accessibility functions, the PN said. Set-top devices used for navigating pay-TV content built or leased after Tuesday must ensure that on-screen menus and guides have an audible version for the visually impaired and a simple way to display closed captioning, if the device is capable of doing so, the PN said. Smaller multichannel video programming distributors don't have to comply until Dec. 20, 2018, and manufacturers of display-only monitors and video projectors have until Dec. 20, 2021, the PN said.
Citing the holidays and other upcoming time conflicts, Game Show Network and Cablevision are proposing 11 extra days for filings on last month's FCC administrative law judge initial decision (see 1611230046) on GSN's carriage discrimination complaint against the operator. In a motion for extension for time Tuesday in docket 12-122, GSN said it and Cablevision agreed on an extension, and the Enforcement Bureau doesn't object. In their agreement, Jan. 3 would be the deadline for opposition to GSN's petition to compel compliance (see 1612090002) and for exceptions to ALJ Richard Sippel's decision, instead of Dec. 23, with Jan. 13 being the deadline for replies to the exceptions and the opposition.
Charter Communications wants a federal judge to prod Missouri to provide documents about the complaints that are the basis of the state's Telemarketing Sales Rule lawsuit against it. In a motion (in Pacer) to compel document production filed Monday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis, Charter said it wants unredacted versions of the complaints filed by Missouri consumers regarding unlawful phone calls. It said the state is resisting Charter's request to depose the roughly 350 consumers about their complaints, so it wants other types of complaints those same consumers made to the state. In both cases, the cable operator said, Missouri hasn't complied. The company said the documents are relevant and not protected, and the request for other complaints filed is proportionate to the needs of the case. Charter asked the court to order the state to pay the company's expenses for preparing the motion to compel. The complaint (in Pacer), filed in October 2015, alleged Charter and third-party telemarketing firms it hired regularly called Missouri residents, trying to sell them cable, internet or voice service, even after being told to quit calling. The state didn't comment Tuesday.
Comcast is offering customers a free trial through Sunday of its X1 platform enhanced movie extras offering, it said in a news release Friday. Through the service -- which Comcast said it created with Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, Lionsgate, Paramount Home Media Distribution and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment -- viewers who digitally buy certain movie titles also get extras such as photo galleries and video clips that update as the movie plays, games, set tours and maps. Comcast said it expects to expand the number of movies and studios in 2017.
The FCC Media Bureau is extending the comments deadlines by about a month in the independent and diverse programming rulemaking, as Covington & Burling sought last week (see 1612140045). In an order Monday, the bureau set the new comment deadline for Jan. 26, with replies due Feb. 22. It said the FCC doesn't routinely give time extensions, but "the issues raised in this proceeding are complex and important to a wide range of interested parties, and we seek to encourage robust participation in the proceeding."
Rogers Communications will begin deploying Comcast's X1 platform in early 2018, it announced Friday. Before the X1 launch, Rogers said, it will make changes to its existing video platform, including additional 4K content and a 4K personal video recorder. The Canada cable company said it's moving to X1 "to ensure it has access to the scale and technical roadmap needed to meet the ongoing pace of IPTV innovation." Comcast previously licensed X1 to Cox Communications in the U.S. and Canada's Shaw (see 1507230038).
Most multichannel video programming distributor stocks outperformed the market in recent years, but there's still reason to believe they're undervalued and will continue to do well in 2017, given expectations of lower taxes, less regulation and lower capital intensity, MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett wrote investors Thursday. He said Communications Act Title II reclassification of broadband was, at its core, setting the stage for broadband price regulation eventually, and the reversal of reclassification under a GOP FCC and deregulatory White House "is a matter of when, not if." That reclassification reversal probably would preserve net neutrality principles while taking away Title II as the administrative means, he said. It also could open the door to bigger charges for interconnection and to usage-based pricing, he said. Moffett also said the rise of over-the-top video and app-centric video consumption will mean less capital spending on set-top boxes. Conversely, he said, the biggest MVPD challenge in 2017 is 5G, even though deployment will take years. OTT is a somewhat lesser concern, though Hulu and maybe Google likely will launch OTT offerings in 2017, Moffett said. Comcast is expected to launch its wireless service in mid-2017, but cable's entry "will be a slow gradual process," the analyst emailed investors.
Comcast Cable plans to add a pair of substantially African-American owned independent networks to cable lineups in some markets by January 2019. The company in a news release Thursday said the recruitment is part of the commitments it made in its 2011 acquisition of NBCUniversal. It also said since buying NBCU, it launched two African-American majority-owned networks, Aspire and Revolt, and two Hispanic-American operated networks, Baby First Americas and El Rey. It said two Hispanic-American-owned networks, Kids Central and Primo TV, will debut on Comcast Cable systems in January. Comcast said it's accepting proposals for the substantially African-American-owned indie networks through March 15. A U.S. District judge in October threw out a complaint against Comcast by Entertainment Studios Networks and the National Association of African American Owned Media alleging racism in Comcast's decision not to carry ESN networks (see 1610060002).
The FCC Media Bureau approved a Comcast request to avoid cable rate regulation in Boston. In an order Thursday, the bureau said it rejected arguments by the city and the Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Cable (MDTC) that Boston wasn't subject to effective competition. The bureau said there was no merit to the city's assertion that RCN subscribers should be excluded from a calculation of the number of households subscribing to a multichannel video programming distributor other than Comcast. It said even if it accepts Boston and MDTC arguments that Comcast overcounted subscribers to rival MVPD services by counting nonresidences such as summer homes and dormitories, the number of subscribing households still exceeds the level needed for effective competition.
Regional sports networks (RSNs) are the most-essential nonbroadcast channels for sports fan viewers, Fox Sports said in a news release Wednesday as it pointed to the results of a Nielsen Media Analytics Primary Research study on RSNs. Fox Sports said that according to the study it commissioned, looking at more than 1,500 pay-TV subscribers nationwide who described themselves as sports fans, those surveyed named RSNs as their fifth most-important channels behind the big four broadcasters. The unit of 21st Century Fox said that in St. Louis, the local RSN -- Fox Sports Midwest -- was named more essential than any other channel, while in Detroit, Fox Sports Detroit was ranked the second most-essential network.