FCC OK of Charter Communications buying Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks has a five-year sunset of data caps and interconnection conditions (see 1605100050), so the commission should terminate them next year, the acquirer said in a docket 16-197 petition Thursday. It said such MVPD competitors as AT&T, Comcast, Cox and Altice have data caps that haven't hurt the online video distribution market: That "flourishing OVD marketplace" also justifies ending the interconnection condition since other broadband providers not under such a condition voluntarily signed interconnection agreements with OVDs. Charter asked that the conditions end May 18, the five-year anniversary of the deal's close. The FCC didn't comment. Other ISPs may impose stricter monthly broadband usage caps after June 30, when a voluntary FCC pledge ends (see 2006180002).
July 20 will be the effective date for revamped FCC retransmission consent rules for talks between MVPD buying groups and large broadcast station groups, says Thursday's Federal Register. The buying group order -- stemming from the TV Viewer Protection Act -- was approved in May (see 2005130021).
The FCC's look at its cable leased access rate formulas needn't delve into constitutional issues, said broadcast interests in docket 17-105 Friday. The FCC should make clear any decision that gets into underlying constitutional issues applies only to commercial leased access rules at hand, not MVPD carriage of noncommercial stations, America's Public TV Stations and PBS said, taking no position on rate formulas. They said the FCC should recognize a changing market doesn't alter underlying governmental interests in ensuring access to noncommercial educational public TV stations. Also saying they have no position on rate formulas, Ion and Trinity Broadcasting Network said courts have been clear leased access doesn't violate the First Amendment.
Connected TV (CTV) is maturing, with similar usage to linear TV, a Comcast unit reported Thursday. And eMarketer says more consumers are watching on connected sets. "No longer an emerging technology," CTV "is a destination for premium video viewing," said FreeWheel. "CTV is now a mature platform,” said David Dworin, vice president-advisory services. “The viewing patterns we’re seeing on CTV are mirroring what we’ve historically seen in linear TV." EMarketer says over 60% of the U.S. population is expected to view video content on connected TV in 2020, FreeWheel reported: Digital video viewers surpassed 235 million last year, or more than 70% of the population. As CTV demand continues to grow, “the potential for fraudulent activity increases,” said the study: Companies are developing ways to certify and authenticate viewership to ensure viewers are human audiences.
Cable TV leased access rules should make clear average implicit fee calculations are done only on request and no more than once every 12 months, ACA Connects representatives told FCC Media Bureau staff, according to a docket 20-35 posting Thursday. The FCC is considering simplifying the formula, but a limit of doing that calculation every 12 months still seems appropriate, ACA said.
Plaintiffs Entertainment Studios Networks and National Association of African American Owned Media settled their lawsuit against Comcast alleging racial discrimination for not carrying ESN content, said a joint stipulation to dismiss (in Pacer, docket 15-cv-1239) Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. The settlement follows a Supreme Court decision in March reversing an appellate court decision that ESN had to show racial animus was only a part of the reason for the carriage decision (see 2003230006). ESN and Comcast said Thursday they signed a carriage agreement extending terms for The Weather Channel and 14 broadcast stations, plus distribution of Comedy.TV, Recipe.TV and JusticeCentral.TV on Comcast's X1 platform. They said Comcast will launch the ad-supported app Local NOW on the Xfinity X1 and Flex platforms. Xfinity customers who receive The Weather Channel will have access to its weloveweather.tv website and app on an authenticated basis. Asked about ESN is a similar complaint against Charter in which it last week filed a second amended complaint (in Pacer, docket 16-cv-00609) in the Los Angeles court, ESN didn't comment.
Overall video viewing in U.S. broadband households grew 45% from Q3 2018 to Q1 2020, said Parks Associates Tuesday. Transactional video service use doubled to 14%, it said, citing a Q1 survey of 10,000 households.
Roku believes all TV commercials will be “targeted and measurable,” said Alison Levin, vice president-ad sales and strategy. The video streamer launched a shopper data program designed to persuade consumer packaged goods advertisers to divert more of their ad spend to streaming, it said Friday. Marketers will use such sales information to activate advertising across hundreds of channels on the Roku platform, tying exposure to in-store and online sales.
Maine's a la carte cable programming law would play havoc with existing business relationships between programmers and distributors and ultimately mean viewers have less, not more, access to content, said amicus briefs filed Thursday with the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (docket 20-1104) by the MPA, WarnerMedia and Washington Legal Foundation (WLF). Maine is appealing a lower court's grant of a preliminary injunction blocking the law (see 2004300011). The state law is "a radical and surprising mandate" that's incompatible with the structure of existing licensed programming relationships between content owners and distributors and MPA members' exclusive rights under copyright law, MPA said (in Pacer). Most content wouldn't be economically viable if it were offered a la carte, and cable operators would have to stop offering all content for which they lack an a la carte license, reducing the amount of content available. WarnerMedia said (in Pacer) that the state law also is a First Amendment violation by requiring cable operators "to snip particular content out of the coherent whole in which a programmer has placed it." The WLF said (in Pacer) the lower court diverged from a plain reading of the Cable Act, which clearly says the federal government preempts state regulation of how cable TV is provided. The Maine Attorney General's Office didn't comment Friday.
Comcast investors rejected shareholder proposals on preparing an annual lobbying activity report and doing an independent investigation and report on sexual harassment risks, the company said Wednesday. All company proposals, including board elections and the advisory vote on executive compensation, were adopted, it said.