Programmers remain “strongly opposed to any licensing construct in which the Commission has the ability to alter the provisions contained in any license that permits the distribution of copyrighted video programming,” said CBS, Viacom, Disney, Scripps, Time Warner and 21st Century Fox in a joint letter Friday responding to FCC testimony a day earlier to the Senate Commerce Committee (see 1609150045). “That is true whether the Commission’s exercise of oversight relates to a license permitting a device manufacturer to distribute content via apps, or whether such oversight relates to the private commercial agreements that programmers enter into with multichannel video programming distributors,” the programmers said in docket 16-42. “We have encouraged the Commission to include as part of any new rules certain protections to promote competition, consumer choice, and the continued investment in content, but we have never asked the FCC to interject itself into our agreements.” The approach in the draft item “neither respects the sanctity of programming agreements nor upholds the copyright licensing regime by which programming is distributed,” said representatives of NCTA, Cox, Charter Communications, Comcast and AT&T/DirecTV in a meeting with an aide to Commissioner Ajit Pai Wednesday, said a filing posted Friday. “We expressed concern that the Chairman’s proposal to require MVPDs to provide an information flow of entitlement data is unnecessary, unlawful, and like the original unbundling proposal in the NPRM, sacrifices consumer privacy.” The draft item would hurt innovation, since a requirement that the pay-TV-provided apps have to offer all the services that the MVPD set-top offers ”would prohibit the launch of any new feature in a set-top box unless equivalent functionality can be provided through all apps that are -- or once were -- widely deployed,” the pay-TV representatives said. “Requiring Commission or other licensing review and approval of proposed amendments to the standard license would also constrain innovation.” Also Friday, the House Judiciary Committee chairman and ranking member expressed concerns (see 1609160058).

Cable operators with networks that are mostly fiber shouldn't have to labor under cable signal leakage rules, said FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly in a blog post Friday. Small cable operators use small airplanes to check their networks with RF sensors to look for signal leakage from loose connections, damaged paint or cracked coaxial cables, at a cost of thousands of dollars per system -- "money that can be used to curtail rate increases or expand the network’s reach to unserved homes," O'Rielly said. Pointing to the agency's now-moribund attempts in 2012 to update its cable signal leakage rules -- which was opposed by Verizon, NTCA and others (see 1212130055) -- O'Rielly said "substantial and valid concerns were raised about other ideas in that item." He also urged the agency to focus strictly on updating its rules governing cable signal leakage in systems with a sizable fiber footprint. Since fiber systems don't produce RF leakage, he said, making them not subject to such rules would cut compliance costs and could partially incentivize fiber deployments. O'Rielly didn't give specific recommendations on how the rule should be changed. American Cable Association in a statement said the blog item "is another good example of Commissioner O’Reilly’s knack for identifying common sense updates to the Commission’s rules" and it "would welcome further discussion of this matter, which could eliminate needless burdens" on smaller cable operators. NCTA didn't comment. At an Association of Federal Communications Consulting Engineers lunch Friday, O'Rielly said: "The impact in the scheme of things might not sound earth shattering, but can quickly become significant. It seems to me a reasonable minor step we should be able to make without much controversy." According to his speech made available online, O'Rielly also said he would like the AM revitalization proceeding split off relief for the main studio rule from the final NPRM so it can be completed by year's end. He said the FCC shouldn't just approve the ATSC 3.0 standard but rewrite its rules so broadcasters can offer 3.0 in an effort to "avoid any tech mandates or overly prescriptive measures." Since "both adopting the new standard and removing barriers to allow flexibility and choice of technologies get to the same end point, why not pursue the one that sets the stage for ATSC 4.0 or 5.0?" he said.

HBO and Cinemax will become part of the lineup on Sony's PlayStation Vue streaming service, and HBO's HBO Now direct-to-consumer service will be integrated into Sony's PS3 and PS4 game consoles, PlayStation Vue head Dwayne Benefield said in a blog post Thursday. It said the Vue arrangement is the first time Cinemax and HBO live programming will be available as stand-alone channel offerings instead of as part of a bundle. Vue customers will be able to subscribe to them as stand-alone channels for $15 a month each or add them to an existing Vue plan.

Discovery Communications now offers 12 weeks of paid parental leave, and will extend the same 12 weeks to caregivers, in changes to its paid leave policy for U.S. workers. Discovery said in a news release Thursday that with the option to add up to two weeks of vacation for all parental leave and care-giving, leave will max at 14 consecutive weeks. The new leave policy is effective Jan. 1.

Google Fiber refreshed its TV user interface, the company said in a blog post Wednesday. The update includes improved DVR navigation, personalized recommendations, enhanced search and Rotten Tomatoes ratings in program descriptions, it said. New customers get the new interface right away; current customers get it “in the coming weeks,” Google said.

Cable installation company FTS USA and parent UniTek Global will pay a maximum $1.3 million to settle class-action claims of Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) violations under a proposed settlement agreement (in Pacer) filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Richmond, Virginia, by the plaintiff and defendants. The 2013 class-action suit by Kelvin Thomas alleged violations of FCRA provisions on the use of consumer reports in the hiring process. FTS and UniTek are settling '"to avoid further fees and expenses and to bring closure to this litigation," said the proposed joint settlement, which needs court approval. Up to $100,000 would go to class notice and settlement administration expenses, up to $20,000 to Thomas as named plaintiff and up to $500,000 would go to attorneys' fees and litigation costs, with the remainder to go in approximate amounts of $50 each to 7,044 impermissible use class members who don't exclude themselves from the class and $250 each to roughly 1,209 adverse action class actions. The impermissible class group consists of people who applied for jobs with the defendants between Dec. 11, 2011, and Dec. 11, 2013, when the suit was filed, and who were subject to credit report by the defendants but the defendants didn't provide the necessary written disclosure or get proper written authorization.

Oral argument in the legal challenge before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to the FCC 2015 effective competition order (see 1603300016) is 9:30 a.m. Nov. 10, according to a clerk's order this month.

Under a multiyear deal with Netflix, the streaming service will be part of Liberty Global's TV platforms in parts of Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, Liberty said in a news release Wednesday. The Netflix app will be integrated into Liberty Global set-top boxes, starting with the Netherlands and spreading to other countries as part of technology upgrades across Liberty Global's operations through 2017, the company said. Some pay-TV experts see such partnerships becoming the norm (see 1607220044).

The Copyright Royalty Board updated terminology in the regulations for royalty rates and terms for distant retransmission of stations by cable TV systems. The changes took effect Tuesday, according to a Federal Register, which said the rates, terms and gross receipts limitations for retransmission royalties remain unchanged through 2019. Copyright royalty judges also approved relocating the extant regulations to the section of Code of Federal Regulations that includes other applicable rules of the CRB. The changes apply to the period from Jan. 1, 2015, through Dec. 31, 2019.

Two cable companies objected to possible FCC regulation of their business data services. Cox Communications said direct or indirect regulation of its BDS offerings would "significantly impact" its investment decisions. Ethernet prices are falling sharply and developments such as consumer use of over-the-top BDS were pressing its business plans, said Cox filing posted Tuesday covering a meeting with senior FCC officials, including General Counsel Howard Symons, Wireline Bureau Chief Matt DelNero and Stephanie Weiner, an aide to Chairman Tom Wheeler. "Reject competitive market tests based on overly granular areas such [as] census blocks or specific locations and that required multiple competitors before finding a market competitive." When asked about a possible delay in directly price regulating new BDS entrants, Cox said such regulation should be tied to market power, with "new entrants" defined as providers starting BDS after 1996. Incompas and Verizon had suggested a three-year delay. Mediacom met separately with Symons, commissioner aides, and other staffers to oppose new regulation of competitive BDS offerings, including its "nascent" service. "Mediacom’s BDS prices have been subject to competitive pressure that has forced prices to decline markedly since 2011," said a filing, also in docket 16-143. "There is no record evidence that Mediacom’s rates are unreasonable, or that the company possesses market power. We also argued that adoption of a competitive test that defines a competitive market as those with at least four facilities-based providers is not reasonably tailored to address isolated allegations of excessive rates because it would treat nearly all markets as non-competitive."