Universal Electronics (UEI) will supply a voice-enabled remote control for Liberty Global’s 4K Mini TV set-top box, said the control company Wednesday. The Bluetooth Low Energy remote has automated setup and control through UEI’s cloud-based QuickSet platform. Customers can search by voice for content on Liberty’s Reference Design Kit-based Horizon 4 platform. The box is made from 35% recycled material and said to cut energy consumption by 77% versus previous set-tops.
Radiate plans to buy California voice and data services companies Digital West Networks, Norcast Communications and Blue Rooster Telecom, it said in FCC International Bureau applications posted Tuesday asking approval for transfer of those Digital West licensees to Radiate, which is owned by private investment firm TPG Global. It said the deal, adding those companies to Radiate's RCN Telecom, Grande Communications Networks, WaveDivision and En-Touch Systems, will create the No. 6 U.S. cable operator.
Cable operators filing FCC Form 1240 can adjust the non-external portion of their rates by -1.82% in Q2 to account for inflation, while those using Form 1210 can make an annual adjustment of 1.0060 for the year ending June 30, the Media Bureau said in a public notice in Monday's Daily Digest.
The FCC, in denying a policy shift in making local governments pay cable operators the fair market value for institutional network and public, educational and government channel obligations that had been free for decades, ignores sizable evidence of long-standing franchise fee practices that conflict with last year's local franchise authority order. That's according to NATOA, New York City, the Florida League of Cities and individual Florida municipalities in a reply brief Thursday (in Pacer, docket 19-4161) to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. NATOA and the others are interveners in a consolidated challenge of the FCC's 2019 LFA order (see 2005150019). They said the LFA order will "eat away" at franchise fees and further the injury by requiring local governments to pay what likely will be sizable fair market value amounts, and the FCC's not acknowledging or addressing the implications of that policy shift makes the order arbitrary and capricious. The FCC didn't comment.
No substantive changes were made to the draft cable TV attributable interests order approved on circulation this week (see 2009290052), per our side-by-side comparison with the approved order released Wednesday. Minority Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks concurred in statements on the item because it eliminated the requirement of reporting attributable interests in video programming without addressing the underlying 2001 court remand of the FCC's limits on the number of channels a cable operator may devote to programming from its affiliated channels. "But I’m afraid cutting corners here is just par for the course right now," Rosenworcel said. The cable TV 30-day notification order approved at Wednesday's meeting (see 2009300022) and released Thursday includes a provision eliminating the FCC rule that cable operators provide notice of any significant change to the information required in their annual notices. That provision wasn't in the draft order, per our comparison.
The Flexible Media Access Control Architecture library of specifications, FMA MAC Manager Interface and the FMA PacketCable Aggregator Interface specs released Wednesday put the cable industry closer to providing 10G services, CableLabs Wired Technologies Lead Architect Jon Schnoor blogged Wednesday. He said the next step is developing products for 10G service provision.
Sinclair's regional sports networks will go dark on YouTube TV starting Thursday due to lack of a distribution agreement with the vMVPD, but negotiations continue, it said Wednesday. Sinclair said YouTube TV previously dropped its YES, Fox Sports West and Fox Sports Prime Ticket networks. Google's YouTube TV tweeted Tuesday the blackout "was a difficult decision made after months of negotiations [and we] hope we can bring FOX RSNs back."
In a product refresh for the holiday season, Roku added products and focused on MVPD customers. Its Live TV Channel tile available on the user interface steers viewers to free linear content, with 100-plus channel partners. A section on the website tells customers how to get free local channels via an HD antenna, with tabs that take them to Amazon or Walmart for shopping. Roku’s OS 9.4 adds integration. It brings hints for voice commands, said the company Monday. The website asks, “Tired of paying too much for cable?” and gives viewers ways they can reduce “or completely cut your cable bill” by replacing a set-top box with a Roku player. A “How to cut the cord” section instructs cable customers how to cancel service, starting with “Be confident.” That includes being “firm but polite,” Roku says. “Prepare for push-back” when pay-TV providers offer deals. “When your service provider tempts you with retention offers, remember all the money you’ll save. If you take one of these deals, set a reminder for when it expires so you can try again before rates go up,” says the streaming platform provider. NCTA declined to comment Tuesday.
If the FCC doesn't adopt the updated competitive benchmark proposal for basic cable tier rate regulation, at least simplify its approach for newly regulated or reregulated communities, NCTA asked the Media Bureau, per a docket 17-105 posting Tuesday. Letting cable operators use as a starting point the unregulated rate in effect before the local franchising authority petitions for certification or recertification to regulate rates would be simple and easy to enforce, it said. NCTA backed the tentative conclusion in a 2018 Further NPRM about revising cable rate rules for basic tier regulation by LFAs (see 1810230037) that commercial customer rates remain unregulated. The association said allowing rate adjustments for changes in channel count is "unduly complicated," urging ending rules on charges for changes in service tiers.
Cox Communications will spend $60 million over the next year on the educational digital divide, extending terms of its Connect2Compete low-cost student internet service, it said Tuesday. The company said those who sign up for Connect2Compete in 2020 will get two months free and then pay $9.95 monthly. It said the spending also will go toward devices and support services for such customers, and its Wi-Fi hot spots remain open.