The FCC sided with the New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel in its appeal of a New Jersey Board of Public Utilities order approving cable equipment rates. In an order Wednesday, the FCC Media Bureau said the Rate Counsel was right that the BPU shouldn't have approved a 50 cents per month digital TV adapter (DTA) fee that Comcast charged customers who use analog TVs and subscribe to a digital basic service tier, thus requiring such adapters, plus a $1.99 per month digital outlet fee that includes the DTA because those rates exceed what Comcast calculated they would be, discriminate among tiers in Comcast's DTA charges, and include excessive maintenance and repair costs.
The FCC's draft order approving Charter Communications' buys of Bright House Networks and Time Warner Cable (see 1604250039) lacks some key conditions that should be imposed to remedy what Stop Mega Cable sees as anti-competitive harms inherent in the deals, coalition members told Commissioner Mignon Clyburn and an aide to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel in meetings, according to an ex parte filing Wednesday in docket 15-149. The needed conditions include requiring that a stand-alone broadband service be offered with a minimum 60 Mbps download/4 Mbps upload speed and never slower than any broadband service it offers bundled, coalition members said. They also told the FCC that there needs to be a condition on programming diversity stronger than a memorandum of understanding, as MOUs "have proven to be ineffective for the most part," with Charter's MOU "even lighter than most" as it has renewal of one African American-oriented programming service. In a statement, Charter said it appreciates "the careful consideration by the Commissioners since the Chairman circulated his approval order" and expects approval "soon." The ex parte filing recapped meetings involving coalition members representing beIN Sports, Common Cause, Consumers Union, Dish Network and Public Knowledge. It was expected that Clyburn and Rosenworcel in particular would be the targets of lobbying efforts by parties trying to influence or strengthen the conditions in the draft order (see 1604260046).
Comcast "cannot wish away" commitments made to NBC TV affiliates when it bought NBCUniversal, which is what it's trying to do in its motion to dismiss WHDH Boston's lawsuit (see 1604130058), the station said in an opposition (in Pacer) filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Boston. WHDH said the problems in Comcast's legal argument include "an unduly narrow reading" of the binding commitments it made affiliates and "a constrained application" of antitrust principles. It said it "easily meets" the standards for filing a claim under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 93A because that broad law doesn't specifically define the "unfair" and "deceptive" acts it prohibits, and it likewise has properly alleged Comcast has breached contractual obligations, which "is sufficient to survive a motion to dismiss," and antitrust claims. Comcast didn't comment Tuesday. The station is suing Comcast, alleging it violated an agreement with NBC affiliates made as part of Comcast's buy of NBCUniversal by planning to switch the NBC affiliation from WHDH to an owned-and-operated station (see 1603110031).
Comcast's arguments that an Entertainment Studios/National Association of African American Owned Media response to its objection was late filed "suggests Comcast has no effective response to Petitioners' showing," said Entertainment Studios and NAAAOM in a filing Monday in docket 10-56. While Comcast argues the response to its objection (see 1604050018) was due April 11, not the April 15 it was filed on, Entertainment Studios/NAAAOM said the deadline actually was April 18 in part because of the additional days granted to a pleading if the replies are directed by mail, and thus it "was early, not late." The FCC and Comcast didn't comment.
Univision signed up for Nielsen's National and Local Digital in TV Ratings services to get estimates of linear viewing online, the ratings company said in a news release Monday. With the deal, Univision Network and UniMas become the first Spanish-language broadcasters to include Nielsen's digital audience data in their TV ratings, it said.
Hallmark Cards finalized its takeover of Crown Media Holdings, taking the operator of the Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries networks private (see 1603090083), it said in a news release Monday. Hallmark already was majority shareholder of Crown Media.
Florida's St. George Cable agreed to pay $2,500 for failing to install and maintain operational emergency alert system equipment, to operate its cable system within required signal leakage limits, to immediately suspend operations as directed by the FCC Enforcement Bureau and to register the cable system with the FCC, the bureau said in an order and consent decree Friday.
Viacom will have access to Roku data for targeted advertising on the Roku platform under a deal signed by the two companies, Viacom said Thursday. In a fiscal Q2 earnings call, CEO Philippe Dauman said the deal "will let us leverage Roku data for sophisticated ad targeting." He also said that with the carriage agreement signed earlier this month with Dish Network (see 1604210020), Viacom now has long-term deals in place with all the major distributors. He also said Viacom's Epix network will have its first original scripted series this fall. Viacom reported revenue in the quarter ended March 31 fell 3 percent to $3 billion from the year-ago period, led by declines in home entertainment and media network advertising.
Comcast will spend roughly $3.8 billion on DreamWorks Animation in an all-cash deal, making it part of its Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, the cable company said in a news release Thursday. Comcast said it expects to close on the deal by year's end, subject to antitrust approvals in the U.S. and internationally. On close, DreamWorks Animation CEO/co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg will be chairman of DreamWorks New Media, which will hold its ownership interest in Awesomeness TV and Nova, and serve as an NBCUniversal consultant, Comcast said.
The timing for the FCC announcement on proposed conditions (see 1604250039) for Charter/Bright House Networks/Time Warner Cable was dictated by the agency's close relationship with DOJ on the matter, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said during a news conference Thursday. The proposed conditions will create a “seven-year innovation and competition zone,” for broadband access and an “open opportunity,” he said.