Twenty House lawmakers urged the FCC not to relax the agency’s broadcast indecency rules. “We urge you to reject any and all proposals that would relax current policies to only target so called egregious offenses,” said the letter to Chairman Julius Genachowski this week (http://bit.ly/103l1q9). “It is unacceptable to relax a constructive standard to expose individuals to profanity and nudity, no matter how fleeting, simply because the standard generates too many complaints.” Last month the FCC issued a notice seeking feedback on whether the agency should pursue enforcement against isolated acts of indecency, or focus solely on more significant violations (CD April 2 p1). The letter was signed by 19 Republicans and one Democrat: Reps. Randy Forbes, R-Va.; Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.; Tim Huelskamp, R-Kan.; Trent Franks, R-Ariz.; Alan Nunnelee, R-Miss.; James Lankford, R-Okla.; John Fleming, R-La.; Frank Wolf, R-Va.; Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla.; Keith Rothfus, R-Pa.; Kerry Bentivolio, R-Mich.; Mike McIntyre, D-N.C.; Tim Walberg, R-Mich.; Jeff Miller, R-Fla.; Walter Jones, R-N.C.; Gregg Harper, R-Miss.; Doug Collins, R-Ga.; Steve Pearce, R-N.M.; Louie Gohmert, R-Texas; and Vicky Hartzler, R-Mo.
Clarification: A working group of FirstNet board members made a recommendation to select Bill D'Agostino as general manager of FirstNet and the full board voted unanimously to hire him (CD May 1 p3).
Comcast reported a Q1 revenue increase of 2.9 percent to $15.3 billion, vs. the year-ago period, said a release from the company Wednesday (http://bit.ly/159UmAA). The company had profit of $1.45 billion, a $198 million decline. Along with the revenue rise, the company reported a 16 percent increase in capital expenditures to $1.4 billion. Comcast said the increase was partially caused by its cable business “primarily reflecting [Comcast’s] ongoing investment in network infrastructure and the expansion of Business Services and Xfinity Home Cable.” Revenue for the company’s cable division also went up by 6.4 percent to $10.2 billion. Comcast said that the number of customers for combined video, broadband and voice increased by 583,000 or 3.2 percent. The company has a total of 51.9 million customers for the services, a 3 percent increase, said the release. Revenue for NBCUniversal decreased 2.4 percent to $5.3 billion. “Cable’s results highlight revenue growth in every product, led by video and high-speed Internet, and overall customer growth, as we continue to effectively balance financial and customer performance,” said Comcast CEO Brian Roberts.
Since launching its Twitter feed in 2010, Time Warner Cable’s customer service department, which recently changed its Twitter handle to @TWC_Help, has increased the average number of customers assisted per month by 375 percent, the company said in a release Wednesday. The team responds to an average of several thousand calls per week, it said.
By Light Professional IT Services signed a contract to provide satellite bandwidth and terrestrial services to the U.S. Army Asymmetric Warfare Group. Under the five-year, $6 million contract, By Light will support operations, contingencies, training and exercises in operational theaters around the world, it said in a press release. The contract allows federal agencies “to acquire professional satellite engineering services and build custom end-to-end satellite solutions with small business industry partners,” it said.
Viacom revenue in the quarter ended March 31 fell 6 percent from the same period in 2012, to $3.14 billion, said a news release Wednesday. The company’s profit this quarter was $486 million, down $110 million from the same quarter last year, it said. Viacom said the revenue drop was caused by a 20 percent drop to $941 million in Filmed Entertainment revenue, but touted a 2 percent, or $2.23 billion, increase in Media Networks revenue “due to an increase in advertising, affiliate and ancillary revenues.” The release also mentioned a 38 percent decrease in worldwide home entertainment revenue, which Viacom said was “due to the number and mix of titles released, and lower carryover and catalog revenues.” Viacom also blamed a 9 percent decrease to $847 million in operating income on the lower Filmed Entertainment results and an increase in Media Networks expenses. Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman said “ratings are up at several networks, and advertising revenues have returned to year-over-year growth."
The NAB asked the FCC for a one-month extension on deadlines for replying to the agency’s request for comments on its indecency policy, said a letter filed with the commission last week. The FCC put out a public notice asking for comments on enforcement of its indecency policy last month (CD April 2 p1). The NAB said it needs the extension because of the complexity of the issue, the need to gather information from its large membership, and the legal implications. “We observe that previous changes to the Commission’s indecency policies nearly a decade ago proved controversial and ultimately produced multiple legal challenges,” said the NAB letter. “Because changes in indecency policies pursuant to this notice may prove similarly controversial ... the comment period must be sufficient to provide all interested parties the time and opportunity to consider and present their views.” The NAB letter (http://bit.ly/130iqlX) asks that the deadlines move from May 20 to June 19 for comments and from June 18 to July 18 for reply comments.
Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., won the Democratic special primary election Tuesday to fill the Senate seat vacated by Secretary of State John Kerry. Markey defeated Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., and will now face Gabriel Gomez, a businessman and former U.S. Navy SEAL, who won the Republican primary Tuesday, in the June 25 special general election.
Lockheed Martin received a contract extension of about $167 million from NASA for facilities development and operations to support spaceflight. The contract is extended for one year through Sept. 30, 2014, and increases the total value to $1 billion, Lockheed said in a press release (http://bit.ly/11XAuea). Under the contract, Lockheed provides support for the hardware, software, data and display systems used to train for and execute all human spaceflight missions supported by the Mission Operations Directorate, it said. The contract is part of Lockheed’s and NASA’s effort to update the Christopher C. Kraft, Jr. Mission Control Center in Houston, Lockheed said.
TeleCommunication Systems received a $4 million contract from the U.S. Army for satellite modems. The TCS TotalCom portfolio offers highly secure communication solutions and complete end-to-end managed services “for converged (IP-based) voice, video and data solutions to organizations requiring seamless and secure connectivity between fixed sites and remote operations,” TCS said in a press release (http://bit.ly/11CfpW1). The procurement is funded through the Army’s $5 billion World-Wide Satellite Systems contract vehicle, it said.