The Consumer Video Choice Coalition-backed downloadable security proposal doesn’t require a “second box” along with a set-top box, despite what pay-TV carriers have said, Public Knowledge told FCC Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake, Chairman Tom Wheeler’s aide Gigi Sohn, and Media Bureau staff in a meeting Wednesday, according to an ex parte filing in docket 15-64. Depending on how multichannel video programming distributors “choose to implement support, customers could require no consumer premises equipment beyond a smart television or a cable modem, which is already required for broadband,” PK said. Pay-TV carriers are also incorrect in portraying the proposal as a “technology mandate,” PK said. “Since the competitive navigation proposal does not mandate any form of common reliance, MVPDs would have to change nothing about their proprietary set-top boxes and nothing would change for consumers who are not interested in purchasing competitive devices.” Third-party devices wouldn’t endanger MVPD licensing agreements, PK said. “Under the competitive navigation proposal, MVPDs would remain as free as ever to design boxes and interfaces however they like and to enter into whatever content agreements seem appropriate.”

Neither TWC SportsNet nor SportsNet LA -- both owned by Time Warner Cable -- is likely to get significantly higher equilibrium affiliate fees if Charter Communications' buy of Bright House Networks and TWC goes through, Charter said in an FCC filing posted Friday in docket 15-149. The bulk of the filing was an analysis by economists of programming foreclosure issues for the regional sports networks owned by TWC. Also unlikely would be permanent foreclosure of TWC SportsNet, which is carried by numerous multichannel video programming distributors in the Los Angeles area and some outside of it, Charter said. New Charter would profit less by refusing to supply TWC SportsNet to a rival MVPD than it would make from affiliate fees, Charter said. And while the Charter deals could result in higher equilibrium affiliate fees, it said, consumers on balance would be better off because of transaction-specific efficiencies elsewhere. Only Charter, BHN and TWC carry SportsNet LA, so analyzing temporary foreclosure issues is problematic, the analysis said, saying there's no evidence a deal would lead to foreclosure or a significant hike in affiliate fees charged for SportsNet LA.

Small and mid-sized video providers likely will jump onboard Amazon's rumored plans to offer third-party video services as part of its Amazon Prime Instant Video offering, because they're the ones facing the biggest travails in setting up their own distribution networks, wrote The Diffusion Group Senior Adviser Joel Espelien in a blog Wednesday. Being an add-on to Instant Video wouldn't be enticing to a major multichannel network since Amazon solely would be in charge of the app's home screen and such related issues as placement of third-party content and user experience, TDG said. The provider also would cede to Amazon the consumer billing relationship and control of consumer usage data from the app, it said. "It is difficult to imagine a large video provider (i.e. HBO, Hulu) getting very excited about Amazon’s offer. These providers have their own brands and their own user bases, and are understandably going to be pretty reluctant to hand over the keys to the kingdom to Amazon," TDG said, saying for small and mid-sized streaming video on demand providers, the chief difficulty is in building a customer base. "For these providers, a large ecosystem platform like Amazon (or Apple or Google or Microsoft) is very tempting indeed." Amazon didn't comment Thursday.

The Justice Department closed its review of Arris' buy of Pace without imposing any antitrust conditions, Arris said in a news release Tuesday. The takeover still is going through merger control regulatory review in Brazil, though it received needed clearances in Colombia, Germany, Portugal and South Africa, Arris said. The set-top box company cited regulatory review issues -- particularly DOJ concerns -- when it said in October that the $2.1 billion deal likely would happen in early 2016 instead of Q4 (see 1510190008).

From the harm it could bring to the online video distribution (OVD) market to "the suffocating duopoly" it would create in the nation's broadband market, with New Charter and Comcast controlling too much of the residential broadband marketplace, Charter Communications' buying of Bright House Networks and Time Warner Cable can't be allowed to go through, Dish Network said in an ex parte filing posted Wednesday on a meeting between Dish CEO Charlie Ergen and top company executives and a variety of FCC staff, including Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake. At the meeting, according to the filing in docket 15-149, Dish repeated its major talking points in opposing the merger. Not even the open Internet rules would be adequate to restrain New Charter, especially since adjudicating disputes takes time and new OVDs "are fragile as they try to grow into maturity," Dish said. Dish also said behavioral conditions would be inadequate as OVD protection since "OVD sabotage can be achieved in many opaque and subtle ways." In a statement Wednesday, Charter said, “With minimum broadband speeds of 60 Mbps and no data caps, no usage-based billing, no contracts and settlement-free interconnection, Charter is an industry leader in how to treat broadband consumers and online video distributors like Netflix. Claims that New Charter and Comcast would create a duopoly are baseless; New Charter would serve only 23 percent of broadband subscribers -- a smaller percentage than Comcast serves today and less than half of the percentage Comcast/TWC would have served, and the companies have different strategies on issues including data caps, usage-based billing, contracts, interconnection and customer equipment.” Dish has been a constant opponent of Charter/TWC/BHN (see 1511300049).

Paramount Pictures will release the first two films for sale and rent online later this month under its online video revenue-sharing initiative with movie theaters, it said in a news release Tuesday. Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse and Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension will be available via online sale and rental on Dec. 8 and 15, respectively. Paramount said that under the revenue-sharing agreement with some theatrical exhibitors, the films could be made available via online video distribution 17 days after they were available in fewer than 300 domestic theaters. Both films came out theatrically in October, Paramount said.

Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC), being purchased by Liberty Global, is seeking FCC International Bureau approval to transfer control of a variety of international Communications Act Section 214 authorizations and of the licenses to operate the Arcos-1 fiber cable system and CFX-1 fiber submarine cable system as part of that deal. In a series of IB filings Monday (see here, here, here, here and here), CWC said under the deal, submarine cable landing licenses and the Section 214 authorizations will be transferred to newly incorporated CWC New Cayman, then CWC New Cayman will be transferred to a another newly incorporated holding company, CWC New Cayman Holdco, with Liberty Global having indirect ownership and control of CWC New Cayman and other license subsidiaries will be transferred to Liberty Global. Liberty Global's takeover of CWC -- which Liberty Global says it hopes to complete in Q2 (see 1511160022) -- comes as CWC was partway through its own takeover of Columbus International, announced in 2014. Liberty Global said that transaction isn't expected to be completed and that it and Columbus instead ask for transfer of control of the Columbus subsidiaries that operate the fiber cable systems to it.

Promised public benefits of Charter Communications' buying Bright House Networks and Time Warner Cable would happen regardless of those $89.1 billion deals going through, and might actually slow down BHN's technology upgrades, Dish Network said in an FCC filing posted Monday in docket 15-149. For example, Dish said, BHN's all-digital conversion was expected to happen sooner than the 30 months Charter has cited. Similarly, Charter's pledge of a minimum 60 Mbps broadband service to BHN customers contrasts with BHN being "well-positioned to offer a higher level of speed tiers to customers whether or not the merger is consummated," Dish said. While Charter says it, BHN and TWC will join the Cable WiFi consortium, BHN and TWC already are members and Charter shouldn't need the takeover "to push it to join," Dish said. In a statement Monday, Charter said the "many commitments, including to provide faster broadband service without data caps or modem fees, establish industry leading interconnection policies, offer advanced video services, increase competition in the SMB and enterprise business markets, and return thousands of overseas jobs to the U.S., puts this transaction squarely in the public interest.” Dish is one of the most vociferous opponents of Charter/TWC/BHN (see 1511230031).

Charter Communications said its cable modem policies are better for consumers than what competitors offer. "Unlike other ISPs that charge $8-$10 per month, Charter provides its customers modems for free," the company responded to us about a filing in docket 15-149 by Zoom Telephonics against Charter's pending purchases of Bright House Networks and Time Warner Cable (see 1511240028).

The FCC should streamline the Lifeline application process, Time Warner Cable executives told Chief Matthew DelNero and others in the Wireline Bureau, in a meeting on what factors likely will affect the participation of TWC and other broadband providers in the program. Other recommendations included cutting "administrative burdens relating to the eligibility verification and reimbursement processes" and using "a third-party verifier to alleviate privacy concerns arising from existing document-retention requirements," said TWC in a filing posted Wednesday in docket 11-42.