Matt Daneman

The seven must-have changes pay TV seeks in retransmission consent rule reforms won't solve all that ails the retrans market, but they will improve it, Dish Network Deputy Counsel Jeffrey Blum told us Tuesday. Numerous multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) and allies -- including the American Cable Association, Cablevision, CenturyLink, DirecTV, Dish, ITTA, Mediacom, NTCA, Time Warner Cable and USTelecom -- through the American Television Alliance have lined up behind seven specific reforms they're pushing at the FCC. The deadline for the agency to issue an NPRM is Friday. Broadcasters are opposing many retrans changes (see 1508310026).

Market inefficiency and a dearth of local TV content would be likely outcomes if the FCC axes network nonduplication and syndicated exclusivity rules, broadcasters said in filings in docket 10-71. Broadcasters have been resisting Chairman Tom Wheeler's goal of repealing nondupe and syndex rules (see 1508270036).

A petition seeking a review of the FCC cable TV effective competition decision faces hurdles to success, said two sometime-critics of the industry. Much like the opposition to the agency's open Internet rule, the order faces a big legal hurdle in trying to convince the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that the way the agency came to that decision was flawed, a communications attorney said. The plaintiffs said they have a strong case.

Communications satellite operators increasingly are struggling to deal with a bottleneck of launch delays after a pair of launch failures earlier this year, said industry officials in interviews last week. Satcom operators "are really struggling to find a place to launch" following launch failures by the SpaceX and International Launch Services that set schedules behind, satellite communications consultant Tim Farrar said. Arianespace, meanwhile, is "doing fine, but they're booked up," he said.

Broadcasters and the pay-TV industry continued to joust over program exclusivity rules, as blacked-out stations in 39 states in the country's largest retransmission blackout were turned back on Thursday (see 1508260049). The repeal of network nonduplication and syndicated program exclusivity rules is in the crosshairs of Chairman Tom Wheeler, who has called them "outdated" (see 1508180053).

Interim carriage could have been back in FCC consideration as it briefly faced the largest broadcast blackout in history, experts told us. That was averted Wednesday night when the FCC and both companies in a retransmission consent dispute said carriage would resume amid finalization of a new deal. A statement by Chairman Tom Wheeler earlier Wednesday indicated that, along with getting more directly involved in the loggerhead negotiations between Dish Network and Sinclair, the agency also might be willing to go beyond that.

Antiquated FCC regulations hurt the competitive landscape, pay TV and broadcasters agreed in comments on the video competition report, but diverged widely on which of the rules are "outdated" and to blame. The comment deadline in docket 15-158 was Friday, with replies due Sept. 21. Many of the comments involved a pair of matters currently before the FCC -- its possible rulemaking on retransmission consent practices (see 1508140031) and its consideration of stretching the definition of multichannel video programming distributor to incorporate some types of over-the-top (OTT) content providers (see 1506220023)

From banning forced bundling to moving toward substantially deregulating the video market, multichannel video programming distribution and broadband companies, industry groups and interested parties had a variety of recommendations for the FCC Friday. It was the first wave of submissions for the 17th video competition report (see 1507240047). The deadline in docket 15-158 was Friday, with replies due Sept. 21.

Satellite and pay-TV companies continue to urge protection of C-band satellite operations from small cell operations now approved to operate in the same part of the 3.5 GHz band. While opportunities for spectrum sharing are increasing, satellite operators need to make sure they can operate in the C-band with sufficient protected access, Rebecca Cowen-Hirsch, Inmarsat senior vice president-government strategy and policy, told us: "It's all about good neighbors and technical compatibility."

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler's goal of eliminating exclusivity rules (see 1508120051) in the name of better balance in retransmission consent negotiations may not be much of a boon to multichannel video programming distributors, MVPD attorneys and a cable executive said in interviews this week. “Exclusivity is not the driver” in retransmission negotiations, BakerHostetler cable attorney Gary Lutzker told us. “Far from it." The network nonduplication and syndicated program exclusivity rules "are kind of a double-edged sword," said Cinnamon Mueller cable attorney Scott Friedman. While they give broadcasters the right to enforce contractual exclusivity in a market's geographical footprint, conceptually the elimination of those rules could mean broadcasters could enforce by contract exclusivity over a broader area, Friedman said. "I don't think that is going to happen, but there is a bit of uncertainty there."