News Corp. sales in the quarter ended March 31 gained 2 percent to $8.4 billion from a year ago, the company said. Lower sales at its broadcast segment, related to a tough comparison to the year-earlier period when the Fox network carried the Super Bowl, were offset by higher growth at its pay-TV networks and movie studio, the company said. Cable network sales increased 15 percent to $846 million while revenue at its studio increased about 10 percent to $272 million. Sales at its TV division fell 11 percent to $171 million. Profit gained 47 percent to about $1 billion.
Time Warner Cable attorneys discussed how it would deliver must-carry TV stations to subscribers if the FCC’s viewability rules sunset next month, in a meeting with Media Bureau and Office of General Counsel staff, an ex parte notice shows (http://xrl.us/bm6uv5). “Where TWC chooses to cease analog transmission of one or more must-carry stations in a hybrid digital/analog cable system, it will provide advance notice regarding available equipment that will enable subscribers with direct connections to analog television sets to continue viewing such broadcast signals.” The meeting also covered how Time Warner Cable has given digital converter boxes, or DTAs for digital tuning adapters, to subscribers in its Augusta, Maine, cable system where it has stopped delivering analog service. The lawyers also fielded FCC staff questions about how the operator’s basic service rates, and the type of equipment compatible with conditional access technologies from various vendors and the extent of TWC’s switched digital video deployments. “This letter confirms that TWC to date has not deployed DTAs in a Cisco cable system, but TWC understands that Cisco does make DTAs available for use with Cisco headend equipment,” the ex parte notice said. Time Warner Cable uses switched-digital video in the overwhelming majority of its systems to deliver some cable networks, but hasn’t used the technology to deliver any broadcast signals, it said. “Accordingly, TWC’s use of SDV technology will not have any impact on its delivery of must-carry broadcast signals if the Commission’s viewability mandate sunsets."
The West Virginia Commerce Department hired a consulting firm to review the spending of a $126 million Broadband Technology Opportunities Program fund, the agency said. ICF International will analyze the state’s existing broadband infrastructure and provide recommendations to the agency and the governor’s office. The U.S. Commerce Department, which funds BTOP, was concerned that some high-powered Internet routers designed to serve large corporations, universities and medical centers were installed in small libraries, elementary schools and health clinics instead. The review is expected to include a financial audit. The BTOP project, designed to connect schools and other public facilities, has sparked questions from the state’s education officials about its progress and lack of communication (CD Nov 1 p6). A West Virginia BTOP project coordinator had no comment. The West Virginia project is generally on track, and the costs incurred have been allowable expenses in line with the grant rules and project scope, the NTIA said. The agency found the proposed technology approach reasonable when reviewing the application, it said. The project’s routers were competitively bid and awarded to the lowest bidder, consistent with federal grants procurement standards, it said.
LIN TV’s Q1 sales gained 15 percent from a year earlier to $89.7 million on higher local ad sales, retransmission consent revenue and sales at its TV station websites. Political ad sales also helped results. They nearly tripled from a year earlier to $2.9 million. For the second quarter LIN said it expects sales between $113 million and $117 million reflecting its recent acquisition of New Vision TV’s stations. Net income for the quarter more than doubled from a year earlier to $3.88 million on higher sales and lower interest expenses.
Q1 sales at Entravision gained 6 percent from a year earlier to $46.5 million, the company said late Tuesday. Its net loss shrank 23 percent from a year earlier to $3.4 million on higher sales and offset by slightly higher expenses. Higher core TV ad sales and retransmission consent helped improve the company’s revenue performance, CEO Walter Ulloa said.
The Senate Commerce Committee plans to hold a hearing on FCC oversight May 16 at 2:30 p.m. in Russell room 253. Witnesses for the hearing have not yet been announced. A spokeswoman for the committee told us all five commissioners will be invited “if everyone is sworn in by then.” The Senate approved the nominations of Ajit Pai and Jessica Rosenworcel by unanimous consent Monday to become FCC commissioners, but they haven’t been sworn in, and the committee spokeswoman couldn’t confirm when that would happen.
Comcast asked the FCC Media Bureau to reconsider its decision last month to allow the city of Boston to regulate Comcast’s basic service rates again, as it had promised to do (CD April 10 p1). The petition would stay the effectiveness of the bureau’s April order and allow Comcast to update the record with a new analysis of how much competition among pay-TV distributors exists in Boston. “The updated analysis confirms that Comcast continues to face effective competition in Boston,” it said in its petition (http://xrl.us/bm6uof). Add up the subscribers of RCN and the two satellite providers and competing providers serve more than the threshold 15 percent of households in the Boston franchise area necessary to waive Boston’s basic rate regulation authority, it said.
Prepaid calling card companies are using “fine print and undisclosed fees” to mislead customers into thinking they'll get more minutes than they actually do, the FCC Enforcement Bureau said in an enforcement advisory Tuesday (http://xrl.us/bm6una). “Many prepaid calling card providers target vulnerable low-income, minority, or immigrant communities, falsely claiming that calling cards costing just a few dollars will give the consumer hundreds, if not thousands, of minutes of calls to family and friends across the globe,” the notice said, citing a study issued Tuesday by Consumer Reports. Chairman Julius Genachowski met with the president of Consumer Reports at the headquarters of Consumers Union last week. (See separate report in this issue.) Over the last nine months, the FCC has proposed $25 million in monetary forfeitures against prepaid calling card companies for deceptive advertising, it said. The commission will “diligently pursue violators,” the advisory said, encouraging businesses to review section 201(b) of the Communications Act to ensure they are in compliance.
Having two new FCC members probably means “not much” for broadcasters “in the immediate term,” a lawyer for radio and TV stations predicted. Ajit Pai and Jessica Rosenworcel’s nominations were approved by the Senate on Monday, and they may be sworn in soon (CD May 9 p2). Industry can expect “more thorough vetting of controversial issues,” David Oxenford wrote Wednesday on the blog of the Davis Wright law firm (http://xrl.us/bm6umf). “From time to time, it may be one Commissioner, or one legal assistant, who becomes the expert on a nuance of an issue, and his or her position can influence the ultimate outcome of a decision. With so many important issues for broadcasters on the Commission’s docket -- from the ownership proceeding, to the TV spectrum reclamation proposals through the incentive auctions, to the issues about the quantification of the public interest obligation of broadcasters through the new form to take the place of Form 355 and the quarterly issues programs lists -- a thorough examination of every issue is always welcome."
The Legal Division of the California Public Utilities Commission opposed the state VoIP legislation SB-1161 (CD April 30, p9), said a commission memo released Tuesday. CPUC scheduled a vote on the bill Thursday. The bill could deregulate providers that aren’t considered VoIP providers, the Legal Division said. CPUC should retain flexibility to determine whether and how to regulate VoIP services, the division said (http://xrl.us/bm6ud6). The Communications Division opposed the bill unless it’s amended, it said. The latest version of the bill would retain CPUC’s current general authority over the traditional services. It noted the words “service providers” in the bill text was amended to read “services.” However, other provisions of the bill could prevent adoption of new regulations on non IP-enabled and enforcement of existing regulations of non IP-enabled services, it said. “The result would be endless disputes with industry,” it said. It urged the legislators to amend the bill to enforce federal laws and regulations impact IP-enabled services where authorized to do so by FCC direction. The bill should also be amended to permit the CPUC to monitor the provision of VoIP services, to collect data from interconnected VoIP providers pertaining to the provision of VoIP services, and to make recommendations and reports to the state legislature regarding the provision of VoIP services, the division said. The provision should also require interconnected VoIP service providers to respond to CPUC data requests, it said.