Independent programmers might have gained a bit of leverage in carriage talks with a few major multichannel video programming distributors after last month's FCC administrative law judge advisory ruling that Cablevision discriminated when it retiered Game Show Network in 2011 (see 1611230046), some cable industry insiders and experts told us. The ruling has ramifications for only a select group of MVPDs that also own content, such as Comcast and -- if its bid to buy Time Warner goes through -- AT&T, said one independent network executive. But those pay-TV operators are likely going to take extra steps to rationalize and justify retiering indie networks, and networks might be emboldened to be slightly more aggressive in their asks, the executive said. Cablevision in its purchase by Altice USA agreed to sever common control between its distribution operations and programming interests (see 1605040010).
Promoted in Wiley Rein elections, the law firm said, were, to partners: Shawn Chang, member of the Privacy, Public Policy, and Telecom, Media & Technology practices; Karin Hessler, Intellectual Property and Litigation practices; Rachel Hunnicutt, practices including Intellectual Property; Christopher Mills, Corporate, Government Contracts, Intellectual Property and Litigation practices; and Brian Walsh, Government Contracts, Intellectual Property and Litigation practices; to of counsel: Edgar Class, Telecom, Media & Technology practice; and to special counsel: Tessa Capeloto, International Trade practice; Kathryne Dickerson, Telecom, Media & Technology and FTC Regulation practices; and Jason O’Brien, practices including Litigation.
The latest iteration of net neutrality rules formally kicked off with a 3-2 party-line vote by FCC members in front of a standing-room-only crowd on Feb. 26, 2015. After many twists and turns in a lengthy process with millions of comments submitted, that included a significant course correction by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, the final order was released in March 2015. It reclassified broadband as a Title II telecom service subject to some common-carrier regulation under the Communications Act.
Open Society Foundations says it gave a leadership in government fellowship, a new initiative, to eight people including Gigi Sohn, counselor to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler; she will use it for "multi-platform storytelling techniques to help demonstrate how public policy can improve access to communications networks, new technology, and media for communities too often left behind in the digital age"; the fellowship is January 2017-January 2018; Sohn leaves the commission, effective by year's end, an agency spokesman told us ... Retiring from AMC Networks is Ellen Kroner, executive vice president-chief communications officer, effective at year's end, succeeded by Georgia Juvelis and Jim Maiella, both promoted to senior vice presidents/co-heads of corporate communications starting in 2017 ... Salem Media Group promotes Jeff Mitchell to general manager, stations in Dallas.
DLA Piper's new UAS Practice Group is: Ray LaHood, senior policy adviser, government affairs; Saxby Chambliss, partner, government affairs; Mike Senkowski, among those DLA recently hired from Wiley Rein, chairman, telecom; Steven Phillips, co-chairman, federal law and policy; Carl Poedtke, partner, litigation; Matt Grosack, associate, litigation; Nat Bell, senior policy adviser, government affairs; and Michael Lewis, also ex-Wiley Rein, as senior engineering adviser, intellectual property and technology ... In newly formed Dolan Family Ventures (see this section in the Nov. 8 issue) buying Analytics Media Group, and starting 605 set-top box/audience analytics business, it said that Kristin Dolan named founder-CEO, 605; Ben Tatta, like Dolan, ex-Cablevision, which now is owned by Altice, named co-founder-president, 605; and AMG founder-Chief Revenue Officer Chauncey McLean named executive vice president-client solutions, 605.
DLA Piper confirms titles of Michael Senkowski and Nancy Victory, who were hired from Wiley Rein earlier this year (see 1609290039) and formerly ran communications groups there; now, they are co-chairs of DLA's telecom team in the Washington office; and that firm also said that their team includes partner Eric DeSilva and engineers Tom Dombrowsky and Michael Lewis; all of them also used to work at Wiley Rein ... General Cable appoints Matti Masanovich, ex-Delphi Automotive, its chief financial officer-senior vice president, effective Nov. 11 ... Venafi, protector of cryptographic keys and digital certificates, said Francois Delepine, ex-Trimble, is now chief financial officer ... Lifesize, videoconferencing technology provider, names Vineet Misra, ex-Domo, as chief information officer ... Joining Ensenta, mobile and online deposit software provider, is Nick Van Beurden, ex-Annie's, as vice president-finance ... Rapid7 appoints to board Judy Bruner, ex-SanDisk until it was bought this year by Western Digital.
Robert McDowell became the latest lawyer to leave Wiley Rein for another law firm. Cooley hired the former Republican FCC commissioner, he and the firms told us Wednesday. McDowell, who was a partner in Wiley's Telecom, Media & Technology practice, now is a partner at Cooley. With Michael Basile, McDowell is co-leader of Cooley's global communications practice, said McDowell. The two communications lawyers succeed practice head John Feore, who remains a partner at Cooley. Feore "wanted to pass the baton to the younger generation," said a Cooley spokeswoman. McDowell said "many" clients remain with him in his new practice, which the firm representative said has 15-20 lawyers in Washington and many more globally. The entire firm employs 900-some attorneys, said McDowell. The "energy, breadth and depth of the Cooley platform is simply irresistible and it’s a very exciting firm that is bringing a lot of new companies, disruptive new companies, to market," McDowell said. Cooley is a multinational firm with many practices including securities, capital formation and litigation, he said. Wiley has been a smaller law firm than Cooley, and more focused on communications, with a lobbying outfit that last month said it renamed itself Signal Group. During September, DLA Piper said it hired two well-known attorneys from Wiley who used to help run Wiley Rein practices in the communications area, others left the firm (see 1609290039), and it promoted David Gross and Kathleen Kirby to co-chairs of the Telecom, Media & Technology practice (see 1609070040). Wiley Rein looks "forward to continuing to maintain a personal and professional relationship with" McDowell, said Gross in a written statement. "The firm is strategically transforming and growing our preeminent Telecom, Media & Technology Practice, which remains the largest in the country.” Richard Wiley, a former Republican FCC chairman who is the firm's chairman emeritus, co-founded the firm in 1983. Like Basile, Feore came to Cooley when it bought Dow Lohnes almost three years ago (see report in the Oct. 16, 2013, issue). Cooley was founded in Silicon Valley in the 1920s.
The World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly, which began Tuesday, is drawing interest from U.S.-based internet governance stakeholders. Some told us they will be watching for potential clues about the future trajectory of ITU internet policymaking. WTSA is set to run through Nov. 3 in Yasmine Hammamet, Tunisia. The standards conference is the ITU’s first major meeting since implementation earlier this month of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority transition, which most U.S. stakeholders had identified as crucial to the credibility of the multistakeholder internet governance model (see 1610030042).
The FCC incentive auction “quiet period” has stretched on 10 months, longer than most TV broadcasters expected, squashing dealmaking and making it difficult for lawyers to serve their clients, broadcast attorneys said in interviews last week. With the auction widely forecast to stretch into 2017, some broadcast industry officials are seeking relief. The quiet period was expected to make dealmaking difficult (see 1411280041). The Incentive Auction Task Force said it will consider ending the communications prohibitions after the auction's final stage rule has been satisfied to give broadcasters more time for the repacking. It's the dampening effect on transactions that's the real difficulty of the quiet period, said broadcast attorneys and BIA/Kelsey Chief Economist Mark Fratrik.
FCC repacking plans may not provide enough time or money for broadcasters to move, said several panelists at a conference on the repacking Wednesday, the same day that the forward auction phase of Stage 2 of the incentive auction both began and ended. The forward auction proceeds in the single round were $20.95 billion, short of the $56 billion closing cost. NAB said it was “surprised” at the results of the wireless bidding, in a statement. But Incentive Auction Task Force Deputy Chairwoman Jean Kiddoo said the auction was continuing "to work as designed," during her keynote kicking off the Destination Repack conference, organized by Wiley Rein and the Association of Federal Communications Consulting Engineers (AFCCE) .