Dish Network will likely reach a settlement with AMC in AMC’s case against it for dropping Voom HD, Evercore analysts said in a research note. The DBS company’s strategy “is to turn going to court into a negative outcome” for AMC, they said: Even if AMC wins in court, “it stands to simultaneously lose without Dish distribution.” Dish likely wants to have extra cash in excess of the $2.5 billion for which AMC is suing, they said. For Dish’s Q2, the analysts lowered their EBITDA estimate by 4.2 percent to $800 million due to higher subscriber acquisition costs, they said. Average revenue per user growth is expected to be a challenge “given the lack of a price increase and the potential for a somewhat higher mix of lower credit quality gross adds since DTV [DirecTV] has tightened credit in 1Q,” they added. Dish said it will discuss its Q2 earnings during a conference call Aug. 8.
Bit9 secured $34.5 million in Series D funding from new partner Sequoia Capital and Atlas Venture, Highland Capital Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and .406 Ventures, the security solutions provider said (http://xrl.us/bnip8r). The capital will finance development, sales and marketing for security technology, it said.
Maryland Democratic Sens. Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin urged the FCC and the Justice Department in a letter sent last week (http://xrl.us/bnip5y) to “endeavor to protect the public interest” as they consider the proposed Verizon/SpectrumCo deal. Mikulski and Cardin said joint marketing agreements in the proposed deal could “renege” on the promise of the 1996 Telecom Act by turning former competitors into business allies. The joint marketing agreements appear to “limit Verizon’s incentive” to invest in its all-fiber FiOS network, which could potentially deprive consumers of a competitive alternative to cable’s broadband and video services, the letter said. Approval of the deal could also eliminate as many as 72,000 jobs which would have otherwise gone to build, maintain, service and sell network services related to FiOS deployment, the senators said. Verizon had no comment.
Dell SecureWorks started a new Advanced Threat Resource Center, the security information provider said (http://xrl.us/bnip5m). The program provides threat analyses, white papers, videos and webcasts for organizations to learn about, detect and respond to advanced cyber threats, Dell SecureWorks said.
Presentations from NARUC July 21-25 midyear Portland, Ore., meeting were posted online over the course of the last week (http://xrl.us/bnip2t). NARUC staff members have been adding the presentations throughout the conference and in the days since, and any not online by Monday will be soon, a spokesman told us. In Portland, a NARUC staffer estimated all presentations will likely be posted online by Tuesday. There are about a dozen presentations devoted to telecom, from a variety of sources, from the California Emerging Technology Fund to USTelecom to Connected Nation to NARUC’s National Regulatory Research Institute, and subjects include Lifeline reform, the barriers to broadband adoption and deregulation of telecom throughout the states. The NARUC website now also features the complete text (http://xrl.us/bnip29) of the new NARUC resolutions approved July 25, including three on telecom (CD July 26 p12).
The decision by some price-cap carriers like CenturyLink and Windstream to turn down FCC Connect America Fund Phase I support shows the limits of wireline installations versus wireless, the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association said. “The elections made by some price cap carriers suggest that only wireline technology can provide broadband service to rural areas,” WISPA said in an ex parte filing (http://xrl.us/bniprf). “They raise unsupported claims about their purported inability to provide subsidized broadband service with Phase I funds. Apparently, these carriers are unwilling to consider other, more efficient technologies to satisfy Phase I requirements.” WISPA said “economical ways already exist for Phase I-funded deployments: fixed wireless broadband technologies, like those used every day by unsubsidized WISPs. The Commission’s rules do not require CenturyLink or Windstream to provide wired service, so it is misleading for them to suggest that they cannot provide subsidized broadband service in an efficient and economic way.” “We believe that deploying fiber deeper into the network is the most efficient technology for bringing broadband to these remote customers,” a Windstream spokesman said in response. “In any case, it is noteworthy that the areas that Windstream is seeking to serve with CAF-1 funds are not served by any competitors, including WISPs.” CenturyLink didn’t have any comment, a spokeswoman said.
Oregon residents will see a drop in their monthly Lifeline benefits starting Wednesday due to a February FCC decision (http://xrl.us/bnipz2), the Oregon Public Utility Commission said late Friday. Oregon’s variation of the Lifeline program, intended for people with low incomes, is the Oregon Telephone Assistance Program. OTAP has about 60,000 customers, who will now receive 75 cents less a month due to the FCC’s choice (http://xrl.us/bnipks) to provide $9.25 a month per customer rather than $10 it has previously, according to the state commission. It said the Oregon state government provides $3.50 in monthly Lifeline benefits and some Oregon telcos contribute money of their own. OTAP’s funds come from a 12-cent surcharge applied to the retail bill of Oregon landline and cellphone customers, the commission said. The OTAP Web applications (http://xrl.us/bniph7) were updated to reflect the new monthly benefit of $12.75 a month and OTAP/Lifeline Manager Jon Cray is working to make sure customers know of the change, the PUC said.
By imposing fines on student-run stations, the FCC may be hastening the stations’ demise, said Peter Tannenwald, a broadcast attorney at Fletcher Heald. Tannenwald referred to fines proposed for three colleges, including Toccoa Falls College in Georgia that was hit with a proposed $10,000 fine for failing to retain all required documentation in the public inspection file for its station, WTXR(FM) (CD May 3 p17). Student radio “serves an important role as an incubator for future generations of broadcasters” and it can serve “as a conduit into the industry for a broad and diverse universe of voices,” he said in a blog post (http://xrl.us/bnieuk). “Against these evident benefits, the oppressively negative impact of the FCC’s forfeiture policies can and should raise serious concern.” Students produce some very innovative programming, often spontaneously, he said: “Documenting that programming tends not to be a high priority for students.” The commission’s fines “don’t help make radio relevant to the younger generation or encourage learning and innovation,” he added.
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia doesn’t think there’s too much money in politics, he told C-SPAN. “We spend less on our presidential campaigns each year, when there’s a presidential election, than the country spends on cosmetics,” he said, answering a question about the effect of the Citizens United decision. People aren’t sheep, he said, and they won’t swallow whatever they see on TV or read in newspapers. “The premise of democracy is that people are intelligent and can discern the true from the false, at least when, as the campaign laws require, you know who is speaking.” Even if donors are anonymous, people know the organization that is speaking, and “the press can find out who’s hiding behind what,” he said. “That’s not hard.” Scalia also reiterated his opposition to cameras in the court. “If I really thought it would educate the American people, I would be all for it,” he said. But Scalia doesn’t think that would happen; most of the American public would only see 15-30 second takeouts from the argument that are uncharacteristic of the debate. Televised images carry a much greater impact than selected written quotes, or audio that is released at the end of the week, he said. The full interview was to air at 8 p.m. Sunday on C-SPAN’s Q&A.
The Tennis Channel criticized the NCTA for disagreeing (CD July 26 p5) with the FCC’s recent decision in favor of the network in its program carriage dispute with Comcast. “It needs to be noted that 1) Comcast is the largest dues payer in the NCTA; 2) the most recent ex-president and CEO of the NCTA, Kyle McSlarrow, is now head of Comcast’s lobbying and government affairs office in Washington, D.C.; 3) Brian Roberts, Comcast Corporation chairman and CEO, has been a multiterm chairman of the NCTA board of directors and remains a board member at this time; and 4) Neil Smit, president and CEO, Comcast Cable/executive vice president, Comcast Corporation, is currently secretary of the NCTA executive committee,” the Tennis Channel said. “Additionally, independent programmers, while members of the NCTA, generally have no representation within the organization."