The FCC is considering a “revised approach” to proposed set-top box rules that “would ensure that all of Fox’s and other programmers’ valuable content would remain inside of, and under the control of, apps developed exclusively” by pay-TV providers, said 21st Century Fox in an ex parte filing posted in docket 16-42 Tuesday. “The Commission staff also stressed that third-party platforms, when distributing these MVPD [multichannel video programming distributors] apps, would be required to honor and abide by all of the terms and conditions set forth in programmers’ licenses with MVPDs.” Fox told aides to Chairman Tom Wheeler and Chief Technologist Scott Jordan it supported “a rule construct in which programming at all times remains inside of an MVPD-controlled app,” the filing said. In a separate filing in 16-42, TiVo criticized the pay-TV-backed apps proposal, which it said was already rejected by the FCC after the Downloadable Security Technology Advisory Committee process. “The MVPD App proposal would represent a significant step backwards from the features and functionality that consumers enjoy today using CableCARD-enabled devices,” TiVo said. It lobbied Wheeler aides and Jordan as well. The agency is considering MVPD's Ditch the Box alternative to Wheeler's Unlock the Box NPRM to give pay-TV customers ways to view cable programming without leasing set-tops from those providers (see 1608040062).

The smart TV as conceived of a few years ago was “a misnomer,” because today’s home entertainment devices “are truly becoming smart through the use of apps that make doing things easier,” said CEO Paul Arling on an earnings call. Top device makers “are striving to make their devices easier to set up and use every day, and service providers are creating simplified solutions for accessing an ever-increasing array of entertainment options,” he said Thursday.

Multichannel video program distributors must file their equal employment opportunity annual reports with the FCC by Sept. 30, the Media Bureau said in a public notice Wednesday.

Disney is continuing its pro-bundling lobbying on the FCC eighth floor. In an ex parte filing Thursday in docket 16-41, Disney recapped meetings its executives had with various FCC commissioners and staff at which it repeated its earlier arguments during the agency's review of the totality of circumstances test (see 1606170039) that bundling "is consistent with competitive marketplace considerations." Disney representatives at the meetings included Government Relations Senior Vice President Richard Bates and Global Distribution President Ben Pyne, and FCC staff included Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel, Michael O'Rielly and Mignon Clyburn, plus Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake and Chairman Tom Wheeler aide Jessica Almond.

Electronics manufacturers and pay-TV carriers must come into compliance with FCC rules for increased accessibility of user interfaces and program guides by Dec. 20, the Media Bureau said in a reminder public notice in docket 12-108. Pay-TV operators with 400,000 or fewer subscribers and pay-TV systems with 20,000 or fewer subscribers not affiliated with a carrier serving more than 10 percent of all multichannel video programming distributor subscribers have a deferred deadline of Dec. 20, 2018. The rules require accessible user interfaces for those who are blind and visually impaired, and also that companies inform consumers of accessibility options, the PN said. "Given the ample amount of time that has passed since adoption of the initial rules, we expect that covered entities have been working on the design and development of accessibility solutions that are compliant with the Commission’s rules in anticipation of the upcoming deadline."

Q2 global tablet shipments fell 8 percent year on year to 46.7 million units, Strategy Analytics said in a Friday report. That average selling prices climbed 9 percent during the same period was proof that consumers and enterprises are buying more pro slate models like the iPad Pro and Surface Pro 4 “than ever before,” said the research firm. Q2 was the 10th straight quarter of year-on-year shipment declines for the iPad, “but some light is now visible at the end of the tunnel” because Apple “is riding consumer and enterprise demand for 2-in-1s with multiple price tiers of buy-in to its vision of what a converged computing device can achieve,” it said. Apple shipped 10 million iPads in Q2, a 9 percent year-on-year decline and a 3 percent decrease from Q1, it said. But Q2 was the first full quarter of iPad Pro 9.7 sales, which helped drive ASPs to $490 and contributed to the best quarter Apple has had in two years, it said. Android-branded vendors shipped 30.1 million in Q2, a 15 percent decline from a year earlier and flat sequentially with Q1, it said.

Rovi volume slipped 2 percent in Q2 year-on-year to $125.2 million with an increase in service provider revenue offsetting declines in consumer electronics and analog content protection revenue, said the company’s Thursday earnings release. Rovi CEO Tom Carson attributed better than expected results to the renewal of an IP licensing agreement with Verizon that runs into next decade. The company swung to a $9.4 million loss compared with $3.3 million profit in Q2 2015, it said. It expects to close its buy of TiVo this quarter. Rovi has eight of the top 10 U.S. pay-TV providers under license, six of which came on board in the past six quarters, said Carson. The company projects 2016 revenue of $490 million to $520 million. Rovi guides are in use in 142 million pay-TV households, excluding prepaid licenses, said the company. During the quarter, Dish implemented voice remote capability powered by Rovi’s Conversation Services, Rovi said, and the Fan TV app launched voice search on iOS, Android mobile and Android TV platforms. Japan's KDDI adopted Rovi G-Guide HTML on its new Android TV based IPTV set-top box, and Evolution Digital announced its latest set-top box with an eGuide interactive guide based on Rovi’s Fan TV platform, it said. Shares closed up Friday 2.3 percent to $18.81.

Amazon plans to nearly double what it spends on original video content in the second half of the year over what it spent in the back half of 2015, and close to triple the number of new Amazon Original TV shows and movies, Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky said Thursday during the company's Q2 earnings call. The company also is expanding its Amazon Prime video offering to India, he said. During the quarter, the company launched Amazon Video Direct, a distribution service letting content creators make their video content available to Amazon customers through Prime Video, one-time purchase, rentals or ad-supported viewing, it said in a news release. For the quarter, the company had net sales of $30.4 billion, up 31 percent, and net income of $857 million or $1.78 per share, compared with $92 million or 19 cents per share a year earlier.

Hemisphere Media Group (HMTV) wants the FCC to allow foreign investors to own up to 44.99 percent of the company, HMTV said in a petition for declaratory ruling posted online Thursday. HMTV is based in Miami and owns seven cable networks that target Spanish language viewers and “the leading” broadcast TV network in Puerto Rico, said the petition in docket 16-238. Allowing HMTV to exceed the 25 percent ownership threshold will enhance “HMTV’s ability to raise capital and encourag[e] reciprocity from other governments that would facilitate investment by U.S. companies in broadcast stations located in other countries,” the petition said. Comments on the petition are due Aug. 29, replies Sept. 13, the Media Bureau said in a public notice. Univision and Frontier Media filed similar petitions in recent weeks.

The FCC issued a Forfeiture Order for $11,000 to Full Channel TV in Bristol, Rhode Island, for violating equal employment opportunity rules, the order said. Full Channel didn't recruit widely to fill a vacancy at the multichannel video programming distributor, a violation of the FCC's rules, the order said. Two other similar violations were outside the statute of limitations, the order said.