It is “past time” for the FCC to enforce the conditions of the Comcast/NBCUniversal deal order and make Comcast place the Bloomberg TV network in the same neighborhood as other news networks, said the cable programmer in a filing Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1cnx7ky). “After more than 29 months, over two years longer than the 180 days provided to the Commission to review the Merger, Bloomberg respectfully requests that the Commission enforce the Condition and issue a final decision on Bloomberg’s complaint.” Though Bloomberg has argued that Comcast should have to put Bloomberg’s standard-definition networks next to other news channels, Comcast has said it should only be required to put Bloomberg TV’s HD feed there (CD Oct 11/12 p12). Bloomberg pointed out that the deal order that contains the disputed neighborhood condition expires in just over four years. “That is to say that nearly 36 percent of the time required for the conditions has been allowed to run without full and meaningful implementation by Comcast of the news neighborhood condition,” said the filing. Bloomberg said the pleading cycle ended eight months ago on a Media Bureau decision to delay enforcing the condition until after an FCC review, but the commission has yet to take the matter. The FCC website listed a matter related to the companies as “on circulation” as of February. Comcast declined to comment. An FCC official said it’s not clear if acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn has a different take on the dispute than former Chairman Julius Genachowski, who was in control when the matter initially came before the agency. The Bloomberg filing may indicate that the company doesn’t want to wait for the commission’s current leadership transition, said public interest lawyer Andrew Schwartzman. “Waiting is costing Bloomberg money.” Schwartzman pointed out that it could be several months before FCC Chairman nominee Tom Wheeler takes office.
FCC staff are working behind the scenes on rules for the incentive auction of broadcast TV spectrum, even as it remains unclear when Tom Wheeler will be confirmed as chairman of the FCC, agency and industry officials say. While approval of auction rules will likely have to wait for Wheeler, the staff working on the auction is expected to do what they can in coming months, so they can present the new chairman with various options on the rules, including on the 600 MHz band plan, for quick decision once he arrives.
The FCC shouldn’t wait for the 2010 Quadrennial Review to review Raycom’s “defacto control” of three Honolulu TV stations, the Media Council Hawai'i told an aide to acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn, according to an ex parte filed Tuesday (http://bit.ly/129yeOO). MCH urged the agency to take action on MCH’s 2011 application for review, which challenges the Media Bureau order denying MCH’s ownership complaint against Raycom. “Although MCH filed comments in the 2010 Quadrennial Review proposing a test for attributing sharing arrangements like those in Honolulu, the 2010 Quadrennial Review has not yet been concluded,” said MCH. “Nor is it clear when the proceeding will be concluded or whether it will address the issue of shared services.” MCH also said the situation couldn’t wait for a challenge to Raycom’s license renewal, because such a challenge wouldn’t be due until 2015. MCH said the services shared among the three Honolulu stations has led to “the loss of an independent source of news,” and that along with the stations, Raycom’s Hawai'i News Now is “sharing resources and cross-promoting stories” with the city’s one remaining daily newspaper. “And because of its location, Hawai'i is unable to receive broadcast stations from other states,” said MCH in the ex parte letter. MCH said the FCC should act quickly to “prevent the creation of new ‘virtual duopolies’ in other communities.” Clyburn and her staff were also urged to resolve the Quadrennial Review by representatives of the Public Interest Spectrum Coalition, according to another ex parte filing (http://bit.ly/11pDiDq). Clyburn should “move forward on the broadcast ownership proceeding during her tenure, if possible, in order to resolve the issue before the new Chair takes office,” said PISC member Andrew Schwartzman, formerly of the Media Access Project, according to the filing. Schwartzman said relaxing ownership rules could encourage incentive auction-related speculation in broadcast licenses, driving up prices and lowering the returns from the auction, according to the letter. “It therefore makes sense to conclude what has now become a ten-year review and begin fresh with the next Quadrennial Review, scheduled for next year,” said Schwartzman.
A peering dispute between Verizon and Cogent Communications is bringing Internet transit arrangements into the limelight, as Netflix traffic over Verizon networks has slowed in recent days because of it, Cogent CEO Dave Schaeffer told us. That degradation has Cogent customer Netflix considering the use of a disclaimer on the videos it streams to Verizon customers, notifying them that Verizon is accountable for decreased speeds, he said. Netflix declined to comment.
A peering dispute between Verizon and Cogent Communications is bringing Internet transit arrangements into the limelight, as Netflix traffic over Verizon networks has slowed in recent days because of it, Cogent CEO Dave Schaeffer told us. That degradation has Cogent customer Netflix considering the use of a disclaimer on the videos it streams to Verizon customers, notifying them that Verizon is accountable for decreased speeds, he said. Netflix declined to comment.
Dish Network hasn’t dropped its bid for Sprint Nextel, but is refocusing on its bid for Clearwire, said the DBS company in a statement. FCC officials said Wednesday they have heard surprisingly little from the office of acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn on when it might circulate an order on SoftBank’s deal to buy most of Sprint.
Dish Network hasn’t dropped its bid for Sprint Nextel, but is refocusing on its bid for Clearwire, said the DBS company in a statement. FCC officials said Wednesday they have heard surprisingly little from the office of acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn on when it might circulate an order on SoftBank’s deal to buy most of Sprint.
The Obama administration is committing $100 million to spectrum sharing and pushing cooperation between federal agencies and industry, almost a year after the President’s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology (PCAST) recommended the White House shift its focus from exclusive-use spectrum to sharing (CD July 23 p1). Until now, the White House had been generally supportive of sharing, but hadn’t released a presidential memorandum in reaction to the PCAST report. The White House also issued a paper making the argument that the administration is making progress on broadband deployment (http://1.usa.gov/11NlwJI).
Gannett and Belo may have to get FCC waivers to get approval for their deal (CD June 14 p7), said several communications attorneys in interviews Friday. The companies have market overlaps in five cities, their executives said on a conference call with investors Thursday. In Louisville, Ky., and Phoenix, Gannett would be acquiring Belo TV stations in markets where it already owns newspapers, which would put the merger squarely afoul of FCC cross-ownership rules, noted lawyers who both back consolidation generally and those opposed to it. “They're taking a very aggressive approach that is very likely to spark a challenge,” said public interest lawyer Andrew Schwartzman, who has represented Free Press in the FCC’s media-ownership review.
Public Knowledge asked the FCC to begin a rulemaking to set guidelines for carriers that want to replace damaged copper infrastructure with VoIP or fixed wireless networks. In the wake of Superstorm Sandy’s devastation, Verizon expressed its intent to do just that, replacing its destroyed copper with fiber in a move it said would make the network more resilient (CD Nov 16 p1). The PK proposal would have the commission “create a process for guiding carriers’ responses” in natural disaster situations.