The FCC's draft ATSC 3.0 NPRM could use more specificity on how the new standard will affect pay-TV operators that carry 3.0 broadcast signals, said representatives of the American Television Alliance in a meeting with an aide to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn Monday, according to an ex parte filing in docket 16-142. The NPRM should include questions about “the format and geographic scope of 'simulcast' ATSC 1.0 transmissions” and the carriage of simulcast signals under existing retransmission consent agreements, said representatives of ATVA members AT&T, Charter Communications, Dish Network, Verizon and the American Cable Association. ACA also submitted separate comments in a letter to the FCC praising Chairman Ajit Pai's decision to make circulating documents public. “This new process, we believe, will help lead to a better NPRM than otherwise would have been possible,” ACA said. The FCC should gather additional information on the additional capacity that multichannel video programming distributors will need to carry ATSC 3.0 signals, ACA said. “This proposed transition will result in broadcasters consuming dramatically more capacity on already-constrained cable networks, requiring them to either eliminate other programming or reduce the quality of their broadband Internet service,” ACA said. “A small cable operator would have to eliminate at least six HD cable channels or sharply degrade broadband performance in order to carry the four major network affiliates in a higher-resolution format.” NAB backs "a voluntary, market-driven deployment of Next Gen TV," and the regulator shouldn't "impose overly prescriptive requirements for the transition," the association's representatives reported telling FCC Chief of Staff Matthew Berry.

A third of U.S. broadband households subscribe to a paid streaming music service, up from 26 percent in 2015, said a Wednesday Parks Associates report. Most paid streaming music services had growth in 2016, and Amazon Prime Music led the market with 15 percent penetration in U.S. broadband households. Amazon Prime Music experienced a 50 percent subscription bounce for the period, and it late last year bowed Amazon Music Unlimited, its on-demand music streaming service with multiple subscription options. Spotify nearly doubled its subscriber base from 4 percent to 7 percent of households for 2016, and SiriusXM Streaming, Apple Music and YouTube all had modest adoption growth during the year, said Parks. Pandora and Google Play Music “did not change substantially” vs. 2015, it said. Free, ad-supported music services offer convenience and value, but consumers have been swayed to pay for services that offer commercial-free listening, on-demand content and expanded libraries, said Parks analyst Glenn Hower. Other findings: 58 percent of U.S. broadband households stream music or audio outside the home, and they stream 3.6 hours of music or audio weekly on computers, 2.7 hours on smartphones, said Parks.

Vizio's settlement with the FTC over allegations the smart TV maker collected viewing data on 11 million consumers without their consent or knowledge (see 1702060042 and 1702070024) "highlights the importance of providing thorough consumer disclosures," wrote Wiley Rein attorneys Megan Brown and Madi Lottenbach in a Tuesday blog post. They said it "remains unclear" to what extent consumers "reasonably expect" their demographics, location and viewing habits will be recorded and used by TV and streaming device makers, software developers and the advertising industry. The lawyers wrote that some consumers have IoT privacy and security concerns that could result in increased regulatory oversight. They cited acting FTC Chairman Maureen Ohlhausen's concurring statement in the settlement that it's the first time the commission has said viewing activity is "sensitive information" and the experts said further clarity may be needed about what causes "substantial injury."

Disney CEO Bob Iger won’t commit to a specific date or pricing model for the launch of the ESPN-branded, direct-to-consumer subscription streaming service that it plans with partner BAMTech for live sports (see 1608100024), he said on an earnings call. "The goal is to launch the platform sometime in 2017.” Disney is “very excited about what the potential of this is long term, both for the company and for third parties who can use the product, because the technological side of it is so strong in ways that are value-enhancing for them as well,” Iger said Tuesday. After a visit with BAMTech, he saw "the potential is for them to use data to increase or to generate great revenue from advertising,” Iger said. That’s “something that we don't have today, in part because a lot of our distribution comes through third parties, so we don't get access to that information,” he said. As for the content that will be available on the ESPN-branded service when it launches, BAMTech already licenses “a number of digital rights to sporting events, and we have licensed at ESPN a number of them” as well, Iger said. “We bring to the table a fair amount of rights that can be added to the rights that they have.” Disney spent $1 billion last summer to buy 33 percent of BAMTech, Iger noted: “Our strong sense as partners and as part owners is that we're going to continue to go out on behalf of the entity and license more content to that entity.” The inaugural content slate of the ESPN-branded service will “start off with, I think, a wide array of pretty attractive sports that come from both what they've licensed and what we've licensed,” Iger said.

LeEco can't predict when its Vizio acquisition will be completed, LeEco spokesman Greg Belloni emailed us Tuesday. LeEco's position remains the same as it was at CES, Belloni said: "The deal review is still in progress, but we don't have a date to share yet.” When LeEco announced July 26 it would pay $2 billion cash to own Vizio as part of its master plan to bring its “ecosystem” of smart TVs, content and cloud services to North America, it said it expected to close the deal in about six months (see 1607260066).

Given the complexity of Charter Communications' takeover of Time Warner Cable, it's entirely possible a judge could decide both of Univision's legacy carriage agreements with the multichannel video programming distributors still apply, Charter outside counsel Judson Brown of Kirkland & Ellis said in a letter Friday to New York State Supreme Court Judge Peter Sherwood of Manhattan. If that turns out to be the case, Brown said, the court needs to give meaning to the parties' intent and assess their reasonable expectations. Univision is suing Charter over whether its Charter or TWC contracts survived 2016's Charter/TWC (see 1607080022).

Northwest Broadcasting channels in Idaho and Mississippi are again being carried by Cable One because the two struck a new carriage agreement, Cable One said in a news release Thursday. The Cable One/Northwest blackout was among a spate of carriage disruptions around the country at the end of 2016 (see 1701030046).

The temporary restraining order Charter Communications received ending the Univision blackout (see 1702020072) runs only until Feb. 9, Univision said Thursday. Charter didn't comment Friday whether it plans to seek an extension or a new restraining order at that time. Univision also said Charter is required to post a bond covering the market value of Univision's programming. The parties are fighting in New York State Supreme Court over whether Univision's contract with Time Warner Cable or the one with Charter survived last year's Charter/TWC (see 1607080022).

​Sales and operating profit in Sony’s core consumer electronics sector of home entertainment and sound plunged by double digits in fiscal Q3 ended Dec. 31, the company announced. Sony Pictures swung to a $920 million operating loss, from a year-earlier profit, as revenue plunged 14.1 percent to $1.9 billion. Sony blamed “significantly lower theatrical revenues” in the current quarter on tough comparisons with Q3 a year earlier, which benefited from the “strong worldwide performances” of Spectre and Hotel Transylvania 2. “Management takes seriously the fact that we have under-achieved the profitability target” in the pictures sector, Sony said. CEO Kazuo Hirai “will keep a second office” in Culver City, California, where the sector is headquartered so “he can involve himself even more deeply in the management of the entertainment businesses,” the company said.

Investment firm Arjuna Capital wants Facebook to evaluate how fake news and hoaxes are affecting the social media company's platform and business. The question was raised in a shareholder resolution filed Thursday with investment adviser Baldwin Brothers. Arjuna Capital filed a similar resolution in December with Alphabet's Google. In a news release about the Facebook filing, Arjuna Capital said it's asking the company "to provide detailed information regarding the impact of current fake news flows and management systems on the democratic process, free speech, and a cohesive society, as well as reputational and operational risks from potential public policy developments." Facebook is facing serious criticism about the proliferation of fake news, censorship and bias on its platform, and took several steps to provide more authentic and legitimate news to users in recent months (see 1701310068, 1701250083, 1701110064, 1612130030 and 1612150035). "If Facebook maintains a platform of confusion and distortion it will lose the trust of its users, in which case they will simply move on to the next thing," said Arjuna Capital Managing Partner Natasha Lamb in the release. Michael Connor, executive director of nonprofit Open MIC, which is assisting the investment firm on this matter, said Facebook and Google increasingly will need to "defend the integrity of the information and services they provide" or lose trust. The web companies didn't comment.