Of the 79 percent of U.S. consumers who subscribe to TV, 23 percent trimmed the cord this past year by scaling back the size of their subscription package, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said in a report Wednesday. Some of that decline is due to the introduction of skinny bundles by multichannel video programming distributors, PwC said, and 57 percent of cord cutters did so because of subscription costs. In 2014, 91 percent of consumers envisioned subscribing to cable in the coming year -- a number that had dropped to 79 percent by 2015, implying close to 20 percent of cable subscribers could cancel within in the next year, PwC said. When cord cutters were asked what would get them to resubscribe, 56 percent said an a la carte customization option. Meanwhile, over-the-top video providers appear to be a threat to cable but not to each other, with 55 percent of Netflix subscribers also subscribing to at least one other OTT service, as do 91 percent of Hulu subscribers, PwC said. The study is based on an online survey of 1,200 U.S. consumers conducted in fall of 2013 and fall of 2014, a pair of consumer groups convened in September in Los Angeles, and a three-month analysis of social media, PwC said.

Multichannel video programming distributors that don't carry local broadcast signals and aren't employing retransmission consent benefits that come with MVPD regulation shouldn't be subject to the regulatory burdens of those rules either, Telletopia said in an FCC ex parte filing posted Wednesday in docket 14-261 on a call between Telletopia and staff of Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. The nonprofit over-the-top service (see 1511100014) said online video distributors (OVD) carrying local broadcast signals need to be classified as MVPDs to be competitive with cable, satellite and other video providers. Without a retrans mechanism for online provision of local broadcast stations, local broadcast programming can't be distributed online and stations can't be compensated, said the nonprofit. The obligations and privileges that come under MVPD regulations "are of particular importance to entities seeking to retransmit local broadcast station signals -- the full content of which is unavailable to consumers over the Internet via other sources," Telletopia said. But if an OVD classified as an MVPD isn't interested in station carriage, it said, "the obligations of the MVPD rules should not be triggered."

Any Charter Communications buy of Bright House Networks and Time Warner Cable should include conditions that boost residential cable Internet access for low-income households, including broadening the eligibility requirements for its program for residential cable Internet access for low-income households, the Coalition for Broadband Equity said in an FCC ex parte filing posted Wednesday in docket 15-149. The coalition -- an unfunded association made up of a variety of community groups, schools, government agencies and libraries scattered across five states -- said Charter/TWC/BHN should also be predicated on conditions that set "specific, ambitious and accountable enrollment goals" for that Internet discount plan, and require spending of at least $50 million a year in outreach and marketing of the plan. The ex parte recapped a phone call between coalition members and staff of Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, during which there was some discussion about the problems with using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program enrollment as an eligibility criterion for low-income discounts, the coalition said. In a statement Thursday, Charter said it "will expand Bright House Networks’ low-income broadband service to the current Charter and TWC footprint, increase the speed, expand eligibility, and continue to offer the service at a significant discount.”

The nation's nearly 50 million pay-TV "defectors" -- who have reduced or are contemplating cuts to their pay-TV service -- vastly outnumber the roughly 22 million "desirers" loyal to or interested in expanding their pay-TV subscription, GfK said in a news release Wednesday. It said the data comes from its just-issued Cord Evolution report tracking traditional and streaming TV trends. According to GfK, defectors have marginally higher income than desirers -- $62,000 annually vs. $60,000 -- and stream less video (62 percent of defectors having done so in the past month, compared with 72 percent of desirers). Desirers, meanwhile, are more receptive to advertising, more prone to binge viewing of TV shows, and have stronger affinity for watching live linear TV, GfK said.

The FCC Media Bureau rejected a request by the Campbell County, Kentucky, Cable Board seeking certification to regulate basic cable service rates. In a letter posted Wednesday, the bureau said the county's Cable Board Form 328 filed last month failed to show why it should be allowed to regulate rates despite the agency's presumption of effective competition.

The Open Internet Consortium's planned purchase of UPnP Forum means UPnP "will be maintained and supported for as long as cable requires," CableLabs principal IoT architect Clarke Stevens said in a blog post Wednesday about the significance of the acquisition to the cable industry. OIC will put together a UPnP Working Group for maintenance of UPnP specifications and certification, which helps as some cable products require UPnP certification, CableLabs said. Much of UPnP Forum's work involved IoT matters in recent years, and the online OneIoTa tool it developed under CableLabs guidance for developing and adopting device definitions also will be available to OIC members, CableLabs said. CableLabs said it was "a major contributor" to both UPnP and OIC standards development, and the combination will turn OIC "into a system that enables cable operators to offer a coherent and simplified Internet of Things service to cable customers."

Comcast urged customers to use home automation features to protect their homes this holiday season. In a blog post, Comcast said more than 70 percent of Americans plan to travel this holiday season. To keep the home secure, it suggested turning lights on and off remotely or to set a lighting schedule using smart home devices. Comcast cited Lutron products that can also manage window shades controllable from an app. “This way, the house looks occupied when you’re away, and you don’t have to worry about remembering to switch off the holiday lights, which can save money on electricity bills,” it said. Surveillance cameras monitor a home inside and out, which can be useful for watching for package deliveries or to see if a puppy is drinking tree water, it said. Homeowners can watch security video from a laptop, tablet or smartphone, it said. Comcast suggested 24/7 professional monitoring on a secure network with cellular and battery backup. It also encouraged smart home customers to set rules via “if this, then that” actions so appliances, electronics and other devices work in harmony. An option with Xfinity Home customers: Get a text if the front door doesn’t open between certain hours when the dog walker is supposed to visit or get a text when a package is delivered to alert a neighbor for pickup.

NCTA will distort facts and “say almost anything” to prevent competition to leased set-top boxes, TiVo said in an ex parte filing posted Tuesday in FCC docket 15-64 responding to a recent NCTA filing (see 1512020050) that argued that the company was trying to manipulate the agency to create more targets for patent litigation. TiVo has “initiated” only four patent lawsuits, the company said. “Contrary to NCTA’s assertion, the majority of TiVo’s revenues come from services provided to MVPDs and retail customers." With consolidation of multichannel video programming distributors on the rise, “giving consumers a choice of user interface to access their pay TV programming” is increasingly important, TiVo said. Increasing set-top competition would benefit MVPDs by increasing “pay TV subscriber satisfaction” and making cord cutting less attractive, TiVo said. “Nonetheless, NCTA has chosen to oppose any meaningful consumer choice by suggesting that TiVo, which has approximately one percent of the set-top box market share, is trying to use patent litigation to harm device competition.” NCTA didn’t comment.

The FCC should minimize the burdens of any online public filing requirement that would apply to cable carriers, because of “the large number of cable systems and the numerous documents that must be retained in local public files,” NCTA told Media Bureau staff in a meeting Wednesday, according to an ex parte filing posted Monday in docket 14-127. The database should be designed so a single upload can populate multiple files, and any new system should enable cable operators to link to existing company electronic databases, NCTA said. “Any new rules should provide an appropriate transition period to avoid unduly taxing company resources.”

Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia are significantly more "attached" to the Internet than the nation as a whole, judging by response to NCTA's Onward Internet survey, wrote NCTA Senior Director-Digital Strategy John Solit on the group's blog. Roughly 23 percent of survey takers from the region indicated they would have "serious trouble" unplugging -- that response perhaps pointing to Washington's being tied to the news cycle or the high educational attainment levels of area residents, NCTA said. Onward Internet was launched in 2014 and relaunched earlier this fall, and focuses on a nine-question online survey about the Internet and Internet use (see 1511190040).