TVE Apps, Third-Party Devices a Growing Fight in Charter/TWC/BHN

Charter Communications' handling of third-party device makers and cable apps is increasingly a bone of contention in FCC review of Charter's purchases of Bright House Networks and Time Warner Cable. The Computer and Communications Industry Association in a filing Friday in docket 15-149 joined Nvidia in criticizing Charter for its supposed blocking of third-party devices from accessing TV Everywhere apps. Charter and TWC dispute those claims. TWC said Nvidia "appears to misapprehend" how multichannel video programming distributor subscribers access programming via TVE.

Pointing to Nvidia's complaint (see 1601220017), CCIA said Charter already prevents some third-party devices -- "particularly devices that most closely compete with its own set-top boxes" -- from having access to the authentication credentials needed to use those apps. That anticompetitive stance "would only be made worse by the proposed [Charter/TWC/BHN] merger, extending Charter's practices to a much broader number of consumers," CCIA said. The group said it would eliminate TWC -- "a company that has been much more accommodating of third-party devices on its cable network as a way to differentiate itself" -- as a Charter competitor. CCIA said any regulatory approval should be conditioned on New Charter being required to allow access to authentication credentials to third-party devices.

Like Charter (see 1602110045), TWC is disputing that Charter TVE authentication process stops Nvidia's Shield TV from working with a variety of TVE apps. In an ex parte filing Friday in docket 15-149, TWC said that during a meeting of Charter, TWC and BHN representatives with FCC staff including General Counsel Jonathan Sallet and Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake, the staff was told programming providers have to give the MVPD rights to access the content through the app. "If TWC had not been granted such rights, it would not be listed as a participating MVPD," it said. "Far from improperly 'blocking' access to any content, TWC would not have the legal right to authenticate its customers' access via the programmer's TVE app.”

In a statement Friday, Charter said it "is committed to providing its subscribers access to content over various platforms including Roku, Android and IOS devices without a set-top box through its Spectrum TV app, and our video customers can also access 60 programmer TV everywhere apps on various devices. ... Charter has the most consumer friendly broadband policies for those who stream video with no data caps, no usage based pricing and no modem lease fees.”

The Charter and TWC arguments are questionable, as programmers would seem to have motivation for their content to be seen while cable companies have motivation to block third-party devices that could compete with their set-top boxes, one official at a party that seeks conditions in Charter/TWC/BHN told us. Nvidia and CCIA in their filings say Shield TV has had difficulty with many apps that work fine on other MVPD networks, which seems to indicate the issue isn't one caused by programmers, said the official.

Comcast's now-dead attempt to buy TWC ran into similar criticisms regarding supposed problems Comcast subscribers had authenticating HBO Go on PlayStation 4s (see 1503060063). They were problems Comcast said in a blog were "a purely commercial issue ... not an Open Internet issue.”