Viewers of three multichannel video programming distributors in more than 15 markets experienced blackouts in the first week of January, said a group of MVPDs and others seeking changes to retransmission consent rules. Broadcasters blacked out subscribers of DirecTV, Dish Network and Verizon FiOS to extract higher retrans fees, said the American Television Alliance in a news release Monday. ATVA said Cordillera Communications blocked DirecTV viewers in at least 10 markets. Capitol Broadcasting prevented Dish viewers from seeing two stations in the Raleigh area, said the alliance. It said Coastal Television Broadcasting in Alaska blocked the direct broadcast satellite company's subscribers in Anchorage, and Vision Alaska II is blocking viewers in Fairbanks and Juneau. Bristlecone Broadcasting also blocked Verizon FiOS customers from viewing WSYT (Fox) Syracuse, New York, said ATVA. NAB didn't have any immediate comment Monday.

A TIA motion for leave to file an amicus brief in support of the FCC in the petition for review proceeding against its incentive auction order should be denied as untimely, NAB said Wednesday in an opposition motion filed at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. “For four months TIA stood by silently as the parties hammered out a consolidated briefing schedule that places tight constraints on the parties’ word limits, briefing format, and filing deadlines, NAB said. “Now, at the eleventh hour, TIA appears with a proposed amicus brief that would in effect give a lopsided, 4,000-word extension to the Federal Communications Commission ('FCC') and its intervenors.” TIA's brief was filed Dec. 23, the same day as other respondent briefs, but TIA had not previously filed for leave to intervene, according to online court records. Allowing TIA to join the case would “cause extreme prejudice to NAB and Sinclair," NAB said. The broadcasters “are in the midst of responding to three Respondent side briefs while adhering to the scheduling Order’s inflexible word limits and tight deadlines,” NAB said. The court should reject TIA's request, NAB said.

The FCC's decision that programming and retransmission consent contract information should be available with safeguards to parties in the Comcast/Time Warner Cable and AT&T/DirecTV merger reviews is “within its broad discretion,” the FCC said in a respondent's brief filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Filed Friday in response to the content companies' petition for review of the commission's decision to release Video Programming Confidential Information, the brief asked the court to affirm the FCC's protective orders “expeditiously so that the merger reviews can proceed as promptly as possible.” The joint challenge by CBS, Disney, Viacom and other content companies “rests on the premise -- wholly unsupported -- that parties will not comply with the protective orders’ provisions, and that the Commission will not punish violators when warranted,” the brief said. The protective orders for the VPCI “contain robust safeguards against abuse, and the Commission has made clear that the orders will be vigorously enforced,” the brief said. Not allowing access to the VPCI would “weaken” the FCC's ability to defend a merger review decision against court challenges and disrupt the merger review process, the FCC said. Content company suggestions that VPCI in the record be made anonymous “would be inappropriate, are unworkable, and would only serve to create unacceptable delay that could, by itself, prevent the transactions from moving forward,” the FCC said.

Nexstar Broadcasting reached a distribution agreement with Charter Communications, Nexstar said in a news release Thursday. The prior agreement between the two companies expired at midnight Dec. 31, but the new deal was reached before that deadline, “enabling Charter subscribers in fifteen markets to enjoy uninterrupted access to network, local news and other programming,” the release said. “No material service interruptions related to distribution agreements” have occurred with Nexstar's station group since 2005, the news release said.

Comments on the FCC’s second Further NPRM on Closed Caption Quality Standards are due Jan. 20, and replies Jan. 30, the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau said in a public notice Wednesday. The second Further NPRM asked for comments on proposed requirements for video programmers to file contact information and certifications of captioning compliance with the Commission (see 1412160047).

Cellcom Israel launched Cellcom TV, an over-the-top service, in Israel. The platform includes Israeli digital terrestrial TV channels, VOD services and additional advanced viewing capabilities, Cellcom said in a news release.

FairPoint Communications assured a lawmaker it hasn't been uncooperative in dealing with its striking employees. "We have made numerous formal and informal efforts to reach agreement with our unionized workforce, all without success," it said Wednesday in a letter from FairPoint CEO Paul Sunu to Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine. But the good faith efforts weren't reciprocated, FairPoint said. It doesn't appear the unions are serious "about addressing FairPoint's need for substantive reform to the company's benefit costs," it said. Sunu responded to a letter from Pingree last week expressing concern about the strike. A representative for the union didn't return a request for comment.

Tech groups and public interest groups urged Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood to forgo subpoenas and legal action aimed at determining whether Google profits from ad sales linked to drug sales, piracy and other illegal acts offered online. The enforcement tools that Hood is seeking “would harm free expression and Internet security,” said Erik Stallman, general counsel for the Center for Democracy & Technology. They also would threaten the successful legal framework “that has made America the leader of the Internet economy,” he said in a blog post. Hood’s letters to Google and the subpoena “ignore this legal framework, and federal preemption in the area of copyright, entirely,” Stallman said. Instead, they seek to give attorneys general and rightsholders “the authority to curate and control web content and especially search results,” he said. Google filed a lawsuit last week against Hood claiming that he tried to censor the Internet by filing a subpoena (see 1412190045). The letter was signed by 13 organizations, including CDT, Electronic Frontier Foundation and Free Press.

The FTC urged a children's mobile app developer to evaluate its app and determine whether it violates the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The commission said it appears that the app, BabyBus, collects precise geolocation information about users, it said Monday in a news release. The China-based company doesn't get parents' consent before collecting children's personal information, it said. Because "you are collecting precise geolocation information, which is considered 'personal information' under the rule, you must provide notice and obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting, using, or disclosing this information," the letter said.

DirecTV launched Yaveo, a Spanish-language over-the-top streaming entertainment service available to anyone in the U.S. with an Internet connection. Yaveo features programming from the U.S., Latin America and Spain, DirecTV said Monday in a news release. Customers will have the ability to stream live sports and entertainment channels, like beIN Sports en Español and Hola! TV, it said.