Sinclair's regional sports networks will go dark on YouTube TV starting Thursday due to lack of a distribution agreement with the vMVPD, but negotiations continue, it said Wednesday. Sinclair said YouTube TV previously dropped its YES, Fox Sports West and Fox Sports Prime Ticket networks. Google's YouTube TV tweeted Tuesday the blackout "was a difficult decision made after months of negotiations [and we] hope we can bring FOX RSNs back."
The Flexible Media Access Control Architecture library of specifications, FMA MAC Manager Interface and the FMA PacketCable Aggregator Interface specs released Wednesday put the cable industry closer to providing 10G services, CableLabs Wired Technologies Lead Architect Jon Schnoor blogged Wednesday. He said the next step is developing products for 10G service provision.
In a product refresh for the holiday season, Roku added products and focused on MVPD customers. Its Live TV Channel tile available on the user interface steers viewers to free linear content, with 100-plus channel partners. A section on the website tells customers how to get free local channels via an HD antenna, with tabs that take them to Amazon or Walmart for shopping. Roku’s OS 9.4 adds integration. It brings hints for voice commands, said the company Monday. The website asks, “Tired of paying too much for cable?” and gives viewers ways they can reduce “or completely cut your cable bill” by replacing a set-top box with a Roku player. A “How to cut the cord” section instructs cable customers how to cancel service, starting with “Be confident.” That includes being “firm but polite,” Roku says. “Prepare for push-back” when pay-TV providers offer deals. “When your service provider tempts you with retention offers, remember all the money you’ll save. If you take one of these deals, set a reminder for when it expires so you can try again before rates go up,” says the streaming platform provider. NCTA declined to comment Tuesday.
Cox Communications will spend $60 million over the next year on the educational digital divide, extending terms of its Connect2Compete low-cost student internet service, it said Tuesday. The company said those who sign up for Connect2Compete in 2020 will get two months free and then pay $9.95 monthly. It said the spending also will go toward devices and support services for such customers, and its Wi-Fi hot spots remain open.
If the FCC doesn't adopt the updated competitive benchmark proposal for basic cable tier rate regulation, at least simplify its approach for newly regulated or reregulated communities, NCTA asked the Media Bureau, per a docket 17-105 posting Tuesday. Letting cable operators use as a starting point the unregulated rate in effect before the local franchising authority petitions for certification or recertification to regulate rates would be simple and easy to enforce, it said. NCTA backed the tentative conclusion in a 2018 Further NPRM about revising cable rate rules for basic tier regulation by LFAs (see 1810230037) that commercial customer rates remain unregulated. The association said allowing rate adjustments for changes in channel count is "unduly complicated," urging ending rules on charges for changes in service tiers.
Relevant Cable Act statutory language on local franchise authorities isn't ambiguous, so there's no reason to defer to the new FCC interpretation that goes against decades of LFA and cable operator understanding, petitioners and supporting interveners replied (docket 19-4162, in Pacer) Thursday: That approach to franchise fees and mixed-use and preemption decisions aren't lawful. The FCC faces a consolidated challenge (see 1909120028) and didn't comment Friday.
NCTA's appeal of a U.S. District Court's finding federal law doesn't preempt Maine's public, educational and government access channel carriage provisions got criticism from public interest groups in 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals amicus briefs. Public Knowledge said Wednesday (docket 20-1431) Cable Act language and legislative history are clear it doesn't preempt PEG provisions, and the lower court rightly ruled the Maine law's requirement that cable operators extend service to areas that meet a certain population density also wasn't preempted. The Community TV Association of Maine, Alliance for Community Media and Alliance for Communications Democracy said (in Pacer) the Cable Act specifically allows states to act outside individual franchises to enact consumer protection laws. NCTA in its plaintiff-appellant brief (in Pacer) in August said no part of the Cable Act's Section 531, covering PEG regulation, authorizes any part of the state's PEG regulation, nor does it allow a line-extension requirement without any consideration of issues like reasonableness or the cost to cablers.
Wanting to participate in the C-band auction and hold common carrier wireless licenses, Altice's CSC Wireless is asking the FCC International Bureau to waive foreign-ownership rule caps. In a petition for declaratory ruling Monday, CSC said it's controlled by the Next Alt holding company of Luxembourg and Israeli citizen Patrick Drahi beyond the 25% benchmark set in the Communications Act for common carrier radio license ownership, but that raises no national security issues and granting the petition would help promote competition.
Comments are due Oct. 2, replies Oct. 9 on a request the FCC sign off on GCI Liberty being folded into Liberty Broadband under Communications Act Section 214 (see 2008310050), said a Wireline, Wireless, Media and International bureaus' public notice Friday.
With set-top box deployment declining, Dolby’s penetration of Atmos and Vision should increase as MVPDs redesign offerings to fight churn and improve user experience, Colliers' Steven Frankel wrote investors Friday. Atmos and Vision shifted from either/or adoption decisions by hardware OEMs to a package of technologies delivering a premium experience, Frankel noted, citing Dolby Chief Financial Officer Lewis Chew. The technology company “continues to raise the bar” for audio and video technology with Dolby Vision IQ (see 2001080037) in some 2020 TVs, he said. Upcoming Xbox Series X and S game consoles support Atmos and Vision across all game play, vs. the previous Microsoft console, which only supported Dolby technologies in the Netflix app. Apple’s iOS 14 brings Atmos to AirPod Pro earphones “and could spur Atmos adoption by other wireless headphone makers,” said Frankel. Dolby.io is a “potential game changer,” said the analyst, moving Dolby's technology from hardware to software, allowing access through applications programming interfaces and shifting the revenue model “from per-device to per-use.” Chew referenced early traction with SoundCloud, telehealth and distance learning, said Frankel.