Northrup Grumman's proposed buy of Orbital ATK likely won't face significant regulatory challenges, space and satellite industry experts told us. The deal likely doesn't have big ramifications for the commercial space sector, largely reflecting consolidation in the defense contractor universe, they said.
The U.S. is seemingly on the path to clarifying its outer space treaty regulatory obligations for emerging, nontraditional space activities, but a host of other obligations the U.S. has under OST are waiting and need more specificity, too, said speakers at a University of Nebraska space law conference Friday. Speakers said the federal government needs to make clear which agency is "the front door" to all the various other agencies with a hand in reviewing such nontraditional space activities.
Interference and implementation milestone issues in the FCC's draft non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite rules order on September's agenda (see 1709070056) could be the subject of lobbying and satellite operator pushback, industry officials told us. But 5-0 approval by the commissioners seems likely since the individual disagreements on technical details are overshadowed by the agency being able to open the door to NGSO services, we were told.
Broadcasters worry this fall's elections process for must-carry or retransmission consent status on cable systems could see pushes to move some stations off the basic tier now that cable is effectively competitive, but experts say that's unlikely. One hangup could be that there's no clear picture whether the effective competition presumption opens the door to such a basic tier change.
With Q3 being one of the most competitive in recent years for video subscribers, Comcast likely will end down 100,000 to 150,000 subs year over year, said Matt Strauss, executive vice president-Xfinity Services, Thursday at a Bank of America conference. He said the competition has come from new over-the-top services and from incumbent distributors increasing marketing spending and being more aggressive with offers. Strauss said hurricanes cost the company some subscribers. He said Comcast is focused on profitable subscribers instead of overall subscriber numbers, but the company could see a return to video subscriber growth. Strauss also said a major industry trend in video is an increase in time-shifting. "The future is aggregation," with Comcast as a distributor aiming at offering an increasing variety of sources on its Xfinity platform, Strauss said. He said Comcast's streaming video product, Instant TV, which was testing in Boston and Chicago, will be rolled out across its footprint later this month and into Q4. Instant TV is a skinny bundle of content and a cloud DVR, with additional programming packages available as add-ons, he said. He said Comcast will try not to cannibalize its existing video subscriber base by targeting its marketing at specifically high speed data-only customers and limiting the number of video streams. Comcast closed Thursday at $38.60, down 6.2 percent. In a note to investors, Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker said the stock movement is likely due to the Q3 subscriber news.
CBS CEO Les Moonves emphatically denied Thursday the network is in talks to acquire CNN. Rumors of such a deal are "real fake news," he said at an Economic Club luncheon, saying he hasn't talked with executives at CNN or parent Time Warner. A TW spinoff of CNN was speculated as part of AT&T's bid for the cable network (see 1701130018). TW didn't comment. Moonves said a programming talent war is growing with streaming services' original content and with tech companies getting increasingly into the TV space. He said CBS' competitive niche is in programming expertise and its broadcast assets' mass audience. With the growth of skinny programming bundles, CBS's strategy is to always be part of those skinnier bundles alongside its CBS All Access direct-to-consumer streaming service, he said. He also predicted a rebound in NFL ratings this season, chalking up last year's 8 percent ratings decline to more interest in presidential election coverage and anemic Thursday night game matchups. Meanwhile, DOJ may soon OK AT&T/TW, reported the Los Angeles Times earlier that day. DOJ didn't comment.
Friday heading into the three-day Labor Day weekend saw the FCC issue a slew of announcements, including one after business hours. Similar moves in the past drew fire as seemingly aimed at avoiding attention. Now, the actions raised the eyebrows of one open governance expert. Others defended the agency.
Cable franchise rules and cable system definitions seem increasingly irrelevant with growing numbers of broadband-centric MVPDs, but it likely would take petitioning from MVPDs before the FCC tried to address the disconnect, experts and industry officials tell us. An overbuilder to Service Electric Cable not having to follow franchise rules points to a flaw in those rules, said Director-Public Affairs Tim Himmelwright. A programming industry expert said Layer3's offering of cable service, while apparently not paying franchise fees in those markets, could lead to complaints. Layer3 didn't comment.
While the FCC's move to lessen regulations on earth stations in motion is seeing general support from satellite and terrestrial mobile interests, disagreements remain over ESIM operations in certain parts of the 29.25-30 GHz band. Wednesday was the deadline for replies in docket 17-95. The rules harmonization and consolidation NPRM wasn't expected to see notable pushback (see 1705090018).
The numbers of cell sites and radio stations knocked out by Tropical Storm Harvey and of cable and wireline customers without service (see 1708290029) is dropping, though the number of TV stations off air has ticked up, the FCC said Wednesday in its latest status report. The agency is receiving some kudos for its storm-related response and some criticism for its wireless emergency upgrade proceeding. Companies are stepping up aid.