Cable operators should leave user-interface design to Silicon Valley, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes told the Cable Show Wednesday. “You can’t develop the best user interfaces at the scale a distributor has,” he said. “Harness them. Don’t try to hold that back. Your consumers won’t allow it,” he said
Cisco filed information about its digital cable converter boxes in the FCC’s viewability rulemaking docket (http://xrl.us/bm87c8, http://xrl.us/bm87dk). A cover letter accompanying the features and specifications of Cisco’s main “Digital Transport Adaptor” offerings was sent to Deputy Media Bureau Chief Michelle Carey (http://xrl.us/bm87de). Separately, NAB officials met with Commissioner Ajit Pai and his Chief of Staff Matthew Berry to discuss issues including the viewability rules. The rules are set to expire next month. “The requirement remains important for viewers and stations,” they said, according to an ex parte notice (http://xrl.us/bm87di).
Disney said it introduced an alarm-clock iOS app for each of its TV stations. The app delivers headlines, weather conditions, live radar, traffic reports, and lets users choose “custom wake-up tracks from their favorite anchors,” the company said. Each ABC-owned TV station will have its own branded alarm-clock app in the iTunes Store, it said.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation and Public Knowledge told a federal court that Aereo’s online video service doesn’t violate copyright laws and should be allowed to continue operating. In an amicus brief filed with U.S. District Court, Manhattan, the public interest groups defended Aereo’s right to let subscribers record and access broadcast TV programming. Several broadcasters sued Aereo earlier this year, alleging Copyright Act violations. “Nothing in the in the Copyright Act or in the Second Circuit’s holding transforms a private transmission into a public performance when it is viewed at the same approximate time as the original television broadcast,” they wrote. “Nor does viewing a broadcast -- live or time shifted -- in ‘different places through different media and for reception on different devices’ … [as the plaintiff’s put it], alter the application” of the Second Circuit’s precedent.” Aereo need not obtain a license or make a payment because there is no public performance of the copyrighted material, they said. “The Plaintiffs cannot assume away their burden to prove that Aereo creates public performances within the bounds of Section 106 of the Copyright Act,” they said. The court shouldn’t grant the TV plaintiff’s request for an injunction against Aereo, they said. “They cannot obtain injunctive relief to prevent harms that result from legal activities,” they said. “These ‘harms’ must be remedied through competition."
The E.W. Scripps Company said it will produce two new shows to replace two hours of syndicated programming on its TV stations in 13 markets. The new program will have “national appeal,” the company said. One, called Let’s Ask America, will be a game show with contestants playing live from their homes. The other, called The List, will be a nightly newsmagazine about news and pop culture. “This is an important step in our strategy to take more direct creative and economic control of the content that serves our viewers and supports our advertisers,” said CEO Richard Boehne. Warner Bros. Domestic TV distribution will distribute the shows in markets outside of Scripps’ territory, Scripps said.
The FCC Wireline Bureau seeks comment on a Section 214 application for transfer of control of Knology and its subsidiaries to WideOpenWest Finance (WOW), according to a public notice released late Tuesday (http://xrl.us/bm866d). Knology provides telecom services in the Southeast, upper Midwest and Kansas, and its subsidiaries provide service in a dozen states. In Alabama, Georgia and South Dakota, some of the subsidiaries are rural ILECs. WOW provides digital cable, broadband and competitive telecom and VoIP services in metropolitan areas of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Ohio. The proposed transaction arises out of a merger in which an indirect subsidiary of WOW will acquire Knology in an all-cash transaction. Comments are due June 5 in WC docket 12-120, replies June 12.
The FCC order adopting specific methodology for the quantile regression formula to establish benchmarks on high-cost loop support was published Wednesday in the Federal Register (http://xrl.us/bm863n). The order, which fleshed out the details of 2011’s commission-level USF/intercarrier compensation order setting out a framework for reform (CD Apr 27 p3), will take effect June 22.
FairPoint has agreed to sell its payphone business in northern New England to payphone provider Pacific Telemanagement Services (PTS), FairPoint said. Payphones have seen “dramatic decreases” in usage over the last decade and the trend is likely to continue, said FairPoint CFO Ajay Sabherwal. The company operates around 4,000 payphones across northern New England. The payphone unit accounts for about $1 million in annual revenue. PTS will purchase monthly access from FairPoint for any payphones it continues to operate after the deal is closed. The deal is expected to close later this year.
Assurance Wireless is offering a free talk and text plan and a $5 talk and text plan for eligible low-income residents in participating states in addition to its existing offer of 250 free minutes, the Lifeline carrier said. The free talk and text plan will include a free cell phone and 250 free text messages and 250 minutes of free monthly voice service to eligible residents; the $5 plan also offers a free cell phone plus 500 text messages and 500 voice minutes. Eligible customers will still have the option of obtaining 1,000 total voice minutes and 1,000 text messages for $20 per month. All of the offers include a “Service Protector feature,” which ensures that the basic 250 free minutes and texts are guaranteed each month a customer is eligible, even if a customer can’t pay the additional dollars during a particular month, the company said. Assurance Wireless is available in 32 states, and eligibility varies by state.
Gilat Satcom deployed Newtec technology to optimize its satellite links for backhauling in Africa. The technology “ensures a more robust link at the highest availability and the most efficient use of the bandwidth,” Gilat said. The service will be available through use of Measat’s Africasat 1 at 46 degrees east, it said.