TV broadcast executives were dismissive of the planned ESPN/Warner Bros. Discovery/Fox sports streaming venture (see 240207000), largely confident about 2024 political advertising and predicted a looming shakeup on broadcaster compensation from streaming services during Q4 earnings calls for Nexstar, Gray, Sinclair, Tegna and E.W. Scripps. “I can’t see why analysts or investors would see this as a killer app,” Scripps CEO Adam Symson said of the joint venture. Said Nexstar Chief Operating Officer Michael Baird, “We have more questions than answers about this proposed product, including assurance that it will actually launch.”
The 2023 nationwide launch of EchoStar's Boost Infinite postpaid mobile service has stumbled, CEO Hamid Akhavan said Friday. In an earnings call -- the first since EchoStar acquired Dish Network (see 2401020003) -- Akhavan said the company is looking at assets, including its spectrum holdings, to raise funds to meet a major debt obligation this fall. EchoStar announced Q4 2023 results after the market's close Thursday.
It's unclear how much the FCC’s enhanced competition incentive program (ECIP) will influence the way industry does business, experts said. Commissioners approved ECIP in the summer of 2022. It's officially live as of last month (see 2402150043).
An all-but-certain bid by Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune (S.D.) to take over as the chamber’s top Republican from current Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) is throwing uncertainty into lobbyists’ expectations for who will hold the party's subpanel leadership role in the next Congress. In the House, some Republican contenders to replace term-limited Communications Subcommittee Chairman Bob Latta (Ohio) have emerged, but the race to be the party’s Commerce Committee leader and other factors continue to cloud the subpanel sweepstakes (see 2402290054).
A U.S. Supreme Court decision recognizing the need for social media regulation -- despite First Amendment and Section 230 protections -- would be a “big victory” for Florida and Texas, New York Deputy Solicitor General Ester Murdukhayeva said Thursday.
A fresh stab at creating a state net neutrality law met industry opposition this week. Connecticut’s joint General Law Committee held a hearing Thursday on a wide-ranging bill (SB-3) that would also require affordable broadband, ban junk fees, require streaming TV prorating and let consumers repair electronics. The legislature’s consumer protection bill “addresses inequities,” said Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (D).
During recent calls with financial analysts, executives at major tower companies acknowledged some slowness in the push to build 5G across the U.S. That’s in keeping with a trend seen last year (see 2308010069). The calls included those from SBA Communications and American Tower this week.
Some foreign space regulators might soon struggle with a lack of space expertise, according to Scott Pace, George Washington University director-Space Policy Institute. During an FCC Space Bureau open house Thursday covering orbital debris, Pace said a lot of space agencies are born from telecom ministries, yet often there is a "thinness" to their capacity for space issues. That makes the U.S.' leadership role in space increasingly important, Pace said.
The Enterprise Wireless Alliance, Anterix and electric utilities are urging the FCC to take the next step in the 900 MHz band and launch a rulemaking on authorizing 5/5 MHz broadband deployments in the band. Utilities are the primary users of the spectrum.
The nascent Republican leadership race to succeed retiring House Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Wash.) is scrambling expectations as to who will hold the GOP's top seat on the House Communications Subcommittee in the next Congress, lobbyists and observers told us. Environment Subcommittee Chairman Buddy Carter, R-Ga., confirmed to us Thursday he’s interested in House Communications’ lead GOP seat, but other lawmakers are too. There’s even more uncertainty about what Republican will lead the delegation on the Senate Communications Subcommittee in the next Congress as ranking member John Thune (S.D.) is a likely contender to succeed Mitch McConnell (Ky.) as the party's chamber leader.