FCC rules on good-faith negotiation of retransmission consent now allow retrans negotiations between MVPD buying groups and large station groups, said a 5-0 order Wednesday. The buying group draft order, stemming from the TV Viewer Protection Act, went on circulation last month (see 2004100064) ACA Connects said the approval "will benefit both the MVPD members of such buying groups and the broadcasters with whom such buying groups negotiate."

The FCC Public Safety Bureau’s report Tuesday on the 2019 nationwide emergency alert system test shows the test’s largest problem was a failure to retransmit by the source stations that are monitored by other broadcasters (see 1908070074). The simulation “was successful in that it demonstrated that the nationwide broadcast-based EAS distribution system would largely perform as designed, if activated without the availability of the Internet” but also revealed some deficiencies, the report said. More than 2,600 test participants, 13.3%, reported they didn't receive a signal from their monitored sources, the report said. FCC staff found many participants included incorrect information in their filings to the emergency test reporting system, with hundreds of broadcasters giving the wrong EAS designation for their stations. The report showed participation in the test slightly increased to 78.6% from 76.3% in 2018. Radio broadcaster participation improved to 82% from 78.7% and TV increased to 68.2% from 65.5%. Participation by cable systems, IPTV and wireline video systems fell to 73.4% from 76.4%. The report also laid out the bureau's plans to address issues with the test, such as encouraging EAS participants to monitor multiple sources to reduce failures. Due to the complications with monitoring assignments and inaccurate reporting, the bureau will “engage in further analysis of the 2019 test performance” and state EAS plans, the report said. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is also taking steps to improve the test, the document said. “To ensure more accurate origination of national messages, FEMA intends to review and update its alert origination procedures, as well as conduct additional testing.”

President Donald Trump tweeted complaints about Comcast and NBC reporter Chuck Todd at the FCC and Chairman Ajit Pai several times Sunday and Monday, appearing to be urging the agency to take action against Todd or his employers. “He should be FIRED by Concast [sic]. If done by a Republican, would be ‘prosecuted,’” Trump said in one tweet in which he tagged Pai. The tweets appeared to be a response to an NBC segment about Attorney General William Barr. “Sleepy Eyes Chuck Todd should be FIRED by ‘Concast’ (NBC) for this fraud. He knew exactly what he was doing.” said the tweet, before including the twitter handles of Pai and the FCC itself, along with: “Public Airwaves = Fake News!.” Trump has invoked the FCC in tweets against media companies in the past (see 1710110075) but no FCC action apparently has resulted. At the time, Pai said the agency doesn’t have the authority to revoke a broadcaster’s license over the content of a newscast (see 1809040051). “This is not how our rules work,” tweeted Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. “The FCC doesn't sanction stations for what journalists say.” The commission didn't comment.

Cable’s 600,000 subscriber losses in Q1, down 4% year on year, look “positively gentle” compared with overall traditional pay TV's 1.8 million losses (7.6%), also a record, MoffettNathanson reported. Pay-TV penetration is at 1995 levels, with as many nonsubscribing households as subs in 1988, the analysts said Friday. More distressing is where those customers didn’t go, wrote analyst Craig Moffett. VMVPDs, once viewed as “the last line of defense for cable networks, imploded in Q1,” and Moffett estimates the vMVPD category lost about 341,000 subscribers. Sony’s half a million PlayStation Vue service customers appear to have gone “nowhere” after the service shut down in January; AT&T TV Now, Sling TV and fuboTV lost subs, he said. Disney’s Hulu Live TV appears to “have hit a wall” after price increases, growing by about 100,000, “an abrupt deceleration from their recent torrid growth,” said Moffett. Numbers will drop this quarter, with sports off the air and unemployment taking hold, Moffett said. Combined traditional and vMVPDs subscriptions are shrinking 5.3% yearly, also setting a new low. Q1's sub loss "was hardly a surprise. No one has tried harder to avoid this outcome than ACA Connects and" its MVPD members, emailed the association's spokesperson. "Programmers and broadcasters have only themselves to blame. They demanded untenable rate increases year after year, forcing MVPDs to provide their customers with dozens of programming channels they didn’t want." The cost for "pay TV programming is four times higher than local TV, even though broadcast ratings dwarf that of cable," emailed an NAB spokesperson. He cited SNL Kagan data. NCTA didn't comment on MoffettNathanson's predictions. COVID-19 is stoking the cord-cutting trend, said Moffett, and even the return of sports is unlikely to bring back pay-TV customers who left traditional or vMVPDs. “The underlying causes for the defections are not transitory,” he said, raising the possibility of a “rapid death spiral for the entire category.”

More ViacomCBS networks join the YouTube TV lineup under an agreement announced Thursday: BET, Comedy Central, MTV and others. The deal covers continued carriage of CBS stations and CBS Sports Network, The CW and others.

Content companies alleging video piracy by IPTV service Nitro TV (see 2004060063) got a default judgment against named defendant Alejandro Galindo after he failed to plead or otherwise defend, said a clerk order (in Pacer, docket 20−cv−03129) entered Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.

NBCUniversal’s free Peacock service will be available on Apple devices July 15, it said Wednesday. The streaming service will be integrated with the Apple TV app, giving customers a “seamless” watching experience across Apple devices, including integration with Siri for content search. They will be able to sign up via the Peacock app on the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Apple TV. Peacock Premium will be $5 monthly.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit combined challenges to the FCC's C-band order from satellite truck operator PSSI Global Services and small satellite operators ABS Global, Empresa and Hispasat, in an order Monday (dockets 20-1143, 20-1146 and 20-1147, in Pacer). An appeal was expected (see 2003020032). PSSI's petition for review (in Pacer) said the order is "an existential challenge" to the band's occasional users and mobile users because demand for programming they deliver won't change, but available bandwidth will be reduced by 60%. It asked the court to vacate or reverse and remand the order. The satellite operators said (in Pacer) the order doesn't replace their lost C-band spectrum or reimburse them, contrary to past agency approach in spectrum reallocations, but "simply confiscates their spectrum and calls the result a mere license 'modification.'" They asked the order be reversed and vacated. The satellite operators also filed a protective petition (in Pacer) for review. The FCC didn't comment Tuesday.

Sony Pictures committed to release “hundreds” of titles in the Imax Enhanced format over the next two years, expanding its agreement with DTS. At least 100 titles will be available over the next 12 months, said the companies Monday, and “hundreds” more are expected in following years. Imax Enhanced is available on four streaming platforms in 14 countries and across 17 CE brands. DTS and Sony also developed Imax Mode for residential viewing.

TV broadcaster Howard Stirk Holdings agreed to pay $100,000 for violating FCC retransmission consent good-faith negotiation rules, said a Media Bureau consent decree Friday. The settlement involves an FCC ruling of violations of good-faith rules by several broadcasters that -- like HSH -- operate sidecar stations with Sinclair (see 2001170038). Deerfield Media and other broadcasters found in violation filed an application for review of the ruling, but HSH didn’t join in that appeal. The stations “refused to negotiate, unreasonably delayed negotiations, and failed to respond to proposals,” said the order. “The Bureau explained that the AT&T Order “constitute[d] only a partial resolution of this matter” and “reserve[d] the right to take enforcement action proposing a forfeiture” against the station groups, including HSH,” said a footnote. HSH agreed to admit violating good-faith rules and institute a compliance plan that includes the requirement that it engage independent counsel during retrans negotiations for the next three years to advise it on compliance.