Citing a deadline between the Christmas and New Year's federal holidays, the FCC Media Bureau extended deadlines for comment on proposed changes to the FCC's cable rate regulation regime for basic tier regulation by local franchise authorities (see 1811260036) to Jan. 10. Now replies are due Feb. 11, said a public notice in Wednesday's Daily Digest.
Localities continue to lobby against a Further NPRM that would treat cable operators' in-kind contributions required by local franchise authorities as franchise fees subject to a cap (see 1811150027). Costs that would fall on the city would be prohibitive to continuing its local channel, Juneau, Wisconsin, said in a docket 05-311 posting Wednesday. The Portland Media Center, which provides public access TV services to part of Maine, said that broad definition of franchise fee "will shift the fair balance" between cable franchising authorities and cable operators, forcing communities to choose between franchise fees and public, educational and government channels. It waved off cable arguments such fees stifle innovation, pointing to increased channels, signal upgrades to digital and faster broadband. The Vermont Access Network, which facilitates creation of PEG programming, said this would create a cable operator/franchising authority imbalance.
The statute that sets out the LEC test for effective competition says "facilities," showing Congress meant to apply it only to LECs that that use their facilities to provide video programming in direct competition with cable-TV operators, Hawaii said in a docket 18-283 posting Tuesday. Any other interpretation -- such as what Charter Communications is offering in its petition for a finding of effective competition based on the presence of DirecTV Now (see 1809170020) -- is unwarranted and would remove rate regulation protections from those remaining communities where there's not yet effective competition, the state said.
Charter Communications will drop a commercial challenged by DirecTV that seems to indicate the DBS operator has no sports channels or programming, the National Advertising Division said Tuesday. However, NAD said there was sufficient evidence to back another challenged Charter commercial about $99 charges for technicians sent to homes to resolve DirecTV service issues. Charter didn't comment. The Better Business Bureau's NAD separately said Wednesday that a Comcast-challenged AT&T ad for DirecTV didn't convey misleading disparaging messages "that cable service providers and their customers are associated with the occult."
Comments are due Dec. 27, replies Jan. 28 on proposed changes to the FCC's cable rate regulation regime for basic tier regulation by local franchise authorities, says a notice for Tuesday's Federal Register. Commissioners approved the Further NPRM and order at their Oct. 23 meeting (see 1810230037). The order, which eliminates or revises cable rules now obsolete due to the sunsetting of cable programming service tier regulation, takes effect Dec. 27, says a separate FR notice for Tuesday.
The TV One network Jan. 19 launches its Cleo TV lifestyle and entertainment cable channel aimed at millennial and Generation X women of color, it said Tuesday: It will be on Comcast's Xfinity, with more announcements coming.
African-American-majority-owned indie networks Afro and Cleo TV will be on Comcast starting in January, Comcast said Thursday. It's a fulfillment of commitments it made in its 2011 acquisition of NBCUniversal (see 1612150051).
Some investors are cautious on CommScope's $7.4 billion plan to buy Arris, an analyst found. Worries include debt that CommScope will take on, which executives have said shouldn't be a problem (see 1811080051), wrote Simon Leopold of Raymond James Wednesday. "The deal seemed to lack strategic rationale and was more about buying cash flow." In the minds of investors and the companies, Leopold told us, "the common strategic theme is broadband and traffic growth." Owners of CommScope securities "perceive the deal negatively because they think of ARRIS as just" a set-top box maker, Leopold wrote "It is not. About 40% of sales come from STBs, the products contribute a single-digit percent of profits. We see opportunities from the evolution of cable TV networks." The combining companies declined to comment.
Replies are due Nov. 19 on Charter Communication's petition for determination of effective competition in Hawaii and Massachusetts based on competition from DirecTV Now, the FCC Media Bureau said in a public notice Tuesday in docket 18-283. It said instead of being treated as a restricted proceeding without ex parte presentations, the agency will treat the proceeding as "permit-but-disclose" due to it potentially having effects beyond the specific Charter matter.
Cable One's takeover of Clearwave will result in expanded offerings to a broader customer base, and Clearwave customers won't see any immediate changes to services, rates, or terms and conditions, the companies said Tuesday seeking FCC approval. They announced the deal's plans Monday (see here). They expect it to close in Q1. Fiber network operator Clearwave has more than 2,400 route miles in southern Illinois.