The only retransmission-related blackouts Graham Media Group ever sees come from "an extended lack of responsiveness" from some multichannel video programming distributors, which is exactly why the FCC needs to reject the lopsided totality of circumstances test changes being proposed by some MVPDs, Graham said in an ex parte filing Thursday in docket 15-216. Even if the FCC had the authority, for example, to require stations to enter into binding arbitration -- which it doesn't -- arbitration is prohibitively expensive and such a requirement would make retrans "more cumbersome," Graham said. It was critical of proposals to restrict after-acquired stations provisions. It said retrans fees usually aren't the most difficult issue in negotiations, but rather MVPD demands for alternative distribution rights or most-favored-nation provisions. The ex parte recapped meetings between Graham CEO Emily Barr and General Counsel Heidi Schmid Whiting and FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly, Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake, aides to Commissioners Ajit Pai and Jessica Rosenworcel, an aide to Chairman Tom Wheeler and others.

With its lawsuit against Tribune Broadcasting for bashing it in advertisements (see 1606210070), Dish Network "has really outdone itself this time," said NAB Associate General Counsel Patrick McFadden in a blog post Friday. NAB calls Dish "the common denominator" in close to 75 percent of all blackouts stemming from retransmission consent loggerheads at the same time the company actively has been lobbying for the FCC to change its good-faith negotiating rules. "It’s not at all uncommon for us to find ourselves marveling at DISH’s signature cocktail of chutzpah and hypocrisy," NAB said. It called Dish's complaint "disingenuous" because the company advertises to try to get other pay-TV providers' customers to switch. Calling the suit "a dishtraction" from the fact the company tries to pay below-market rates for programming, NAB said Dish "might consider engineering fewer service dishruptions that deprive customers of their desired programming." Dish didn't comment Friday.

An FCC proposal to eliminate the last remaining physical public file requirements for broadcasters and a requirement that cable carriers keep the address of their headend on file were published in the Federal Register, making comments on the proposal due July 22, replies Aug. 22. Channel-sharing rules for low-power TV and translator stations also took effect Wednesday, according to the Federal Register.

Dish Network is engaged in a "campaign of delay and distraction" instead of negotiation, Tribune Broadcasting said Tuesday in response to Dish's lawsuit (in Pacer) filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Denver. In the suit, Dish claimed Tribune launched a "false, deceptive and defamatory" campaign of websites and commercials to try to force renewal of its distribution agreement with the direct broadcast satellite company. Dish said the campaign, including multiple DumpDish websites (see here and here), cause harm by getting some subscribers to cancel, thus "deliberately and purposefully interfering with Dish's contracts with its subscribers as well as with Dish's prospective economic advantage." The suit asks for unspecified damages. Tribune's statement called the suit "baseless." Tribune and Dish repeatedly have blamed one another for the blackout of 42 Tribune channels in 33 markets (see 1606150053).

NBCUniversal and Dish Network are calling off a pair of reciprocal civil lawsuits, including the last of the suits filed against Dish over its advertisement-skipping Hopper technology. A notification (in Pacer) filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Chicago said a stipulation (in Pacer) filed by Dish and NBCU meant Dish's breach of contract claim on screen crawls warning Dish subscribers of the possible dropping of NBC programming (see 1603150053) was being dismissed with prejudice and with each side bearing its own costs and attorney fees. Terms of settlement weren't provided. It followed a stipulated dismissal (in Pacer) filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles by NBCU and Dish on NBCU's 2012 Hopper-related copyright infringement complaint against Dish. Terms of that settlement agreement also weren't made public. Similar ad-skipping suits by CBS and Disney settled similar in 2014 (see 1412100057) and by Fox earlier this year (see 1602110012).

The average window between a film’s theatrical debut and its release on physical home-video products has declined by more than four weeks in the past decade, IHS said in a Friday report. In 2015, theatrical titles needed only 118 days on average before their release on physical media, compared with a 149-day window in 2005 -- a nearly 21 percent decline, IHS said. “Movies are arriving on discs 31 days sooner than a decade ago, despite a wider industry assertion that theatrical to home video window has remained largely unchanged,” said the researcher. The theatrical to digital download window, IHS said, has shrunk even faster -- by nearly 29 percent in just the past four years. IHS sampled 313 titles released in 2015 on digital formats, and of those, 25 percent were available for digital purchase day-and-date with their physical street date, it said. More than 60 percent were available for digital download an average of 24 days sooner than their respective physical video street date and an average of 97 days after opening in cinemas, it said. The remaining 14 percent were available on digital formats the same day as theaters or shortly before opening in theaters, it said.

The FCC should keep its presumption that bundling doesn't violate antitrust laws and in fact is a pro-competitive, pro-consumer practice, Disney executives told FCC officials in a series of meetings about the agency's examination of the totality of circumstances test for good-faith negotiating, said an ex parte filing Friday in docket 15-216. Its arguments responded to issues raised by some distributors about inclusion of stations and affiliated programming in retransmission consent talks. Disney said in the meetings it also took issue with an analysis by Columbia University Professor Michael Riordan (see 1604280058), saying the conclusions depend heavily on assumed valuations, those conclusions change as the valuations do, and it doesn't reflect market realities of bilateral negotiations for content. Disney said it also pointed to the growing video content market as additional evidence of why the FCC shouldn't change its bundling presumption. The meetings with Disney Vice President-Government Relations Susan Fox included Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake and Commissioners Ajit Pai and Jessica Rosenworcel. In a separate filing Friday in the docket, WTA recapped a meeting with its members and Commissioner Mignon Clyburn Chief of Staff David Grossman, to say stations shouldn't be allowed to demand compensation for retransmission consent for consumers or multichannel video programming distributors outside the reach of free over-the-air broadcast signals. WTA representatives discussed the possibility of requiring MVPDs to offer networks on an a la carte basis and backed an exemption in the set-top box NPRM for rural phone companies and small providers. The association's representatives said the proposed set-top rules "are likely to be the straw that breaks the camel's back for many small providers" since they would bring additional service costs related to dealing with problems of customers' off-the-shelf gear.

Dolby and Lionsgate are partnering to release new and catalog titles mastered in Dolby Vision and mixed in Dolby Atmos, the companies said Thursday. On an investor conference webcast Wednesday, CEO Kevin Yeaman underscored Dolby’s involvement in the content chain “working side by side” with content creators for delivery via Blu-ray, over the air, pay TV and streaming. Five years ago, “it wasn’t unreasonable to ask whether Dolby was going to be relevant to the streaming of entertainment,” Yeaman said of the shift from packaged media to streaming. Yeaman cited Dolby’s relationship with “all the streaming media providers." For audio, Yeaman cited Amazon, Apple, Google Play and Netflix in the U.S. and Alibaba in China and Amazon, Netflix and Vudu for Dolby Vision. Mobile devices account for 10-11 percent of Dolby licensing revenue, said Yeaman, and that’s expected to increase from the Apple win, he said.

Dish Network said it's asking Tribune Broadcasting to take part in binding, baseball-style arbitration to end carriage talks at loggerheads. In a news release Thursday, Dish also said it has distributed "tens of thousands" of free over-the-air antennas to its customers affected by the blackout that began Sunday. Tribune in a statement called it the arbitration proposal "a hollow offer, designed to mislead consumers and avoid returning to meaningful negotiation," adding that instead the FCC chairman's office should monitor negotiations between the two. Tribune and Dish have blamed one another for the blackout of 42 Tribune channels in 33 markets (see 1606150053).

Post-incentive auction channel sharing for TV broadcasters could “unlawfully” increase burdens for cable carriers, said NCTA in a meeting Monday with FCC Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake, and staff from the bureau and Office of General Counsel, said an ex parte filing posted Wednesday in docket 12-268. Stations that channel share after the TV incentive auction will open up their vacated channels for more TV stations, in contrast to the stations that sell their spectrum for wireless use in the incentive auction. If one station moves to being shared, neither it nor the station that takes over its spectrum should be allowed to claim mandatory carriage status, NCTA said. That would increase cable costs and could “raise significant First Amendment problems,” said the association.