The American Cable Association is continuing its push to let cable operators electronically send notices to broadcasters that currently have to be delivered via certified mail, with a docket 17-317 posting Tuesday recapping an ACA meeting with an aide to Chairman Ajit Pai about the proposal (see 1810170023).

Commercial leased access "is an anachronism" that probably couldn't get past a First Amendment challenge, especially since video programmers have many alternate distribution routes, NCTA, Comcast and Charter Communications officials told FCC Media Bureau staff including Chief Michelle Carey. So recounted a docket 07-42 posting Friday. The cablers said part-time leased access -- not statutorily required -- puts big administrative burdens on the industry, and cable spends millions of dollars annually servicing leased access user needs. Cable operators carrying leased access channels on the basic tier should be able to calculate average implicit fees based on a basic tier-specific calculation, not the blended calculation required under the existing formula, they said.

It seems clear based on data so far that legacy, facilities-based distributors lost close to 950,000 subscribers in Q4, the second worst quarter ever, behind Q3 2018, BTIG Research analyst Rich Greenfield wrote investors Wednesday. He said benefits from virtual MVPDs slowed materially in Q4, leaving around 8 million subscribers at year's end. Minus vMVPD subscriber gains, MVPD subscriber losses exceeded 500,000, he said. Year-over-year subscriber trends that had improved throughout 2018 are going to worsen again in 2019, he said.

IPTV overtook direct-to-home last year as No. 2 MVPD type after cable, with 23.4 percent of the 1.07 billion-household global market, Kagan reported Wednesday. IPTV grew 14.3 percent last year, but cable is projected to decline at a 0.3 percent compound annual growth rate by 2023 due to migration to IPTV in Asia Pacific and Western Europe. IPTV’s projected 7 percent subscriber CAGR in the period is second to pay digital terrestrial TV at 8.5 percent. Cord-cutting effects are primarily seen in North America where multichannel subscribers, revenue and penetration are projected to decline for the foreseeable future. Oversaturated markets including Singapore and Hong Kong are experiencing declines on cord cutting. In Europe, the biggest threat to traditional multichannel integration of over-the-top and catch-up TV services, along with ability to stream channel packages via hybrid boxes, Kagan said. The global multichannel market grew 3.1 percent last year, with China, India and the U.S. accounting for 57 percent of subscribers. By 2023, China and India are expected to account for half.

The FCC’s extension of comment deadlines in its proceeding on cable carriage election notices is set for Federal Register Thursday publication (see 1812140017). Comments are now due March 18, replies March 28.

NCTA and Hawaii disagree on replacing basic rate-setting methodology for cable operators, in FCC docket 17-105 postings Monday. Given the little such regulation, a big overhaul would be "a tremendous waste of administrative resources," the Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs said. The department said it would be "inappropriate" for the FCC to revise its Communications Act Section 623(b)(5) interpretation of whether equipment used to receive the basic service tier should be exempt from rate regulation if the gear also can be used for other signals. It said that would sidestep Congress' "clear intent" and let cable operators avoid regulation by using mixed use-capable equipment. Any replacement of the rate methodology for operators that become reregulated should start with basic service tier rates allowed by the franchising authority before that rate regulation was eliminated, Hawaii said. First-time regulatees would need a new mechanism to reach back to when that operator was subject to effective competition, it said. NCTA said the FCC should continue to set rules about local regulation to give local franchise authorities direction. The association pushed an updated comparative benchmark methodology to compare regulated rates to a sampling of basic tier rates charged by the same operator in communities with effective competition. Or cable operators should have the option of justifying current basic service and equipment rates and future rate increases with simplified versions of forms 1240 and 1205 that don't require looking backward.

The FCC Media Bureau will give enhanced confidential treatment to some confidential and competitively sensitive information that may be filed as part of beIN Sports' carriage complaint against Comcast (see 1902060052), said a docket 18-384 order posted Friday. The order covers such information as affiliation agreements involving Comcast's NBC Sports and Universo networks, plus the cabler's viewership analyses.

Cable rate regulation has no reason for being in today's competitive market, and even though regulation is applicable only to some larger operators and systems, small systems owned by small cablers should be exempt just to eliminate even the threat, the American Cable Association said in an FCC docket 17-105 posting Friday. It said Section 623 of the Communications Act, covering rate regulation, explicitly gives the agency authority to grant such relief. ACA said processes and forms for larger cable systems should be simplified.

Small and midsize cable operators' push for adopting local franchise authority rules proposed in an FCC Further NPRM (see 1902040061) has questionable probative value since it doesn't provide specific complaints or name any alleged offending community, NATOA said in a docket 05-311 posting Friday. That precludes communities giving their perspectives and shows the absence of a market issue, the association said. NATOA said nonfinancial obligations in locally negotiated franchises aren't subject to offsets against franchise fees, and the Cable Act doesn't support the FCC's proposed mixed-use rule.

Charter Communications and New York could be nearing a settlement that would avoid kicking the cable company out of the state. The Public Service Commission Thursday voted 3-1 to confirm Chairman John Rhodes’ latest 30-day extension in case 15-M-0388 (see 1902040053). Commissioner Diane Burman voted no, as she did for process reasons on previous extensions. The parties are “considering proposed settlement frameworks,” and “should reach a term sheet agreement within two weeks and a full written agreement within four weeks,” the Rhodes order said. “The Staff advises that any final settlement will include: (1) an agreement on eligible passings that will count toward the 145,000-passing buildout condition pursuant to the 2016 merger order; (2) a penalty and/or funding provided by Charter to expand broadband access to further customers in addition to those passed pursuant to the buildout condition; and (3) an enforceable schedule to complete the remaining buildout work.” Also at the meeting, the agency cleared T-Mobile buying Sprint (see 1902070009).