Sections 325(b) of the Communications Act and 106 of the Copyright Act are clear in prohibiting the FCC from forcing broadcasters to allow retransmission of content during a retrans consent dispute with a multichannel video programming distributor, NAB said in an FCC filing Tuesday in docket 15-216. NAB said MVPDs have been pushing such a goal as part of the FCC review of the totality of circumstances test, but the argument that any public performance of a copyrighted work opens it up to third parties also publicly performing it doesn't hold water, likening such an argument to saying any broadcast of an ABC show means NBC can then put it online. The association said that Section 106 gives the copyright owner the exclusive authorization for those public performances, and MVPD arguments for that forced retrans are trying to create such compulsory licenses. Congress was clear in the Communications Act that it didn't want to alter existing program licensing agreements between broadcasters and programmers, and any FCC requirement a broadcaster offer content online in a way that would alter or limit existing licensing agreements would violate both that intent and section 325(b), NAB said. It said AT&T's argument that broadcasters’ copyright interests are minimal because they have made their programming publicly available wrongly cites 1984's Supreme Court decision in Sony v. Universal City Studios when that case "is not analogous, relevant or instructive."

TiVo and PBS Distribution are among seven new members of the Digital Entertainment Group, the DEG said Monday. Other new DEG members are Giant Interactive, Giraffic, Midnight Oil, MusicWatch and My Eye Media, the DEG said. The seven new member companies “represent the evolving nature of the home entertainment industry,” DEG said.

Some 65 percent of U.S. TV homes have at least one TV connected to the Internet via a videogame system, Wi-Fi, Blu-ray player or streaming media player, said a Leichtman Research Group report. That’s up from 44 percent in 2013 and 24 percent in 2010, LRG said. Connected TV devices in U.S. households now outnumber pay-TV set-tops, LRG said. Among connected TV households, 74 percent have more than one device, averaging 3.3 per household, it said. Ease of use perception ranks high among connected TV households, with 74 percent of respondents giving an 8-10 ranking on a scale of 1-10, compared with 12 percent who disagreed that connected TV devices are easy to use, it said. Pay-TV households average 2.2 pay-TV boxes, the report said, and 77 percent of the TVs in pay-TV households are connected to the provider’s set-top box, it said. Across all households, the mean number of connected TV devices per household is 2.1, compared with 1.8 pay-TV set-top boxes per household, LRG said. On cable provider-supplied set-top boxes, 42 percent of subscribers agreed (8-10 ranking) the boxes' features add value to the TV service, while 16 percent disagreed, LRG said. Twenty percent of cable subscribers with pay-TV set-tops (8-10) think the boxes are a “waste of money,” while 44 percent disagreed. Other findings: 38 percent of adults with a pay-TV service watch video via a connected TV device at least weekly, compared with 48 percent of viewers who aren’t pay-TV subscribers; a third of non-4K Ultra HDTV owners have seen one in use, up from 10 percent in 2014; and 25 percent of consumers who have viewed a 4K HDTV are interested in getting one vs. 9 percent who have not watched a 4K HDTV, it said. The survey of 1,206 adults ages 18 and older in continental U.S. TV households was done in February and March.

AOL agreed to acquire virtual reality studio Ryot, to enhance content on AOL's news properties, the buyer said in a news release Wednesday. Initially, Ryot will contribute films, linear video, 360-degree content and virtual reality experiences to The Huffington Post, AOL said. The news website previously worked with Ryot on a report covering the refugee crisis in Greece. Later, other AOL properties will gain access to Ryot’s virtual-reality capabilities, AOL said. AOL didn’t disclose terms of the deal.

Netflix added 6.74 million subscribers, surpassing its previous high mark of 5.59 million new additions in Q4, the company said Monday in an earnings letter after the market's close. In the U.S. it added 2.28 million subscribers. Netflix had forecast 1.75 million new U.S. subscribers, which it called low “because we underestimated the positive acquisition impact of our major original content debuts.” Total streaming revenue was $1.8 billion, vs. $1.4 billion in the year-ago quarter. U.S. revenue grew 18 percent year over year, with 14 percent growth in average paid memberships and a 3 percent rise in average revenue per user, it said. Netflix stock was down 10 percent in after-hours trading Monday, to $97.80.

Groups including the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council, National Urban League, National Newspaper Publishers Association and the NAACP urged the 2016 presidential contenders to address minority media ownership through their advertising. “We write to appeal to each of you to confirm that minority-owned media will be included as a major component of your advertising plans throughout the 2016 campaign,” they said in a letter Monday. “Our constituents, comprising nearly 30% of the electorate, want and deserve to hear from all sides of public policy debates.” They requested a response within 10 days. “At your disposal are a host of minority-owned media outlets: over 400 newspapers, over 500 radio stations, over two dozen widely read minority-owned political and social justice websites, and over a dozen widely viewed cable channels,” they said.

Amazon stirred things up in the subscription video world, breaking out a separate Prime Video membership in an offering that competes against Hulu and Netflix. A Prime membership “does not need to be one size fits all,” said a company backgrounder Monday referring to the company’s $99 umbrella Prime membership that includes free two-day shipping, access to 1 million-plus songs along with playlists and stations on Prime Music, and tens of thousands movies and TV episodes on Prime Video. With Amazon’s new $8.99-per-month Prime Video-only membership, subscribers pay $1 less per month than Netflix’s standard rate, which will kick in next month for long-term subscribers who had been enjoying a grandfathered $7.99 rate for the past two years. Hulu is $7.99 monthly with commercials, $11.99 without. The move gives Amazon customers a video option that doesn’t require a full-year commitment to Amazon Prime. Customers have been asking for “flexibility and an easy, low upfront cost to join Prime,” said Amazon, which ultimately wants video-only subscribers to go full Prime. “For just two dollars more, members can also receive unlimited fast, free shipping, unlimited access to more than a million songs and thousands of curated playlists and stations with Prime Music, unlimited secure photos storage with Prime Photos, and so much more.” Amazon also will make full Prime available on a monthly basis for $10.99, versus the $8.25 per month subscribers pay under the annual plan. The company didn’t address the possibility of a music-only version of Prime. The New York Post called Amazon a potential “Spotify killer” (see 1602040052) in an article earlier this year speculating about a music-only service from Amazon.

Centralizing the various privacy complaints against Vizio in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, California (see 1602260059), “will serve the convenience of the parties and witnesses and promote the just and efficient conduct of this litigation,” the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation said in an April 7 transfer order (in Pacer). Nearly two dozen complaints have been filed against Vizio, all seeking class-action status on allegations that Vizio’s Inscape smart TV viewer-tracking feature violates the federal Video Privacy Protection Act. The judicial panel was “persuaded” that the Santa Ana federal court “is the appropriate transferee district for this litigation” because Vizio and most of the plaintiffs support moving the cases there, the order said. Vizio’s headquarters in Irvine, California, also are within the court’s jurisdiction, it said: “Thus, the district is a convenient and accessible forum, relatively close to potential witnesses and evidence.”

Harman partnered with software and cloud-based streaming technology company Wowza Media Systems to be an integrator for Wowza’s technology portfolio, it said Thursday. Customers in broadcast, automotive, government and enterprise markets will have access to Wowza’s Streaming Engine software that delivers video in any format to any device and its Streaming Cloud service for pay-as-you-go live streaming through Harman’s service delivery solution, the companies said.

Time Warner Cable CEO Rob Marcus signed on to a Human Rights Campaign open letter to Missouri House Speaker Todd Richardson in opposition to Senate Joint Resolution 39, which would prohibit the state from penalizing individuals or religious entities that refuse to take part in same-sex marriage ceremonies or provide goods or services for a same-sex marriage celebration, due to religious beliefs. In a blog post Wednesday, Marcus said, "Legislation like Missouri’s SJR39 and North Carolina’s HB2 are clearly bad for business, serving as a barrier to attracting and retaining the best talent and discouraging customers and potential customers from living and doing business in our markets. But equally importantly, this troubling trend of laws runs counter to our core values of diversity and inclusion." Also among those signing the letter were Brocade Communications Systems CEO Lloyd Carney, Bloomberg Chairman Peter Grauer and CTA CEO Gary Shapiro. Many other tech company leaders also signed the letter, and such companies have opposed actions in other states, saying they infringe on the rights of those who aren't heterosexual (see 1603240022).