The FCC asked how it should interpret the terms “multichannel video programming distributor” and “channel” in the context of a program access dispute brought by Sky Angel against Discovery Communications. In a public notice released Friday (http://xrl.us/bmzw8r), the Media Bureau asked what would be the most appropriate interpretation of the terms and the larger policy implications. The notice puts up for comment two possible interpretations raised in the proceeding. In one, “channel” would be defined to include “the provision of a transmission path, thus treating MVPDs as only those entities that make available for purchase multiple streams of video programming, as well as the transmission path,” the notice said. In the other, “channel” would be defined as programming network, so that “any entity that makes multiple “video programming networks’ available for purchase is considered an ‘MVPD,'” whether or not it also provides the transmission path.
Wireline carriers are arguing over a proposal that would expand eligibility for incremental support funding under the Connect America Fund Phase I program. The American Cable Association and the NCTA came out Thursday against the proposal introduced in March by the Independent Telephone & Telecommunications Alliance, CenturyLink, Frontier and Windstream (CD Mar 8 p10).
Class A stations are readying responses to orders to show why they shouldn’t lose FCC interference protection and face channel changes without reimbursement or go off the air for good because there will be fewer vacant frequencies, industry lawyers and executives said. Longtime attorneys from Fletcher Heald, Wiley Rein and other law firms whose clients got Media Bureau show-cause orders met last week to try to map out strategy, some said. The bureau has continued to send letters of inquiry (CD March 21 p3) to other low-power broadcasters asking them to answer why they're qualified to keep Class A status.
Smaller carriers face death from a thousand cuts if they can’t compete with dominant industry players Verizon Wireless and AT&T, CEOs from Rural Cellular Association member companies said Friday, the final day of RCA’s spring meeting. The CEOs stressed the importance of rules requiring interoperability across the 700 MHz band, the subject of a recent FCC notice of proposed rulemaking (CD March 22 p2).
Congress has made little headway on IP legislation the White House said amid glowing enforcement statistics in it’s annual IP report released Friday. Despite offering at least 11 copyright bills this session, Congress was only able to enact two of the administration’s 20 IP legislative recommendations in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the report said.
The retransmission agreement dispute between Tribune and DirecTV keeps the debate going about whether the FCC or Congress should get involved when there’s a threat of a blackout, some broadcast and cable analysts and attorneys said. The contract, which was to have expired Saturday before midnight, covered retransmission of 23 TV stations and cable network WGN America (CD March 28 p17). The two sides had no update late last week, after Tribune warned its viewers they might lose access to stations affiliated with the CW and Fox networks.
TORONTO -- Cable engineers are debating the best way to make the big transition to all-Internet Protocol service delivery, now that operators are starting to embrace IP video technology. Speaking at the Society of Cable Telecom Engineers’ Canadian meeting last week, senior cable technologists spelled out several different ways to use bonded DOCSIS 3.0 broadband channels to transmit IP video programming to customers’ homes. By bonding several channels together, operators believe they can cobble together the capacity needed to carry bandwidth-rich IP video content.
TORONTO -- Scrambling to upgrade to Internet Protocol video transmission as quickly as possible, four of North America’s largest cable operators don’t think existing cable set-top boxes, TV sets and other legacy video devices will disappear from homes for many years to come. At the Society of Cable Telecom Engineers Canadian conference last week, top engineering executives from Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Rogers Communications and Bright House Networks said they view IP video as the best way to deliver more advanced features and applications to subscribers, such as multi-screen video, network DVR service, interactive TV applications and converged services. They see IP video as the best way to reach the rapidly growing number of new IP-enabled devices, including smart TVs, game consoles, tablets and smart phones.
The FCC took the next step toward its goal of digitizing U.S. schools by 2017. Chairman Julius Genachowski and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan hosted a meeting Thursday with education technology executives, including leaders from Apple, Discovery Education and the Leading Education by Advancing Technology (LEAD) Commission, to discuss concrete steps to meet the challenge to digitize the U.S. education system. Genachowski and Duncan have challenged U.S. schools to switch to using only digital textbooks in five years and endorsed the Digital Textbook Collaborative, an initiative to meet that goal (CD Feb 10 p4).
NTIA’s 1755-1850 MHz report could be bad news for Verizon, SpectrumCo and Cox and their proposed spectrum deal. The long timetables and huge price tags baked into Tuesday’s report mean more pressure on the FCC as it reviews whether to approve the sale of AWS licenses from the cable operators to Verizon, commission officials said.