AMC Entertainment’s “liquidity gap” amid COVID-19's theater closures and low box-office attendance spurred S&P to downgrade the company to CC from CCC-, its second demotion in two months. AMC expects to burn at least $750 million of cash in 2021, “assuming attendance returns to 20% of 2019 levels in the first half of the year and increases to 85% in the second half,” said S&P Wednesday. “Attendance is unlikely to return to these levels in 2021 and we anticipate that the company may need up to $1 billion of incremental capital.” It likely will be difficult for AMC to land “this level of capital outside of a debtor-in-possession financing and thus expect further debt restructurings,” it said. AMC didn’t respond to questions Thursday.

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted Dish Network-sought dismissal of an interlocutory appeal in its now-settled litigation alleging Apollo Global Management's purchases of TV stations were rigged to make Dish pay higher retransmission consent fees (see 2012150035), said an order (docket 20-2315, in Pacer) Thursday.

Revised FCC rules for resolution of program carriage disputes between video programming vendors and MVPDs, along with parallel procedural rules governing program access, open video system and good-faith retransmission consent complaints, take effect Jan. 19, says Thursday's Federal Register. Commissioners adopted the rules in November (see 2011180043).

The FCC Media Bureau won't accept paper Form 327s, and cable TV relay service station license applications or modifications must be emailed to form327@fcc.gov instead, said a public notice Wednesday. Associated application fees must be submitted through the fee filer payment system.

Consumers who rely on streaming to view video content are using seven services on average, including subscription VOD and free streaming offerings, up from five in April, reported NPD Monday. It canvassed 5,000 U.S. consumers online Oct. 14-22, finding 21% say they're “decreasing engagement or canceling subscriptions because they feel other services offer better content” versus 14% in April. Free streaming services grew to 47% of viewers in October from 39% in April, as consumers increasingly “leverage” free offerings to supplement SVOD services, said NPD. Though nearly all free streaming services experience lower churn than SVOD, since consumers don't have to subscribe to these platforms, “they also experience lower engagement rates,” it said. “Consumers want the ability to customize their viewing experience, bundling both paid and free services that provide them with the content they want, when they want it.”

Amazon is working with about 20 live TV providers to create a more “unified experience” for customers’ preferences, said Sandeep Gupta, general manager of Fire TV. The increasingly complex TV landscape presents viewing challenges for customers, along with opportunities for much more content selection, he told a Parks Associates virtual conference Tuesday. “The landscape has changed, and how people use content has changed, and we’ve had to adapt the experience to meet that.” Amazon said this week it passed 50 million monthly active users, up from the 40 million announced at CES in January. Amid the vast amount of programming available, “it’s not always easy for customers to figure out where to go, what to watch,” Gupta said now. His group is focused on ensuring that all its content providers -- Prime Video, Netflix and Disney+, for instance -- “are having a great experience via voice and interactions.”

Dish Network and defendants Terrier Media and Apollo Global Management settled Dish's suit claiming Apollo's purchases of stations were rigged to make Dish pay higher retransmission consent fees (see 2011160041). U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin of Chicago ordered the case dismissed with prejudice Tuesday (in Pacer, docket 20-CV-00570) after the sides filed a stipulation of dismissal. Dish also filed a joint motion Tuesday (in Pacer, docket 20-2315) with the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals seeking dismissal of an interlocutory appeal involving defendant NBI.

A quarter of U.S. broadband homes prefer to watch new feature film releases on an over-the-top subscription service, while 24% “still prefer movie theaters to experience first-run movie titles,” reported Parks Associates Monday. "COVID-19 has upended the traditional content-windowing process, and consumer research shows this paradigm shift is impacting consumer attitudes," said Parks Research Director Steve Nason. “An OTT source scores higher than movie theaters when consumers report their preferences for first-run movies,” he said. “This shift might be temporary, and nearly 30% have no preference for how to watch a new movie, which gives theaters a glimmer of hope they can eventually gain back some audience for first-run titles." Warner recently decided to release its full slate of 2021 blockbuster films simultaneously in theaters and with a one-month window on HBO Max (see 2012040047).

AT&T's "travesty" of a carriage renewal offer to Fuse Media was "untenable and likely unserious," a far cry from what it pays similarly situated affiliated networks such as TBS, TNT, Adult Swim, CNN and TruTV, Fuse said in an FCC docket 12-1 carriage complaint Monday. Fuse, in the midst of carriage talks with the MVPD for its Fuse and FM networks, said the AT&T-affiliated networks are paid higher rates on an absolute and ratings-adjusted basis. It said AT&T's Dec. 1 counteroffer, after months of relative silence to Fuse's initial rates offer, "is precisely the behavior the program carriage rules are intended to curb." It said AT&T took a harsher approach with Fuse after its 2018 buy of Time Warner and the affiliated networks. Fuse said being dropped in 2018 by Comcast resulted in the programmer's 2018 bankruptcy, and the end of carriage on AT&T's DirecTV, U-verse, AT&T TV and AT&T TV Now "does indeed threaten Fuse Media’s very existence." AT&T emailed it "treat[s] all programmers fairly, including Fuse. They want the FCC to order us to carry programming our customers don’t want or value. We look forward to responding.”

FuboTV added MGM's Epix network original programming and movies to its live TV streaming platform, it said Friday. FuboTV subscribers also will have access to thousands of Epix titles on demand, including select programming in 4K, in the coming weeks. The $5.99 monthly Epix package will be available to subscribers for the first 30 days after launch for $2.99 for their first three months. Also Friday, Nexstar said WGN America will join fuboTV's channel lineup in January. The multiyear carriage deal follows a similar one announced with YouTube TV (see 2012020054).