Matt Daneman

The growth of virtual multichannel video programming distributors and of their subscriber bases is ratcheting up the competitive pressure on legacy MVPDs to consider launching their own, industry experts and watchers told us. That virtual MVPD growth likely will be followed by increased calls for regulation of them, they said. Google meanwhile is stepping up its offerings.

Intelsat and OneWeb joining likely would need only FCC International Bureau, not commissioner, approval, although that process still could take months, satellite lawyer and former LightSquared General Counsel Jeff Carlisle told us. He said the deal, announced Tuesday, shouldn't draw a lot of controversial comments. He said the deal doesn't seem to pose horizontal or vertical concentration issues because the two companies operate in different markets. Instead, the combination points to a breaking down of traditional telecom silos of terrestrial/low earth orbit (LEO)/geosynchronous orbit (GEO), much like AT&T/DirecTV did. "You're going to see a lot of these age-old distinctions becoming maybe a little less distinct," Carlisle said. Intelsat said it expects to deal to close in Q3, contingent on regulatory and bondholder approvals. Intelsat CEO Stephen Spengler said in an analyst call Tuesday that the combined company, with Intelsat's GEO system and OneWeb's planned LEO system, opens the door to their together taking a larger satellite broadband market share and doing more work in backhaul carriage, as well as new applications like connected vehicles and over-the-top video distribution. Northern Sky Research analyst Lluc Palerm told us the deal opens the door to opportunities like the joined companies working low-latency markets such as 5G and also would let startup OneWeb piggyback off the international landing rights Intelsat already has.

Satellite operators made numerous suggestions to the FCC for tweaks to its proposed set of updates to Part 2 and Part 25 rules to accommodate the boom in non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) constellation plans (see 1612150066). More harmonization of FCC rules with the ITU was espoused in comments posted Tuesday in docket 16-408, as were different milestone requirements.

FCC eighth floor consideration of a revamp of overbuild conditions put on Charter Communications as part of its Time Warner Cable/Bright House Networks takeovers might still leave the cable operator or other media companies room to seek relief from other conditions on the deal. Some FCC watchers said the order on circulation could get a 3-0 vote.

Large multichannel video programming distributors and small cable programmers remain apart on restricting some carriage contract conditions, in FCC docket 16-41 reply comments posted Thursday on the independent and diverse programming NPRM. The American Cable Association and indie programmers jointly attacked large programmer arguments that the market is working, saying the "modicum of diversity" that comes from bundled conglomerate networks "foreclos[es] access to others [and] disserves the public interest." They said determination of whether most-favored nation language is unconditional will be relatively easy from the text of the provision itself. Joining ACA were programmers MAVTV Motorsports Networks, Ride TV and sister networks One America News Network and AWE. Charter Communications and Mediacom together said given the vast array of content choices available to consumers, no regulation promoting carriage of a particular program channel or channel group is needed. NAB continued its defense of bundling (see 1701270006), replying that no one provided any empirical evidence of large programmers having market power that rivals that of MVPDs. Public Knowledge said the FCC has authority under sections 616 and 628 of the Communications Act to tackle carriage agreement terms that hurt competition and said there's ample evidence to back the prohibition of unconditional MFNs and unreasonable alternative distribution method (ADM) language. Saying there was widespread agreement that defining indie programmers as those not vertically integrated with an MVPD is too broad, RFD-TV backed a definition meaning unaffiliated with a broadcast network, movie studio or MVPD. Along with backing a prohibition on unconditional MFN and unreasonable ADM clauses in carriage agreements, RFD-TV said the FCC should tackle bundling practices and the high switching costs and early termination fees. Charter/Mediacom also supported the agency taking a narrow definition of indie programmer, pushing one that doesn't include programmers that command significant market power through their offerings of must-have programming. NAB urged that broadcasters not be excluded from the indie programmer definition. Calling itself "a potential entrant to the video distribution marketplace," T-Mobile said the FCC should ensure unconditional MFNs don't block emerging video competitors and that unreasonable ADMs don't block over-the-top competition.

Resolution of an appeal of a National Labor Relations Board finding against CNN could largely turn on whether it had direct and immediate control of Team Video Services (TVS) workers laid off when CNN brought in house work done by TVS. During oral argument Thursday before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the three-judge panel and CNN and NLRB counsel repeatedly delved into whether the agency applied the long-held direct-and-immediate control test for CNN's being a joint employer in its 2015 order requiring CNN to hire some laid-off TVS workers.

A European Commission (EC) request for a waiver of FCC licensing requirements to allow nonfederal, receive-only earth stations in the U.S. to operate with signals of the Galileo Radionavigation-Satellite Service system is getting some pushback from satellite operators. Galileo serving U.S. devices would open the door to more-precise GPS, but first the EC has to do a better job proving compatibility with adjacent operations, Ligado said in a Wednesday filing in docket 17-16. Tuesday was the deadline for comments on the EC request, with replies due March 23.

Whether the FCC has the authority to use the Clayton Antitrust Act as a way to review AT&T's bid for Time Warner (TW) isn't clear, with antitrust and agency experts divided. But some say the idea -- floated by Commissioner Mignon Clyburn this week (see 1702210027) -- is likely a nonstarter at the agency. "I don't see this idea getting any traction," Tech Knowledge Director Fred Campbell told us.

The Clayton Antitrust Act gives the FCC authority to review AT&T's planned buy of Time Warner, and it has the responsibility to do so, given the financial scope of the deal and significance of the combined company, Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said Tuesday. In an interview with Communications Daily, she expressed opposition to restoring the UHF discount and said the FCC should stay the course on making broadband more affordable and driving down inmate calling service rates.

Identification of bands for future 5G deployment and consideration of regulatory actions for high-altitude platform stations (HAPS) likely will be the two major areas provoking significant satellite industry debate at the 2019 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-19), satellite industry insiders told us. The satellite industry is only in the early stages of readying its stance on the two agenda items and on preparation for WRC-19 overall, they said.