Relevant Cable Act statutory language on local franchise authorities isn't ambiguous, so there's no reason to defer to the new FCC interpretation that goes against decades of LFA and cable operator understanding, petitioners and supporting interveners replied (docket 19-4162, in Pacer) Thursday: That approach to franchise fees and mixed-use and preemption decisions aren't lawful. The FCC faces a consolidated challenge (see 1909120028) and didn't comment Friday.

NCTA's appeal of a U.S. District Court's finding federal law doesn't preempt Maine's public, educational and government access channel carriage provisions got criticism from public interest groups in 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals amicus briefs. Public Knowledge said Wednesday (docket 20-1431) Cable Act language and legislative history are clear it doesn't preempt PEG provisions, and the lower court rightly ruled the Maine law's requirement that cable operators extend service to areas that meet a certain population density also wasn't preempted. The Community TV Association of Maine, Alliance for Community Media and Alliance for Communications Democracy said (in Pacer) the Cable Act specifically allows states to act outside individual franchises to enact consumer protection laws. NCTA in its plaintiff-appellant brief (in Pacer) in August said no part of the Cable Act's Section 531, covering PEG regulation, authorizes any part of the state's PEG regulation, nor does it allow a line-extension requirement without any consideration of issues like reasonableness or the cost to cablers.

Wanting to participate in the C-band auction and hold common carrier wireless licenses, Altice's CSC Wireless is asking the FCC International Bureau to waive foreign-ownership rule caps. In a petition for declaratory ruling Monday, CSC said it's controlled by the Next Alt holding company of Luxembourg and Israeli citizen Patrick Drahi beyond the 25% benchmark set in the Communications Act for common carrier radio license ownership, but that raises no national security issues and granting the petition would help promote competition.

With set-top box deployment declining, Dolby’s penetration of Atmos and Vision should increase as MVPDs redesign offerings to fight churn and improve user experience, Colliers' Steven Frankel wrote investors Friday. Atmos and Vision shifted from either/or adoption decisions by hardware OEMs to a package of technologies delivering a premium experience, Frankel noted, citing Dolby Chief Financial Officer Lewis Chew. The technology company “continues to raise the bar” for audio and video technology with Dolby Vision IQ (see 2001080037) in some 2020 TVs, he said. Upcoming Xbox Series X and S game consoles support Atmos and Vision across all game play, vs. the previous Microsoft console, which only supported Dolby technologies in the Netflix app. Apple’s iOS 14 brings Atmos to AirPod Pro earphones “and could spur Atmos adoption by other wireless headphone makers,” said Frankel. Dolby.io is a “potential game changer,” said the analyst, moving Dolby's technology from hardware to software, allowing access through applications programming interfaces and shifting the revenue model “from per-device to per-use.” Chew referenced early traction with SoundCloud, telehealth and distance learning, said Frankel.

Comments are due Oct. 2, replies Oct. 9 on a request the FCC sign off on GCI Liberty being folded into Liberty Broadband under Communications Act Section 214 (see 2008310050), said a Wireline, Wireless, Media and International bureaus' public notice Friday.

A new Gracenote product connects fans to televised live sporting events and related content across over-the-top sources, said the company Wednesday. Streaming Sports Catalogs is said to ensure sports content is easily searchable and discoverable. “While increasing consumer choice, the rapid rise of sports driven OTT services is making it ever more challenging for sports fans to find and watch their favorite teams,” said Simon Adams, chief product officer.

ViacomCBS' CBS All Access streaming service will rebrand as Paramount+ early next year as the company expands its content offerings and debuts the service in Australia, Latin America and the Nordic nations, it said Tuesday. It said it will enlarge content offerings with more than 30,000 TV episodes and movies and continue developing original content.

Mediacom will do the first field trial of the cable industry's 10G high-speed broadband Thursday at a house in Ames, Iowa, it said Monday. It said the work is being done with CableLabs and NCTA, and the home will have an 8K TV and a 3D holographic display. The first 10G field tests were expected this year (see 2001220003).

MCTV's requested stay of the Sept. 14 C-band lump sum election deadline would cause a slight two-week delay but benefit satellite operators by giving them complete information they need if the FCC allows all antennas at previously registered and eligible sites to be included on the incumbent list, said an MCTV docket 20-205 posting Friday in response oppositions (see 2009090038). It said C-band earth station operations not currently on the list need the right to correct their filings and register because it's the only legitimate way for the agency to ensure those earth stations can provide much the same service to customers after the repacking. That's in support of an NAB/NCTA push for allowing updates and additions (see 2007310064).

VidAngel's settlement with content companies doesn't negate the need to filter content on streaming platforms, the Parents Television Council said Tuesday. The settlement lets VidAngel emerge from Chapter 11, the company said. It said it won't decrypt, copy, stream or distribute Disney or Warner content without their permission and will pay the two companies $9.9 million over 14 years. That's compared with 2019's $62.4 million jury verdict (see 1906180003). Under the settlement (docket 17-29073, in Pacer) in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Salt Lake City, VidAngel agreed not to lobby to change the Family Movie Act to allow anyone doing filtering to stream or distribute a film without permission. The Parents TV Council said it will keep advocating for legislation extending content filtering to streaming platforms. PTC said the settlement seems to be a content company payment to VidAngel to not share its filtering tech nor lobby.