"The CBS network has upped the ante with a consumer scare campaign” about the potential retransmission consent blackout with Time Warner Cable, said two groups. Consumer Action and the League of United Latin American Citizens cited on-screen crawls on CBS stations about the blackout, which may start as soon as Thursday morning (CD July 24 p21). “CBS is putting consumers in the middle of a fight they shouldn’t have to worry about,” said the two groups in a news release Wednesday. “While the current dispute affects only Time Warner Cable customers, the situation is likely to spread to other pay TV providers as retrans consent agreements expire and the scrapping begins all over again.” A CBS spokeswoman had no response to the groups’ statement. Citing the American Television Alliance of Time Warner Cable and other multichannel video programming distributors and some public interest groups seeking to change retrans rules, Consumer Action and LULAC said retrans fees are projected to more than double to more than $6 billion by 2018 from recent levels. Time Warner Cable was “among a number of companies that supported” Consumer Action’s 41st anniversary event in October, and the company may have backed the previous anniversary event as well, said Linda Sherry, director-national priorities for the group. Other “benefactors” for October’s event included AT&T and DirecTV, which like Time Warner Cable are members of the American Television Alliance. Google and Microsoft were among other sponsors of the event, according to its website, which Sherry referred us to (http://bit.ly/15gkNl8). She said the benefactor level is $5,000, in an email responding to our questions. Time Warner Cable is one among many MVPDs and broadcasters that contribute to LULAC, said Executive Director Brent Wilkes. “We publicly get support from all sides in this debate” on retrans, he said in response to our questions about financial ties between the group and companies affected by retrans. “We've had both sides present to us on the issue,” and LULAC isn’t “trying to pick a side on who should pay what” and doesn’t want blackouts, said Wilkes. “We represent the Latino consumer. And from the Latino consumer perspective, we believe they should have uninterrupted service they believe they're paying for when they subscribe” to an MVPD service, said Wilkes. He said Comcast, which owns both broadcast and cable properties, and ABC, Telemundo and Univision are among other contributors to LULAC.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit asked Comcast to file a response to the Tennis Channel’s en banc appeal of the D.C. Circuit’s decision in its program carriage case with Comcast, which was decided in the operator’s favor May 28. “En Banc appeals are rarely granted,” Fletcher Heald appellate lawyer Harry Cole, who is not affiliated with the case, told us. He said the request for a response indicates a majority of judges are interested in possibly rehearing the case. The request for a response doesn’t mean a rehearing will happen, but it’s a sign it could, he said. “We appreciate the circuit court’s ongoing consideration of our appeal in this important case,” said a Tennis Channel spokesman. Comcast’s response to the court is due Aug. 5. “Three judges on the court roundly rejected the FCC’s case on multiple independent grounds, and the Commission chose not to challenge the court’s ruling,” said a Comcast spokesperson by email. “We believe the ruling of the three-judge panel will be upheld if the court chooses to hear the case again."

Travelers’ Information Stations are able to broadcast any communications related to travel conditions and emergencies -- including weather information, the FCC clarified Tuesday. An order approved by FCC members and released after our deadline (http://bit.ly/143r46Y) was on the rules governing the low-power AM stations, often advertised on road signs. The rule changes “clarify” or “modestly expand the operating parameters of TIS” and will also “remove confusion about what type of content is permissible on the TIS, thus improving administrative efficiency for ... both the Commission and TIS licensees,” the order said. “These changes can lower costs and increase the effectiveness of this important public service,” said an FCC spokesperson. The agency had asked for comments on possibly expanding the role of the TIS to broadcasting other kinds of noncommercial content. The order said the agency decided not to “dilute” the TIS role of being dedicated to travel and emergency information. “We agree with the majority of commenters who believe that TIS should retain its historical focus on serving the needs of the traveling public,” said the order. Along with clarifying TIS content, the commission removed rules that barred TIS stations from simulcasting. Now, simulcasting or “ribboning” is allowed, “requiring only that simulcast TIS transmissions be relevant to travelers in the vicinity of each transmitter in the network,” the order said. The agency also issued a further NPRM requesting comment on a proposal to delete rules requiring the filtering of TIS audio frequencies above 3 kHz, which it said decreases the audibility of TIS broadcasts “while adding little to the interference protection of commercial broadcasters."

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers urged the FCC to test spectrum sharing with automobile manufacturers in the 5 GHz band as a means to expand Wi-Fi use. The request came in a letter sent Wednesday to acting FCC Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn. “It’s our hope this process will unleash the capabilities of gigabit Wi-Fi and lead the adoption of rules that ensure [Intelligent Transportation Systems] and unlicensed devices can coexist in this band,” the letter said. Then-FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski announced an initiative earlier this year to free up 195 MHz of spectrum for Wi-Fi in the 5 GHz band (CD Jan 16 p1). The auto industry is testing vehicle-to-vehicle warning systems in part of the spectrum targeted by Genachowski -- the 5850-5925 MHz band. The letter was signed by House Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif.; Subcommittee Vice Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio; Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif.; and Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif.

LIN TV Corp. increased its Class A common stock trading price by about 32 percent since announcing its merger agreement with LIN Media. The deal will allow LIN to convert to a limited liability company, it said in a Wednesday news release (http://bit.ly/11dTZ4o). When the transaction is complete, LIN will have the ability “to reduce all or a portion of a $573 million capital gain that resulted from LIN’s sale of a minority interest in a joint venture in February 2013,” it said. That venture was related to a deal with Comcast and General Electric, then co-owners of NBCUniversal, where LIN sold its stake in an NBC joint venture, wrote analyst Marci Ryvicker of Wells Fargo to investors Wednesday. Comcast now owns all of NBCUniversal.

The European Commission will fund the Pan-European Data Center Alliance (PEDCA) project, the data center’s first major government-funded research and development program, through a grant of 1.7 million euros, said the Data Center Alliance (DCA) in a news release Tuesday (http://bit.ly/14Htuah). The project, led by the DCA and the University of East London, will provide a pan-European “Academy” to devise and implement a joint action plan for the data center industry for all European Union member states, said DCA. The PEDCA project will identify and validate the ongoing research requirements for the data center industry to facilitate future funding, develop an independent and sustainable research platform and leverage the skills and experience of the players in the industry to bring their knowledge to all 27 member states, said DCA. “The Pan-European DCA project represents the coming of age for the data center industry,” said DCA Executive Director Simon Campbell-Whyte. “It is the start of the road to becoming better funded, more sustainable, more energy efficient and having the tools and support that other industries, critical to the economy, enjoy from publically funded research."

The FCC sees a need for speed in schools and libraries, and commissioners want to know how much speed is enough to promote learning in a new digital world. The agency released the text of its E-rate rulemaking notice Tuesday (http://fcc.us/1bdHgFo). The NPRM was approved at Friday’s FCC meeting (CD July 22 p1). The document asked a myriad of questions about how best to achieve the agency’s goals of increased connectedness for schools and libraries, including whether its proposed goal of high-capacity broadband connectivity to support digital learning is appropriate, and how best to measure progress on its goal. “We seek comment on how to define ‘broadband that supports digital learning,'” said the 100-page NPRM (not including appendices). Is President Barack Obama’s ConnectED initiative target of at least 100 Mbps and 1 Gbps within five years enough? What about the State Education Technology Directors Association target of Wide Area Network connectivity of schools within a school district of at least 10 Gbps per 1,000 students and staff by the 2017-18 school year? The commission also sought comment on the right bandwidth target for libraries, and on proposals by the Gates Foundation that libraries get at least 1 Gbps connectivity by 2020, with more connectivity for those with more users. What of Obama’s proposal that all schools and libraries have internal wireless networks, the commission asked. “Should we aim for 1 Mbps of wireless capacity per 10 students in classrooms and other learning spaces? What would this standard generally require to implement?"

AT&T added 551,000 postpaid subscribers during Q2 -- its best data for the quarter in four years, said the carrier Tuesday. The carrier said net income totaled $3.8 billion on $32.1 billion in consolidated revenue. The carrier’s 4G LTE network covers more than 225 million potential customers in the U.S., and AT&T expects to expand to an area covering almost 270 million potential customers in 400 markets by the end of the year. The carrier expects its LTE network will be “substantially complete” by summer 2014, it said (http://soc.att.com/1aH5qUW).

Robert Healy, 79, a longtime communications lawyer whose clients included broadcast and cable interests, died Thursday at home in Bethesda, Md., of pancreatic cancer. After working at the Smith and Pepper law firm in the 1970s he started the Gordon and Healy firm. Healy also worked for firms including Smithwick & Belendiuk, and retired in 2003. He’s survived by wife, a son and daughter and four grandchildren. Visitation is 5:30-7:30 p.m. Friday at the DeVol Funeral Home, 2222 Wisconsin Ave. NW, in Washington, and a funeral is Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Church of the Little Flower at 5607 Massachusetts Ave. in Bethesda. Donations can be made in his honor to Montgomery Hospice.

Recent reforms enacted by the Texas Legislature will save consumers millions of dollars in “unnecessary taxes,” said the Texas Cable Association on Tuesday. It’s been quick relief for Texans who have been paying the “antiquated phone tax that has changed little since it was created in the 1990s,” which mainly subsidizes basic landline telephone service, TCA said. New technologies like VoIP and wireless have changed the way Texans communicate, and living in rural parts of the state “no longer means total dependence on landline technology,” the association said. TCA praised efforts by the Public Utility Commission to cut the Texas Universal Service Fund assessment rate, and said it would “continue to fight for tax reform and transparency” for the state’s phone customers.