The FCC Media Bureau granted WarnerMedia’s request for a partial waiver of the FCC’s audio description requirements for its network TBS, said an order Wednesday. TBS asked for a waiver of the audio description rule’s restrictions on repeat content -- normally, a given episode can count toward an MVPD’s total amount of described content only twice on a given channel. As one of the top five “nonbroadcast networks,” TBS is required to provide 87.5 hours of described content per quarter. Due to the way TBS programming is structured, “the repeat rule results in ‘only a small fraction of the hours of [audio] described programming that TBS provides each calendar quarter’ counting towards the audio description requirement,” the order said. The bureau granted the waiver because it was unopposed, supported by consumer advocates and because WarnerMedia “made a commitment to provide a substantial amount of audio description on TBS, and other commonly owned networks, that exceeds the current quarterly requirement,” the order said. The waiver is conditioned on TBS carrying at least 1,000 hours of audio-described programming and more than 1,400 hours of audio-described programming on average during a quarter, without restricting repeats, the order said. WarnerMedia also promised to “provide audio description for 100 percent of newly produced, non-live programming aired during certain core hours on TBS, TNT, and TruTV,” the order said. The waiver expires June 30, 2024.

Virtual MVPDs Sling TV and fuboTV were the sole gainers in Q2 among major pay-TV providers who give regular reports, reported Leichtman Research Group Tuesday. Sling TV added 65,000 subscribers in the quarter to reach 2.4 million. Sports-focused fuboTV added over 91,000 subscribers, reaching 681,721 subscribers, and Hulu+Live TV lost 100,000 subscribers to 3.7 million. The vMVPD figures don’t include YouTube TV or Philo, which don’t provide regular reports. Total pay-TV subscriber losses were 1.2 million in the quarter, down from 1.5 million in Q2 2020, said LRG. Traditional pay-TV providers continued to shed subscribers, with Comcast losing 399,000 to 18.6 million, while Charter lost 50,000 to 16 million, Cox 60,000 to 3.5 million and Altice 48,300 to 2.9 million. Among other traditional pay-TV services, AT&T Premium, including DirecTV, U-verse and AT&T TV, dropped 473,000 customers; Dish 132,000 to 8.6 million; Fios 63,000 to 3.8 million; and Frontier 30,000 to 423,000, said the report.

Dish Network violated an FCC order when it didn’t carry KMTP-TV San Francisco at the start of 2021, said the Minority Television Project in an amended complaint (in Pacer) filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco on Friday in docket 21-2214. The complaint asks the court to force Dish to carry Minority's KMTP, and is the latest iteration of an ongoing must-carry dispute between the noncommercial educational broadcaster and the satellite MVPD that dates from 2017 (see 1711130057). Minority originally filed in March, but its complaint was dismissed in July for failing to show specific evidence that Dish had violated the must-carry rules by not carrying KMTP, after the FCC ruled in 2019 that broadcasters could electronically inform MVPDs of their must-carry status. The agency rejected a previous must-carry claim by Minority after the broadcaster sent the request using the wrong mail service (see 1801230047). In the amended complaint, Minority argues the FCC ordered Dish to carry the channel in a letter dismissing the NCE’s earlier dispute with Dish as moot after the electronic carriage order. In the July dismissal order (in Pacer) in July, the court said that language from the FCC could be considered “essentially dicta” rather than formal orders. Dish didn't comment.

Disney+ ended fiscal Q3 July 3 with 116.6 million paid subscribers, up 12.4 million from fiscal Q2, Disney announced Thursday. Hotstar in India generated about 80% of the Q3 subscriber net adds, Cowen told investors Friday. Disney+ Day, scheduled for Nov. 12, will be “an unprecedented company-wide cross-promotional campaign” to boost consumer adoption among holdouts to the service, said CEO Bob Chapek on a Thursday investor call. The event will feature a “balanced approach” to global and local content, he said. Disney is sticking with the “three-pronged strategy” it adopted last year to distribute feature films amid the COVID-19 pandemic, said Chapek. Some films went direct to theaters, others direct to Disney+, still others as hybrids with theatrical showings and as $29.99 Premier Access options on Disney+. Distribution decisions will continue to be made film by film, “based on global marketplace conditions and consumer behavior,” said Chapek.

Discovery filed a notice of dispute with the Polish government warning of formal action over Poland's treatment of its TVN broadcast network, the programmer said Thursday. A World Bank International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes tribunal would hear such a complaint under the 1990 bilateral investment treaty between the country and the U.S. Discovery said the notification "follows Poland’s discriminatory campaign" against TVN, including not renewing TVN24's broadcasting license and a vote Wednesday in the lower house of the Polish parliament in favor of legislation that would ban upstream foreign media ownership in the country. Discovery said the legislation is "the latest assault on independent media and freedom of the press, and takes direct aim at Discovery’s TVN, the country’s leading independent broadcasting group and news provider, as well as one of the largest U.S. investments in Poland." It said absent a "positive resolution," it would start arbitration proceedings. Discovery has operated in Poland for nearly 25 years, but "the current Polish government’s damaging and discriminatory actions ... leave us no choice but to bring charges under the US-Poland bilateral investment treaty," said Discovery International CEO JB Perrette. "This legislation will have a chilling effect on U.S. and European investment into the Polish economy, and we will aggressively defend our rights.” Discovery said the 1990 treaty includes obligations of non-impairment by arbitrary and discriminatory measures, nondiscrimination in granting licenses and the prohibition on expropriation without compensation. The U.S. was "deeply troubled" by the legislation targeting TVN, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday. "Poland has worked for decades to foster a vibrant and free media [and] this draft legislation would significantly weaken the media environment the Polish people have worked so long to build," he said: It "threatens media freedom and could undermine Poland’s strong investment climate." Poland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs didn't comment Thursday.

Redbox inked a deal with Digital Media Rights to add the 24-hour anime-based RetroCrush channel to its ad-supported VOD service, it said Wednesday. Redbox will also add “hundreds” of movies and TV series to its ad-based VOD offering, it said.

YouTube will start adjusting the default upload setting for users ages 13-17 to the most private option available, over the coming weeks as part of new safety and digital well-being options it announced Tuesday for YouTube and YouTube Kids. "Take a break" and "bedtime" reminders, plus autoplay set to off, will be by default, it said. James Beser, director-product management, kids and family, blogged that the company will begin to remove overly commercial content from YouTube Kids such as videos that directly encourage children to spend money.

All remaining invoices for reimbursement from the TV Broadcaster Relocation Fund for entities repacked in the first five phases of the post-broadcast incentive auction repacking are due by Oct. 8, but only 189 out of 2,104 participating in the reimbursement process have initiated closeout procedures, said the FCC Incentive Auction Task Force and Media Bureau in a public notice Monday. The PN said 324 entities -- TV stations, FM stations and MVPDs -- haven’t submitted any invoices. “We have consistently, strongly encouraged all entities to submit all remaining invoices and initiate close-out procedures as early as possible without waiting for the deadline,” said the PN. The agency needs to have enough time to process all the requests and closeout submissions before July 3, 2023, when any money left in the fund goes back to the U.S. Treasury, the PN said. As of Aug. 3, the total amount of estimated reimbursement submitted by repacked entities was $2 billion; $1.6 billion in reimbursement requests had been approved for payment, and $34 million in invoices remained under review, the PN said. The PN said 964 of 987 repacked full-power and Class A TV stations from the first five phases are on their final facilities, and all but 12 of the 444 stations in phases six-10 are on their final facilities. Invoices for entities from phases six-10 are due March 22, the PN said.

Lionsgate had a “strong financial quarter” for Starz streaming, “but like the rest of the industry, we were impacted by a reduction in at-home viewership, and importantly a light content quarter, due to COVID-driven production delays,” said CEO Jon Feltheimer on a call Thursday on fiscal Q1 ended June 30. Starz continued growing its base of international subscribers, but U.S. sub numbers took a “temporary” hit that “we have already reversed,” he said. He expects Starz global subscriber growth to “outpace” last year’s, “buttressed by a very strong slate” of content. Starz plans 12 original programs this FY compared with seven last, plus “five tentpole films in the next three quarters will drive a large, large growth of subscriber acquisition,” said Starz CEO Jeffrey Hirsch. “We also saw churn at a historic low.”

The FCC Media Bureau partially granted a market modification petition from broadcaster One Ministries for KQSL Fort Bragg, California, extending the station’s market only to include Cloverdale. The bureau denied the petition -- in accordance with objections registered by Comcast -- for other nearby communities in Contra Costa, San Mateo and San Francisco counties. Cloverdale is the only community in the petition covered by the station’s over-the-air contour, said Friday's order: One Ministries “failed to demonstrate meaningful economic connections” between Fort Bragg and the other communities.