Comcast, NCTA and several content companies did a demonstration of app-based delivery of a pay-TV service to a third-party device for Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel and aides Thursday, said an ex parte filing posted online Monday. The demonstration included “apps-delivered programming” on Apple TV, Nvidia, Roku and Samsung, DirecTV service on TV sets, and “retail devices offering pirated content,” the filing said. The demonstration also included an integrated search of both pay-TV and over-the-top on Roku, the filing said. “The participants discussed innovation and competition in apps and in apps-hosting platforms, the ability for diverse programmers to participate in these platforms, and the importance of protecting copyright and addressing piracy,” the filing said.

Fifteen state attorneys general encouraged the FCC to follow the FTC's recommendation to address privacy concerns about third-party set-top boxes, said an ex parte filing posted online Monday in docket 16-42. Multichannel video program distributors "should provide access only to third-party set-top boxes that have provided consumer facing privacy statements,” the filing said. “Requiring consumer-facing statements would enhance the States’ abilities to pursue consumer protection actions against third-party set-top box manufacturers.” That logic is consistent with a letter sent to the FCC by the FTC earlier this year (see 1604220063). The 15 AGs represented in the letter included those from California, Vermont, Oregon, Massachusetts, Iowa and Washington, D.C.

Nest founder Tony Fadell is leaving the company, he said in a Friday blog post. Marwan Fawaz, technical advisory board chair at ADT, will succeed him as CEO. Fadell called the news “bittersweet,” saying “there is never a perfect time to transition.” The company has grown to “much more than a thermostat company,” and is now a “hardware + software + services ecosystem” still in early growth phase, he said. Nest's future is bright, he said, saying the transition plan has been in place since late last year. Fadell will “remain involved” as an adviser to Google parent Alphabet, he said.

The Media Bureau hasn't identified a “technologically and economically feasible alternative” to the current designated market area system, it said in a report to Congress on increasing localism through market modification. The report was required by the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act Reauthorization, and was intended to address the issue of “orphan counties” -- localities in a DMA that are largely in another state, making it more difficult for them to receive local news. This problem is rare, the bureau said. The “overwhelming majority of consumers in the United States” can access programming from TV stations licensed to a community within the same state, it said. The existence of orphan counties “may have less to do with the fact that DMAs cross state lines and more to do with broadcast television economics and the incentives broadcast stations have to reach large populations,” the bureau said. “Adopting a DMA alternative would not alter this reality.” Instead, localities considering market modification should work closely with local broadcasters “to ensure the standards for market modification are met,” the report said. Legislators could consider future laws to provide “targeted relief” for orphan counties in rural areas, the report said. It rejected suggestions that repealing syndicated exclusivity and network non-duplication rules would increase localism. Since the FCC has an open proceeding on those rules, pleas to get rid of them should be dealt with there, the bureau said. Encouraging stations to make their programming available online could increased localism, the report said.

Though adoption of Ultra HD TVs began to “ramp up” only in 2015, consumer awareness of the technology is high, NPD said in a Wednesday report. Fifty-two percent consumers canvassed by NPD in January and February said they were aware of Ultra HD TVs, the research firm said. That figure “spikes” to 73 percent among consumers who own an internet-connected TV, NPD said. Increased consumer desire for and awareness of 4K streaming-video services has accompanied the growing adoption of 4K TVs, it said. A third of consumers surveyed are already aware of 4K streaming services, it said. Awareness increases to 42 percent among 18-to-34-year-olds, it said. NPD surveyed 5,000 consumers.

NBCUniversal's 2013 retransmission and affiliation contractual agreements with Dish Network don't contain any prohibition of screen crawls warning that NBC programming might soon be dropped from Dish's lineup, NBCU said in a filing (in Pacer) Friday in U.S. District Court in Rockford, Illinois, in response to Dish's breach of contract suit filed in March (see 1603150053). In its 16-page reply, NBCU denied all allegations of contractual breach and repeatedly referred the court to the twin agreements. Dish didn't comment Tuesday.

Comments on proposed additional rules governing video description are due June 27, replies July 26, the FCC Media Bureau said in a public notice Friday. The NPRM seeks comment on increasing the amount of video description that's required (see 1603310058)

The FCC doesn't have the power to substantially involve itself in retransmission consent matters, and can't regulate rates or force broadcaster consent and should ignore multichannel video programming distributors' "'mashup' of various out-of-context sources to try to create that authority out of thin air," Meredith General Counsel-Local Media Joshua Pila told Commissioner Michael O'Rielly and legal advisers to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn and Chairman Tom Wheeler, according to an ex parte filing Friday in docket 15-216. Meredith also said that the 10 largest MVPDs account for 94 percent of MVPD subscribers, and those 10 dwarf the largest independent broadcasting groups. "Even if the Commission had authority to regulate rates or order carriage with the broadcasters' consent, there would be no reason to exercise it on behalf of MVPDs, most of which are far larger and have far greater resources (including large staffs of professional carriage negotiators and lawyers)," it said. The company said rising retrans fees reflect rising programming costs, so substantive retrans regulation wouldn't bring down consumer prices but would make it so broadcasters wouldn't have the needed resources for national programming or local news.

Pay-TV subscriptions continued to fall in Q1, though cable subscription numbers improved, SNL Kagan said in a news release Thursday. Cable posted “its best first-quarter in eight years,” by losing only 18,300 video customers, the media research firm said. But cable, DBS and telco multichannel video programming distributors as a group lost 162,000 subscribers in Q1, it said. “The mounting loss in the quarter foreshadows mounting pressure on service providers and an accelerating annual decline.” MVPDs lost 1.2 million subscribers over the preceding 12 months, SNL Kagan said. DBS gained 166,000 subs in Q1, it said. The growth was driven by DirecTV's growth strategy and offsetting losses from Dish Network, the researcher said.

Netflix “is a great partner, and at the same time they’re a competitor to us,” CBS CEO Leslie Moonves told the Needham Emerging Technology Conference Thursday in New York. In that dualality, Netflix typifies “a number of other companies in our universe,” Moonves said. CBS will continue to sell its content to Netflix, he said. “We’ve generally sold them library or shows that are coming off the air, and we’ve had a very successful relationship with them. On the other side of the coin, they’re producing 35 original television shows, so they’re a competitor in terms of getting the best producers.” At CBS, “we like doing business” with Netflix, “we will continue to do business with them,” Moonves said. “By the way, we talk to Hulu, we talk to Netflix, we talk to Amazon -- we sell to everybody.” However, CBS also chose “to go our own way” with the CBS All Access over-the-top service, he said. “We own the IP for Star Trek, which is obviously a huge property, and instead of selling it to Netflix or Amazon -- both had wanted it -- we said that was going to be the first original series on All Access. It will be on the air in January, and we think it will contribute to millions of new subscribers going there.” CBS announced in November that a “totally new” Star Trek TV series would debut in January and that after the debut episode, all first-run episodes would air exclusively on CBS All Access. Moonves won’t disclose ratings data on CBS All Access for as long as Netflix declines to do so for its OTT service, he said. “We’ve been saying that for a long time,” he said. “They’re playing Hide the Weenie,” so why should CBS report viewership data for CBS All Access content? he said. “They’re declaring shows hits that could be watched by 10 people.” Netflix representatives didn’t comment.