The Disney/Fox/Warner Bros. Discovery sports streaming joint venture (see 2402070006) "will eventually dominate the distribution market for live sports and will drive out competition," programming distributors and programmers along with advocacy group allies said Thursday in a letter to House and Senate Commerce and Judiciary committee chairs and ranking members. Consumer interests are never served when an important industry like live sports "is effectively controlled by three programming giants which decided to combine forces instead of competing against each other," they said. The letter requests a hearing on pay TV. Behind the letter were Fubo TV, DirecTV, Dish Network, Newsmax, Sports Fan Coalition, American Economic Liberties Project, Open Markets Institute and Electronic Frontier Foundation. House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., and Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, raised similar concerns in a letter last month to the JV members (see 2404170067).

The FCC should issue an NPRM seeking comment on a proposed report about content vendor diversity, Allen Media, the United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry, the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, Black Women’s Roundtable, and attorney David Goodfriend of I Street Advocates said in a meeting with an aide to Commissioner Geoffrey Starks Tuesday, according to an ex parte filing posted Thursday in docket 22-209. A petition for rulemaking on the proposal was already the subject of a round of comments in 2022 (see 2207250060). The proposed report “will be effective and not burdensome,” the filing said. The proposal would collect data from FCC regulatees that operate media companies -- such as Disney and Google -- about their vendors. “No vendor, including small vendors, will be required to submit data, but the data that is submitted will add to the publicly available information.” The data would “be consistent, according to FCC-adopted definitions and thus can be compared easily with each other, unlike the anecdotal information available now.” Creating the report would be in line with provisions in the Cable Act authorizing the FCC to adopt rules specifying how regulatees encourage minority and female entrepreneurship, the filing said.

Warner Bros. Discovery TV networks went dark on Fubo Tuesday evening, with the virtual multichannel video programming distributor (vMVPD) saying WBD is engaged in "abuse of massive market power that ultimately limits consumer choice." Fubo said WBD was demanding above-market rates for its content. "We have been and remain ready and willing to work diligently with Fubo to reach a fair market agreement," WBD said in a statement. "We proposed an extension of our current agreement, with no changes or price increases, that would allow Fubo to continue carrying these networks, and it is unfortunate that Fubo has decided to alienate their own customers in this way." The vMVPD is suing WBD, along with Fox and Disney, regarding the programmers' joint sports streaming service (see 2402210007).

Regional sports network SportsNet Pittsburgh is launching a direct-to-consumer streaming service. It posted Monday on X that its streaming app SNP 360 provides access to network content including live Pirates and Penguins games.

Comcast's and Charter Communications' forays into over-the-top TV service with Spectrum TV Stream (see 2404160069) and Now TV aren't about competing with virtual multichannel video programming distributors (vMVPD). Instead, their goal is maintaining broadband dominance, nScreenMedia analyst Colin Dixon wrote Wednesday. Cable companies have bundled TV and broadband for decades because that cuts churn for both services, he said. The high cost of cable TV "broke the bundle's positive impact," but a low-cost TV service "could help remake it and keep those broadband competitors at bay," he said. Smaller vMVPDs such as Philo and Sling TV could be particularly vulnerable to the cablers' streaming TV competition, he said.

Paramount Global shareholders will decide at the company's June 4 annual meeting on a shareholder proposal that the company prepare a transparency report about how it uses AI in business operations, as well as ethical guidelines for AI it has adopted. Also on the agenda is a shareholder proposal recommending the board adopt a policy requiring stockholder approval for certain "golden parachute" compensation packages, according to the annual proxy statement issued Monday. The board is recommending "no" votes on both.

While the "all-in" video pricing order has appeared in the Federal Register and is now effective (see 2404180008), compliance will be phased in, the FCC Media Bureau said in a public notice in Tuesday's Daily Digest. It said compliance for mid-sized and large cable and direct broadcast satellite operators won't be required until either Dec. 19 or when the Office of Management and Budget completes its Paperwork Reduction Act review, whichever comes later. Compliance for cable operators with annual receipts of $47 million or less won't be required until March 19, 2025, or Paperwork Reduction Act review, whichever comes later.

The Warner Bros. Discovery board is recommending shareholders reject three shareholder proposals during the company's annual meeting June 3. The proposals would have the company disclose its use of AI in business operations, as well as any WBD ethical guidelines for AI use and adopt a right for shareholders to call a special shareholder meeting, according to its proxy statement filed Friday with the SEC. In addition, shareholders will vote on a recommendation that the board convene a committee that will oversee WBD policy positions and advocacy in areas such as alleged political bias on CNN.

Netflix will expand its use of charging different prices in different countries, co-CEO Greg Peters said in an earnings call Thursday after the market's close. Peters told analysts the company has no set position on a potential ceiling to its pricing. Netflix said its Q1 revenues were $9.4 billion, up 14.8% over Q1 2023. Asked about the streamer's live sports strategy, co-CEO Ted Sarandos told analysts that Netflix is "not anti-sports but pro-profitable growth" and that it would consider other sports opportunities that could drive engagement and revenues similar to its World Wrestling Entertainment deal.

The FCC is proposing to ban most favored nation (MFN) provisions in carriage agreements as part of a resurrected look at challenges independent programmers face in getting carriage. An NPRM adopted Wednesday and released Friday also proposes banning unreasonable alternative distribution methods (ADM) in carriage agreements. The NPRM was approved 3-2 along party lines. A previous look at indie programmer challenges had been championed by Commissioner Mignon Clyburn under Chairman Tom Wheeler (see 1601290047), but no action was taken under Chairman Ajit Pai. The NPRM asks questions about the state of the video marketplace and whether indie programmers have better carriage opportunities on platforms than they did in 2016. Beyond MFNs and ADMs, the NPRM also asks about the prevalence of forced bundling practices and if other practices impede indie programmer market entry or growth. MFN provisions guarantee all multichannel video programming distributors (MVPD) pay a programmer the same. ADMs bar programmers from showing content on an online video distributor for a window of time after it has aired on a linear channel. "The marketplace for video programming continues to evolve and provide consumers with new ways to watch," Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said. "But the laws that govern this marketplace from Congress have not changed. What also has not changed is that independent programmers continue to express concern about the challenges they have getting their programming on the channel line-up of cable and satellite television." Commissioner Brendan Carr in his dissent said the NPRM "proceeds from a dated view of the [video] marketplace that can only further tilt the regulatory playing field in a way that will not serve consumers’ interests." He said it stretches the FCC's authority under Communications Act Section 616 -- prohibiting MVPD discrimination against programmers -- beyond what Congress intended. Commissioner Nathan Simington said in his dissent: "A public notice refreshing the record, or a fresh notice of inquiry, would have been appropriate paths for the Commission to take up the questions posed by the notice of proposed rulemaking here... Instead, we opt to tentatively conclude a great deal about the structure of the video marketplace, and what public interest demands we do, on the basis of a stale record."