The FCC needs to do more to “encourage diversity of media ownership,” said Chairman Tom Wheeler in a blog post (http://fcc.us/1uE4nhN) Monday. Describing a visit that day to Philadelphia, Wheeler said meeting information needs “requires not only universal access to Internet connectivity, but also having a diverse array of voices on all media platforms. One way to ensure diversity of content is to encourage diversity of media ownership.” Who owns traditional media facilities is less important because of the Internet, he said, but when there are “few minority-owned TV stations in the country, clearly we must do better.” Wheeler said he met with people using public access TV, AM and independent print outlets “to engage and inform minority audiences.” Wheeler also met with local library administrators, teachers and parents to talk about whether additional E-rate reforms are needed, the post said. The E-rate modernization order approved by the commission in July (CD July 14 p1) “will substantially increase funding available to support Wi-Fi connectivity in libraries and schools, will make the program more user-friendly for libraries, and will increase efficiencies to make E-Rate dollars go farther,” Wheeler said in the post.

Broadcast Music Inc. had $977 million revenue, an all-time BMI record, for the year ended June 30, it said in a news release Thursday (http://bit.ly/1yjB4qV). BMI distributed $840 million in royalties, also a record, in FY 2014 it said. “The largest category of the Company’s domestic revenue was delivered by the steady-growth sectors of cable and satellite distributed entertainment,” said BMI. “Licensing income from digital services, international sources and from businesses such as bars, hotels, fitness facilities and restaurants all posted significant gains.” BMI has sought reforms to the consent decree process -- currently under review by the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division (CD June 5 p9) -- in favor of direct negotiations between music publishers and broadcasters (CD June 10 p12).

The reasons for not requiring DBS and IPTV systems to comply with separable security requirements no longer apply in the current market, said TiVo General Counsel Matt Zinn in a meeting with staff from the FCC chairman’s office, Media Bureau and AT&T/DirecTV deal review team Sept. 11, according to an ex parte filing posted in docket 97-80 Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1o3WCOw). CableCARD rules should remain in place until there’s a successor solution, Zinn told FCC staff.

Clear Channel changed its name to iHeartMedia, said the owner of streaming radio service iHeartRadio in a news release Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1t861tA). It said Clear Channel Outdoor, owned by iHeartMedia, will retain its name. The new name “reflects both the success and the cultural impact of the iHeartRadio business formed three years ago and the evolution of the company’s major local radio station brands and franchises to include mobile, social and events,” it said. IHeartRadio has become “the dominant national consumer brand among the company’s assets” with “record-breaking digital growth,” said iHeartMedia. It said the new name took effect Tuesday, while its over-the-counter bulletin board new stock ticker symbol, which it didn’t identify, will be used starting Wednesday.

Dish Network and Scripps Networks renewed a deal that expands Dish subscriber access to the programmer’s entire content portfolio. It includes over-the-top multistream rights for live and VOD content, Dish said Tuesday in a news release (http://bit.ly/1qc8PQs). It also expands Dish’s distribution of authenticated live and VOD Scripps programming on Internet-connected devices, it said. “With this capability, the content will be available to an untapped segment of customers that is seeking a flexible, content-driven, Internet-accessible service.”

Rentrak added Meredith TV stations to its existing partnership to use its movies and TV Everywhere measurement service. The expansion includes Atlanta stations WGCL-TV and WPCH-TV, WFSB Hartford, and WSMV-TV Nashville, Rentrak said Monday in a news release (http://bit.ly/1y7jF4C). The stations will use Rentrak’s Advanced Demographics “to sell inventory to national and local agencies and direct accounts,” it said. Meredith also will use Rentrak’s single-source automotive and political segments “to sell the true targets that their advertisers are trying to reach,” it said.

NAB backed a report supporting the notion that retransmission consent is an important revenue stream “that sustains a locally oriented system of broadcasting that is the envy of the world,” it said Friday in a news release (http://bit.ly/1pY1aoQ). It’s “sadly ironic” that while the rest of the world contemplates adopting a retransmission consent system to improve video programming offerings for their viewers, “there are some in the U.S. Congress seeking to dismantle ours,” it said. NAB referred to a report by economist Jeffrey Eisenach (http://bit.ly/1D1ceMh). The report “decisively disposes the arguments of those seeking to change or eliminate retransmission consent,” NAB said.

The Congressional International Creativity and Theft Prevention Caucus will host the release of a report Thursday assessing profits earned from online piracy via cyberlockers, said an Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF) news release Friday (http://bit.ly/1D0leRO). The event, at 9 a.m. in 2456 Rayburn, will feature House caucus co-chairs Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and Adam Schiff, D-Calif., it said. The report is by David Price, head of piracy intelligence at NetNames, an online security company, it said. The report was funded by Digital Citizens Alliance (DCA), a consumer oriented coalition focusing on the sale of drugs online and pirating of creative digital content, said an ITIF spokesman. Following remarks by Goodlatte, Schiff and Price, the report will be discussed by a panel, which will include Daniel Castro, ITIF senior analyst; Sandra Aistars, Copyright Alliance executive director; and Tom Galvin, DCA executive director, it said.

Satellite operator SES will team with Samsung and Swiss pay TV provider SmarDTV at the IBC2014 show in Amsterdam to mount the world’s first demonstration of Ultra HD content being beamed live from an SES satellite to a TV using central authentication service (CAS) encryption and a standard SmarDTV CI Plus decryption module, the companies said Thursday in a news release. The demo is the first time that a full 3840 x 2160-pixel CAS-protected Ultra HD signal in High Efficiency Video Coding compression will be decrypted by a standard SmarDTV CI Plus Module and rendered on a Samsung Ultra HD TV, they said. “This opens the door for pay-TV service providers to directly access the new Ultra HD sets that are being rapidly adopted by consumers around the world.” The Ultra HD content will be broadcast live from an SES satellite at 19.2 degrees east using the DVB consortium’s “UHD Phase 1” signaling specs, they said. The IBC2014 exhibition floor opens Friday for a five-day run.

Congress must craft a National Consumer Protection Plan (NCPP) to keep pay-TV subscribers safe, TVFreedom said in a blog post Thursday. TVFreedom is a broadcaster coalition that has NAB as a member. “Legislation necessary to implement the NCPP should better define the jurisdiction, roles and responsibilities of federal regulators, namely the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), that can aid consumers and address existing market failures in the video marketplace,” TVFreedom’s spokesman said in the blog post (http://bit.ly/1uKqGTe). “Today, government oversight of the cable and satellite TV industry is under the jurisdictions of states and local franchising authorities, which has resulted in significant variations in state-by-state government oversight.” The plan “should be guided under the principles that consumer satisfaction is top priority, and that consumers must be empowered with the tools necessary to address recurring billing errors, ’surprise’ charges and inferior service quality,” TVFreedom said. It cited Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., as a champion in this arena and her desire to hold a Consumer Protection Subcommittee hearing on pay-TV industry billing practices before the end of this year, as she told us earlier this week.