The FCC's all-in pricing proposal for cable and direct broadcast satellite providers (see 2306200042) should expand and draw a similar line against bundled and related service fees such as for internet and voice service, false advertising consumer advocacy group Truth in Advertising said Monday in 23-203. Unexpected fees being levied by cable and DBS providers "are a serious, widespread and insidious problem," it said.

A blackout of five Nexstar broadcast channels and one cable network on Hawaiian Telcom's channel lineup is ending as the two reached a multiyear distribution agreement, HT said last week. Despite the agreement, HT "will not drop our complaint at the FCC asserting that Nexstar violated federal law with its negotiating tactics, including using our customers as pawns," said Filifotu Vaai, vice president-consumer product sales.

The FCC should disregard DirecTV’s “specious filing” seeking “to bootstrap a vMVPD copyright licensing issue into the retransmission consent regime,” said Nexstar in an ex parte letter posted Friday to virtual MVPD proceeding docket 14-261. A DirecTV filing Tuesday (see 2307180058) argued Nexstar’s conduct in an ongoing retrans dispute with DirecTV showed the FCC shouldn’t revisit the streaming issue. In a separate ex parte filing Friday, NAB told an aide to Commissioner Geoffrey Starks that an FCC refresh of the virtual MVPD docket would gather far more information “about vMVPDs’ growth and impact on the video marketplace and on local television viewers” than the 2014 NPRM did when streaming was in “its infancy.” The satellite company “seeks to embroil the Commission in a private dispute concerning The CW’s copyrights” and use the docket as “a vehicle in its continuing campaign to disparage Nexstar,” the broadcaster filing said. A blackout of the Nexstar-owned CW network against DirecTV by multiple broadcasters stems from the direct broadcast satellite company carrying the network for several months without permission from Nexstar, said Nexstar. “That is a matter of copyright law, and any remedies related to DIRECTV’s infringement would need to be addressed in the appropriate judicial venue. DIRECTV is not the wronged party here -- it is the lawbreaker,” Nexstar said. “Dragging that copyright dispute into other proceedings is the same tactic DIRECTV is employing in other venues,” Nexstar said. DirecTV is pursuing an antitrust complaint against Nexstar in U.S. District Court for Southern New York in Manhattan (see 2307140034) and the two companies are embroiled in further retrans litigation in front of the New York Supreme Court. Dragging unrelated proceedings into the retrans dispute is “an abuse of process,” Nexstar said. "Nexstar’s behavior underscores the widely adopted position that the Commission should not extend the retransmission consent regime to online providers," emailed a DirecTV spokesperson. "DIRECTV was carrying those CWs through our valid agreement with that station group, an agreement that pre-dated Nexstar’s acquisition of the national CW network."

Nexstar last week sprung new issues on Hawaiian Telcom after the two had resolved retransmission consent issues that led to a blackout and subsequent filing of a bad faith negotiation complaint earlier this month (see 2307060017), HT said Tuesday in docket 23-228 in an amended retrans complaint. Nexstar's new demands were that HT withdraw its initial complaint and waive the right to file future actions against Nexstar, HT said. "Nexstar’s continued assertion of these requirements is inconsistent with its obligation to negotiate in good faith," HT said, urging FCC action to end the blackout of Nexstar channels on HT's channel lineup. "No one would seriously suggest that a person who robs a bank did not commit a crime because they returned the money after being charged but before being found guilty at trial," it said. Nexstar didn't comment.

The four network affiliate associations are backing a new advocacy group to push the FCC and lawmakers to classify streaming services as MVPDs, said a news release and new website Tuesday from a newly formed coalition. “The Coalition for Local News is dedicated to the belief that local news is essential to the well-being of local communities across the nation and is a vital pillar of American democracy,” said the release, which discusses the disparity between retransmission consent rules for MVPDs versus streaming services. "The market has evolved dramatically and it's time for lawmakers and regulators to act to protect local broadcast news," the release said. The affiliate groups and other broadcasters -- with the support of some lawmakers -- have long called for the FCC to reopen a 2014 proceeding on classifying streaming services as MVPDs (see 2306230062). The FCC’s recent announcement it will refresh the record on carriage rules (see 2307120072) is “an acknowledgment of the need to modernize video regulations in light of a changing marketplace,” the release said. The coalition “will be engaged in an array of advocacy efforts, including working with groups that recognize the vital importance of local news and urging them to get involved in this debate,” the release said. DirecTV pushed back on calls to reopen the virtual MVPD proceeding in an ex parte filing posted Tuesday in docket 14-261. DirecTV is in the midst of a transmission consent dispute with Nexstar, and in the filing condemned the broadcaster for blacking out CW Network programming for DirecTV on both its own and Sinclair-owned stations. “Nexstar’s conduct shows that affiliates’ attempt to regulate online providers has never really been about 'preserving local broadcasting' or anything else of the sort," DirecTV said. “Affiliates simply want the government to give them leverage against the networks.” The “very last thing anybody should want to do is extend today’s dysfunctional retransmission consent market -- one whose dysfunction is caused largely by Nexstar -- into the online marketplace,” DirecTV said. "Nexstar is and always has been in full compliance with FCC regulations, and the allegations raised by DIRECTV in today’s filing are without merit," said a Nexstar spokesperson.

Two former Fox executives say they regret their efforts to secure regulatory approval for the network, according to a blog post by former Fox lobbyist Preston Padden, who's backing a challenge to a Fox-owned TV station’s license renewal. The blog is a joint statement from former Fox executive vice president Ken Solomon -- who now heads the Sinclair Broadcast-owned Tennis Channel -- and former Hogan attorney William Reyner -- now of MissionTV. “For what little it may, or may not, be worth at this point, Preston Padden, Ken Solomon and Bill Reyner wish to express their deep disappointment for helping to give birth to Fox Broadcasting Company and Fox Television that came to include Fox News Channel,” said the blog post. They secured waivers of FCC rules and convinced affiliates to switch to create a fourth broadcast network, the blog post said. “We genuinely believed that the creation of a fourth competitive force in broadcast television was in the public interest,” said the blog post. “We never envisioned, and would not knowingly have enabled, the disinformation machine that, in our opinion, Fox has become.” Fox didn’t comment.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated an NPRM on the 10th floor on “leveling the playing field” for independent video programming, said a news release Wednesday. “Stakeholders continue to raise concerns that certain marketplace practices by distributors may hinder independent video programmers from reaching consumers across all video platforms,” said the news release. The NPRM would seek comment on “the current state of the marketplace for diverse and independent programming,” including “obstacles faced by independent programmers seeking multichannel video programming distributor carriage and carriage on online platforms” and actions the FCC can take to promote competition in that area, the release said. An FCC official told us the item seeks broad comment on MVPD practices in carriage negotiations with independent networks such as most favored nation clauses. Former FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn was a vocal proponent of the agency's previous look at these matters in 2016 (see 2112100027).

Owning a movie or TV show, rather than streaming it, could make a comeback due in part to the popularity of ad-supported subscription VOD, nScreenMedia Colin Dixon blogged Sunday. At least some subscribers would presumably want to avoid ads for a particular piece of content, and could do so by buying it, he said. Innovations including blockchain video network Eluvio -- which allows purchase of video with bonus features or to sell a video the way one might sell a DVD -- also could help reverse the decline in purchasing of video, he said.

The FCC should refresh the record in docket 14-261 on whether streaming services should be treated as MVPDs (see 2306230062), said the National Association of Black-Owned Broadcasters and the Multicultural Media Telecom and Internet Council in a call Thursday with an aide to Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, according to an ex parte filing posted Monday. “The regulatory treatment of vMVPDs has implications for broadcast ownership diversity both in terms of new entry and retention of existing owners,” said the filing. “If local stations are unable to control carriage of their signals on vMVPD platforms or cannot be accessed on such platforms, prospective minority owners will be deterred from entering the ranks of television station ownership.” The “continued viability of free over-the-air television is critical to minority viewers and their communities,” the filing said.

Nexstar started negotiating a retransmission consent renewal in bad faith when it terminated consent to retransmit its signal June 30 and refused multiple requests for a one-week extension while negotiations continued, Hawaiian Telecom Services said Thursday in a docket 12-1 complaint. Nextstar demonstrated bad-faith negotiating by not honoring the terms and conditions of the expired retrans consent agreement while negotiations were ongoing and there was no impasse, HTS said, asking the agency to declare Nexstar is acting in bad faith and unspecified FCC relief. Nexstar didn't comment.