The independent programmer NPRM circulated on the 10th floor last month (see 2307120072) is largely seeking to refresh the record of the 2016 indie programming NPRM, FCC officials told us. The NPRM is light on conclusory language and asks a lot of questions about issues like most-favored-nation (MFN) and alternative distribution method provisions in program carriage agreements, they said. Indie programmers and allies said the need for FCC intervention hasn't lessened in the intervening years.
Matt Daneman
Matt Daneman, Senior Editor, covers pay TV, cable broadband, satellite, and video issues and the Federal Communications Commission for Communications Daily. He joined Warren Communications in 2015 after more than 15 years at the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, where he covered business among other issues. He also was a correspondent for USA Today. You can follow Daneman on Twitter: @mdaneman
Cable and direct broadcast satellite (DBS) interests are all out against the FCC's proposed "all-in" video pricing disclosure rules for video service providers, while local franchise authorities and allies are all in, per docket 23-203 comments posted Tuesday. The all-in pricing NPRM was adopted in June (see 2306200042).
Charter Communications has fully rolled out use of citizens broadband radio service band spectrum in one market for offloading mobile traffic from its mobile virtual network operator agreement with Verizon, with plans for a broader CBRS rollout next year, CEO Chris Winfrey said Friday as the company announced Q2 earnings. Charter ended the quarter with 6.6 million residential and small-business mobile lines. Winfrey said more than 11% of its internet customers have its mobile service, and the mobile penetration should sizably grow over the next several years. It ended Q2 2022 with 4.3 million total mobile lines. Charter hopes to land "significant" broadband equity, access and deployment program funding, Winfrey said. BEAD rules are notably different from broadband programs in states where Charter operates, and the company will work with governments on rules "still conducive to private investment," he said. Charter is doing trials of its Xumo video platform, offering unified search across linear and direct-to-consumer offerings, with deployment later this year, Winfrey said. Chief Financial Officer Jessica Fischer said Charter remains on track for 300,000 additional state-subsidized rural passings this year. She said Charter expects to spend $4 billion this year on line extension work, with similar spending likely in 2024 and 2025. Charter had Q2 revenue of $13.7 billion, essentially flat year over year, with internet and mobile service revenue growth offset by declines in video and voice service revenue. It ended the quarter with 28.5 million residential internet customers, up about 300,000 from the same quarter a year earlier; 14.1 million residential video subs, down 780,000; and 7.2 million residential voice subs, down 1 million.
Linear network revenue is down, but Comcast is offsetting that via Peacock subscription and advertising growth, Chief Financial Officer Jason Armstrong said as the company announced its Q2 results Thursday. He said Comcast is reallocating some linear network resources to the streaming service. The ad market is likely to remain soft in the second half of the year, Comcast President Mike Cavanagh said. Advertising revenue for the quarter was $993 million, down 10.7% from the same quarter in 2022, Comcast said.
The FCC contacted the White House’s Council on Environmental Quality and the EPA about their plans about health and environmental risks from lead-sheathed cables used by AT&T and Verizon, which report earnings this week. USTelecom said Friday the telecom industry is working to better understand the extent of the problem (see 2307210056). The cables received lawmaker, industry and public attention after The Wall Street Journal reported this month about telcos, including AT&T and Verizon, having left lead cables underground, underwater and on poles nationwide.
NTIA's broadband equity, access and development (BEAD) program puts a heavy emphasis on fiber deployments, but satellite-delivered connectivity will likely be part of the mix of technology options states set out as options in their initial proposals, we were told. States' and territories' initial proposals are due to NTIA by Dec. 1.
The FCC and the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) are partnering on a trial of georouting calls to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, the commission said Thursday as commissioners approved 988 outage reporting requirements 4-0, as expected (see 2307130010). Commissioners also unanimously approved an order allowing 14 FM6 stations to broadcast analog signals as an ancillary service and an order giving tribal libraries and other E-rate participants greater access to funding.
Other cable operators are likely watching Charter Communications' plans to roll out a video package without regional sports networks (RSNs) and may follow suit, but those efforts are too little too late in the face of cord cutting, cable TV and video industry watchers tell us. Charter's cheaper Spectrum Select Signature video tier will roll out in Q3, the cabler said last week.
Implementing proposed 988 outage reporting requirements shouldn't be very onerous, Jonathan Gilad, National Emergency Number Association government affairs director, told us, predicting 4-0 approval of the draft order on the FCC's agenda (see 2306290056). CTIA didn't comment, and there hasn't been lobbying on the docket 23-5 draft order. It will take years of 988 promotion and use before the Lifeline has the kind of recognition and automatic use that 911 does, speakers said Thursday at an event sponsored in Washington by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) marking a year since 988's official rollout. "‘911 didn't start off with instant success either; it takes a while," said Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra. HHS said Thursday it's adding Spanish-language text and chat services to Lifeline.
Geostationary orbit (GSO) traffic is growing, but it's far from triggering the concerns about congestion that are accompanying the low earth orbit (LEO) boom and the emergence of mega constellations there, space experts said. 2022 ended with 596 operational GSOs in orbit, up from 574 at 2021's end, 562 in 2020 and 554 in 2019, according to Satellite Industry Association data. "My guess is that there is still room for growth" in GSO, emailed Patrick Seltzer, University of Michigan astronomy research professor emeritus.