Raycom is continuing to negotiate with DirecTV after its stations were pulled from the DBS company’s lineup Monday. The companies couldn’t reach a carriage agreement, Raycom said in a news release that day (http://bit.ly/1A1XNDs). Raycom stations will continue to be available to viewers through its websites, social media and apps, and over the air with an antenna, it said. Raycom is “denying” DirecTV customers access to its local stations “unless they pay more than double just to receive the same broadcast shows that remain available over the air for free,” DirecTV said in a statement (http://bit.ly/1qm2jvj). Despite the blackout, NFL and college football fans can see all of the first week’s action uninterrupted, “and the majority of ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC series won’t premiere for several more weeks,” it said. DirecTV said NBC Sports streams all of its NFL games online, and subscribers can turn off their receivers and tune their DTVs into the same channel position as their Raycom station. American Television Alliance reiterated its push for the Local Choice proposal from the Senate Commerce Committee. In this case, DirecTV subscribers “would be able to decide if their ‘local’ Raycom station is worth double what they're paying now,” ATVA said in a statement (http://bit.ly/1mFBqkI). Viewers shouldn’t be forced to endure broadcaster blackouts, and Local Choice “will put an end to them once and for all,” it said. Local Choice is aimed at ending TV blackouts by overhauling retransmission consent rules (CD Aug 13 p4).
The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau sought comment on the tentative conclusions of its 2014 biennial report on the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA), said a public notice released in Friday’s Daily Digest (http://bit.ly/1zSdRaF). CGB wants to know if the report accurately represents “the current state of communications technologies,” how industry actions have led to increased accessibility and what other kinds of information should be included in the 2016 report. Comments on the 2014 report are due Sept. 11, and the report is set to be submitted to Congress Oct. 8.
Initial comments on a petition for a rulemaking that expands online public file obligations to cable and satellite TV operators are due Aug. 28, the FCC said in a Federal Register notice (http://1.usa.gov/1sDwRHn). Reply comments are due Sept. 8, it said. The Media Bureau also set the same comment deadlines on expanding the obligations to radio licensees (CD Aug 8 p14).
TV viewing among Millennials and baby boomers shows that TV is having a second Golden Age, a study by Instant.ly and YuMe found. The definitions of quality TV aren’t differing that much across generational lines, Instant.ly said Tuesday in a blog post (http://bit.ly/1qKgbLZ). The companies culled information by surveying 1,000 respondents, it said. Flexibility is a driver, with 45 percent of respondents enjoying device flexibility, and 40 percent citing the ability to stream content, it said. Respondents selected, in order, HBO, CBS and AMC as having the best entertainment quality, followed by Netflix content, it said. Millennials preferred HBO, while respondents age 35 and over chose CBS as the top network “with its more conventional comedy and drama lineup,” it said. Reasons for binge watching varied, with 44 percent wanting to immerse themselves in the show, and 40 percent claiming to have “a sense of contentment from the time spent watching TV,” it said. Networks and distribution platforms “will need to stay dialed in to the rapidly changing customer expectations, preferences and viewing habits to make the most of this trend,” it said.
The issue of whether Aereo can be treated as a cable system will be considered in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, ruled the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in an order issued Thursday. “We leave it to the district court to consider whether the issues are properly raised in these cases and, if so, to rule on the issues in the first instance.” In response to a broadcaster request for a nationwide injunction against Aereo, the streaming TV service has argued that the majority opinion in its recent Supreme Court loss means it should be treated as a cable system, and be eligible for the same copyright license such systems use (CD July 11 p10). The U.S Copyright Office has said that Aereo doesn’t qualify for such a license (CD July 18 p18).
Pandora’s global workforce had nearly equal parity between men (50.8 percent) and women (49.2 percent), its diversity report said Thursday (http://pdora.co/1q30AK2). Whites are 70.9 percent of Pandora’s U.S. employees; Asians, 12.3 percent, it said. Hispanics (7.2 percent) and blacks (3 percent) are just more than 10 percent of its U.S. workforce, it said.
NFL Now launched on Apple TV. NFL Now gives Apple TV users access to game highlights, original content from NFL Media and 32 NFL clubs, and shows and videos from the NFL Films vault, the NFL said Wednesday in a news release (http://bit.ly/1z2pwDn). It also delivers a personalized NFL viewing experience anywhere, “providing a one-of-a-kind video stream based on each fan’s favorite NFL teams, players and NFL.com Fantasy rosters and viewing preferences over time,” it said.
Disney and Mediacom signed a comprehensive distribution agreement to deliver Disney’s lineup of sports, news and entertainment content to Mediacom customers. Customers can access the content on TVs, computers, smartphones and other devices, said Disney, ESPN and Mediacom Wednesday in a news release (http://es.pn/1sUXwDs). Under the agreement, Mediacom plans to introduce new services, including ESPN Goal Line and ESPN Buzzer Beater, it said. ESPN3 will continue to be available to residential Mediacom High Speed Internet customers across screens and devices, it said.
ContentBridge, a supplier of digital supply chain software to studios, distributors and online stores, and research firm GfK Entertainment are among five new Digital Entertainment Group members, the DEG said Tuesday. Others joining are the online store Google Play, Vubiquity, the supplier of multi-platform video services whose CEO, Darcy Antonellis, is former Warner Brothers chief technology officer, and Western Digital, a hard drive and components manufacturer, the DEG said. Western Digital also is a founding member with Fox Home Entertainment, SanDisk and Warner Home Entertainment of the Secure Content Storage Association, which, according to Samsung, is working to fashion “an open ecosystem” of 4K content that one could buy at retail or download for storage or playback on any number of brands of Ultra HD TVs that will support that ecosystem.
Buckeye Cablevision again told the FCC the retransmission consent regime needs substantial and systematic reform. Buckeye Cablevision’s experience as both a broadcaster and a cable operator in retransmission consent proceedings “gives it a unique perspective on both the problems and solutions to the retransmission consent problem,” it said in an ex parte filing posted Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1qn02Ml). The filing was on a meeting at Buckeye’s headquarters with Commissioner Ajit Pai, his aide Nicholas Degani, Rep. Bob Latta, R-Ohio, the American Cable Association and other media executives.