The FCC proposal that C-band earth station technology upgrade costs be reviewed and approved after MVPD earth station operators opt for lump sum reimbursement will deter the operators from going that route and "eviscerate the myriad policy benefits of the lump sum mechanism," ACA Connects representatives told Wireless Bureau staffers, per a docket 18-122 posting Monday. Such a review process is unnecessary because the necessity and degree of technology upgrades for MVPDs transitioning earth stations into the upper portion of the C-band is highly predictable, it said. The group urged integrated receiver/decoder replacement costs stay within the lump sum reimbursement.
Few MVPDs, particularly small ones, can shoulder the big risk that comes with the FCC saying some C-band earth station relocation costs will be reviewed after those stations' operators opt for the lump sum, ACA Connects told aides to Commissioners Mike O'Rielly and Brendan Carr as recapped in a docket 18-122 posting Thursday. It repeated its call (see 2006300085) to seek comment on a new proposed lump sum amount and to rework Wireless Bureau proposals.
Cable operators filing FCC Form 1240 can raise the non-external portion of their rates by 1.41% for Q1 to account for inflation, a Media Bureau public notice said Wednesday.
Sept. 30 is the deadline for MVPDs with six or more full-time workers to file Form 396-C equal employment opportunity program annual reports, the FCC Enforcement Bureau said Wednesday.
The YouTube TV vMVPD's monthly price is now $64.99, the $15 price hike due to increasing content costs, Google's YouTube blogged Tuesday. "It reflects the complete value of YouTube TV, from our breadth of content to the features that are changing how we watch live." It said it also introduced features including allowing users to jump to segments within news programs and to mark a show as "watched."
Charter received waiver removing 2,127 census blocks from the FCC Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction eligibility list. "Charter has deployed or will soon deploy service to these blocks under a settlement agreement with the State of New York" related to the cable operator's past takeover of Time Warner Cable, said a staff order in Monday's Daily Digest.
Children worldwide are increasingly growing up viewing TV programming online and on-demand, said S&P Global Friday. In about half of homes with children that were surveyed, parents let their kids choose what they watch, and 66% of parents report using some form of parental controls. Most parents canvassed impose rules to limit their children’s daily TV viewing. In the U.S., U.K. and Sweden, the portion of households with children viewing subscription VOD content is about equal to that of live TV, it said.
Cox launched the Elite Gamer service, it announced Thursday. It lowers latency by routing PC game traffic, after it leaves Cox’s network, via the most efficient internet path to gaming services, cutting lag up to 32%. Panoramic Wifi customers get one active game connection free and up to three more at $4.99 each, it said. Other customers can get an active Elite Gamer connection for $6.99 monthly and up to three more at $4.99 each.
Regulation of cable TV's rate structure is the same as rate regulation, and Maine's argument that its prorating law isn't rate regulation because it requires rebates after service is canceled is "wordplay," Charter said Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Bangor. The cable operator's opposition (in Pacer, docket 20-cv-00168) to the state's motion to dismiss Charter's legal challenge to the prorating law (see 2006030036) said a requirement a particular rate structure be offered as a customer service requirement makes Congress' ban of state rate regulation "largely toothless." Maine didn't comment.
Maine's a la carte law, by applying solely to cable operators, doesn't trigger First Amendment scrutiny, Gov. Janet Mills (D) and Attorney General Aaron Frey said Thursday in a reply brief with the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (in Pacer, docket 20-1104). There's no precedent for the argument editorial discretion includes bundling decisions, they said. Cablers can still package channels as long as they also unbundle the channels on request, they said. Maine is appealing a lower court's preliminary injunction of the state law on First Amendment grounds (see 2004300011). Outside counsel for appellees Comcast, A&E, C-SPAN, ViacomCBS, Discovery, Disney, Fox Cable Network Services and New England Sports Network didn't comment Friday.