Matt Daneman

Skyrocketing retransmission consent fees paid to broadcasters as local news viewership plummets show the need for the FCC to revisit its rules on retrans consent, must-carry and exclusivity since those regulatory advantages are responsible for the retrans fee growth, the American TV Alliance said in news release Tuesday. Pointing to Pew Research data about declining audiences for local TV news since 2007, ATVA said during that time, retrans fees grew 2,426 percent, topping $7.9 billion last year. It said broadcasters use the threats of blackouts to coerce higher fees. NAB said ATVA "is rehashing tired arguments favoring heavy-handed government intervention in a free market. On two previous occasions, the FCC has determined it has no authority to intervene in private negotiations between giant cable companies and local TV stations over the value of broadcast TV programming. ATVA should focus attention on fixing pay TV’s notoriously bad customer service issues rather than continue to fixate on a phony retransmission consent crisis.”

With nearly 10 million net neutrality docket comments before the FCC, it’s unclear what exactly the agency plans to do with them. Those on both sides of the debate agree the FCC should act quickly to toss junk comments, they said in interviews this week. Replies were due Monday night.

No non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite system should have to shoulder the whole burden in coordinating spectrum sharing arrangements, and the FCC should push for equitable sharing expectations, SpaceX said in International Bureau comments filed Friday. That was the deadline for replies to oppositions to the slew of NGSO license applications and U.S. market access petitions filed in November (see 1705300042). SpaceX said NGSO operators should share data about the steering angles of each beam within a footprint, which would let operators identify which apparent in-line events are false. ViaSat said any NGSO application's approval should be conditioned on the outcome of the pending Part 2 and Part 25 rules update and on protecting geostationary orbit systems from harmful interference; Telesat Canada also backed conditions tied to Part 2 and Part 25 updates outcomes. OneWeb said any ViaSat approval should be conditioned on it only transmitting between medium earth orbit satellites and geostationary orbit (GSO) when the MEO is in the cone of coverage projected from that GSO satellite with respect to the earth. OneWeb also said the FCC should condition ViaSat's use of Ka-band for satellite-to-satellite links on ViaSat not interfering with or claiming protection from other NGSO fixed satellite service systems operating in the stated transmission direction. And Inmarsat said any use of the Ka-band for NGSO-to-GSO links needs study and rulemaking before the FCC approves ViaSat's application. Colorado-based Elefante Group, which is developing a stratospheric-based communications and IoT-enabling system, said Audacy must provide more information for better evaluating its compatibility with other services in the 22.55-23.55 GHz and 24.45-24.75 GHz bands. SES and O3b said the FCC should defer processing any Ku- or Ka-band NGSO applications lacking data needed to verify their equivalent power flux density (EPFD) compliance claims, with those including Telesat, Audacy, Boeing and SpaceX. It additionally said ViaSat's proposal is also lacking sufficient data needed for proper evaluation. OneWeb also said Boeing hadn't submitted sufficient EPFD data and its proposed phased milestone schedule would let the company keep its authorization indefinitely and prevent use of the underlying spectrum and orbital resources by others ready to launch. Iridium said that while Boeing acknowledges the need to coordinate with Iridium in the 19.3-19.7 GHz and 29.1-29.5 GHz bands, Boeing may underestimate the ground infrastructure the Iridium system might need and overestimates the effectiveness of some sharing strategies. The GPS Innovation Alliance said Theia's opposition to its petition to deny doesn't contain any meaningful technical analysis to address GPSIA's core assertion -- that Theia's earth exploration satellite service in the 1215-1300 MHz band would interfere with radionavigation satellite service operations.

FCC 2-1 reversal of its administrative law judge on Game Show Network's programming discrimination complaint might largely reflect guidance set by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit's 2013 Tennis Channel decision more than the merits of the GSN complaint, said a lawyer with cable and programming agreement experience. Thursday's order reversed ALJ Richard Sippel's advisory ruling that Cablevision discriminated when it retiered GSN in 2011 (see 1611230046). Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, arguing for more deference to the ALJ's work, strongly dissented, calling the FCC decision "a dangerous precedent, one I hope will not become a trend.” Asked later about whether she thinks GSN was discriminated against, she said she wouldn't weigh in.

With more robocall regulatory steps initiated at Thursday's commissioners' meeting and the agency setting a $2.88 million fine against a robocall technology company, the FCC is sending clear signals about trying to eliminate "this scourge" of robocalls, Chairman Ajit Pai said. "Relief from robocalls is getting closer," he said, voicing support for a do-not-originate system for calls, saying that would be "pretty significant." Mike O'Rielly dissented on levying the fine, saying as precedent it could affect other technology platforms.

Localities, scoring a significant win Wednesday before the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on FCC rules for cable local franchising authorities (see 1707120031), now hope the agency's next step is to do nothing. Franchise agreement negotiations have been more confusing and protracted since the 2007 and 2015 orders challenged in the appeal, said local governments lawyer Brian Grogan of Moss & Barnett. With local franchising authorities and cable operators generally coming to mutually acceptable agreements in recent years despite FCC rules, hopefully the agency won't feel the need for new rulemaking following the court's mixed decision, said Joseph Van Eaton of Best Best, who represented plaintiffs Montgomery and Anne Arundel counties, Maryland, and Dubuque, Iowa, in the appeal of the orders on video franchising rules.

DOD could object to reallocation of C-band spectrum for terrestrial use, given its plans to rely increasingly on commercial satcom services that employ that band, said Satellite Industry Association President Tom Stroup Tuesday, as SIA released its annual state of the satellite industry report. FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly blogged with support Monday for alternative uses of the “underutilized” 3.7-4.2 GHz band mainly used by fixed satellite services operators (see 1707100049). DOD didn't comment Tuesday.

The FCC offers no valid reason for its application of the mixed-use rule to stop local franchising authorities regulating the provision of non-telco services by incumbent cable TV operators, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled (in Pacer) Wednesday. Montgomery and Anne Arundel counties, Maryland, and Dubuque, Iowa, challenged 2007 and 2015 agency orders on video franchising rules on several bases. The three-judge panel -- David McKeague, Richard Griffin and Raymond Kethledge, with the decision penned by Kethledge -- granted in part the appeal and denied it in other areas, such as by finding the agency didn't create a regulatory gap and didn't unduly burden small entities.

DirecTV and Dish Network objections to a proposed hike in direct broadcast satellite regulatory fees lack merit since consumers won't be harmed, the American Cable Association said in an FCC docket 17-134 filing posted Monday. ACA said the Media Bureau's MVPD activities involve DBS providers and cable and IPTV providers equally, and all see equivalent benefits. That justifies the proposed hike and supports full parity among MVPD payers, it said. Dish and DirecTV didn't comment Monday. CTIA, meanwhile, said non-high cost USF full-time equivalent employees who get reallocated should be reallocated as indirect FTEs, and there's no reason for reclassifying FTEs from the Wireline Bureau who work on high-cost USF or other agency-wide issues. It urged rejection of combining commercial mobile radio service and interstate telecommunications service provider regulatory fee categories and of a flat per-license fee on Communications Act international Section 214 authorizations. Level 3 backed AT&T's call for regulatory fees on both common carrier and non-common carrier terrestrial international bearer circuits, saying the FCC should seek further comment on eliminating the IBC fee category in favor of an assessment on each international 214 authorization or each holder of an international 214 authorization.

Companies with non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) constellation plan​s are pushing back at last month's petitions to deny and suggested conditions in the OneWeb processing round (see 1706270014). Friday was the deadline for oppositions to petitions, with replies due July 14.