Monty Tayloe

FCC stoppage of the 180-day shot clock on Comcast’s planned buy of Time Warner Cable (CD Oct 6 p7) isn’t a negative sign for the deal and stems from the large amounts of information and filings involved, as well as an ongoing commission proceeding on how confidential programmer documents should be handled (CD Oct 2 p10), said both deal supporters and opponents in interviews Monday. “It is routine for the FCC to pause the review of significant transactions as it works to create a full record,” emailed a Comcast spokeswoman. Though the FCC tied the clock stoppage to Comcast/TWC’s providing complete answers to the agency’s large information requests, it’s not seen as a goad to get the companies to respond, said attorneys connected with transaction and opponents of the deal. The stoppage gives the FCC and others “the time they need to adequately go through the data,” said Public Knowledge Senior Staff Attorney John Bergmayer.

The FCC’s new Licensing and Management System is planned to completely replace the commission’s Consolidated Database System by late 2015 or early 2016, said a Media Bureau official in an interview Friday. The first phase of that replacement took affect Thursday, with LMS coming online and replacing CDBS as the only way for full-power TV stations to electronically file for construction permits and licenses to cover them (CD Oct 1 p17).

Independent programmers, mid-sized pay-TV companies and Public Knowledge disagreed with larger programmers and broadcasters on Mediacom’s requests for the FCC to restrict programmers and broadcasters in content negotiations, in comments posted online in docket RM-11728 Tuesday. The proceeding is about a petition submitted by Mediacom in July (CD July 25 p13) asking for new FCC rules that would restrict bundling, volume discounts and programmers’ ability to halt online access to their content to provide leverage during negotiations.

Pricing estimates by market for the reverse portion of the incentive auction contained in information packages released by the FCC Wednesday are a major step toward getting broadcasters to participate and are likely to encourage those who hadn’t before considered selling their spectrum, said broadcast officials in interviews. The information packages, assembled by the FCC with the help of investment firm Greenhill & Co., were sent out in hard copy and electronic form Wednesday. The information is at www.FCC.gov/LEARN.

New FCC draft relocation reimbursement forms (CD Sept 29 p14) for expenses incurred by broadcasters and multichannel video programming distributors affected by the incentive auction are seen as complicated and not incorporating broadcaster feedback, broadcast attorneys, a broadcast executive and a broadcast engineer told us. The forms (http://bit.ly/1pwKpRS), necessary for broadcasters and MVPDs looking to receive compensation from the $1.75 billion relocation reimbursement fund, require a multistage filing process and ask broadcasters that choose to replace antennas and transmitters rather than modify existing equipment after being assigned a new channel to justify the purchase.

A draft rulemaking notice on broadening the definition of a multichannel video programming distributor to include certain types of over-the-top video hasn’t been shared with most eighth-floor commissioners’ offices and won’t necessarily go on circulation, an FCC official and officials in several eighth-floor offices told us Tuesday. The eighth-floor officials said they had received no information about the draft NPRM. Calling the item “a proposal going around” is “a bit of an overstatement,” Chairman Tom Wheeler said at a news conference after Tuesday’s FCC meeting. “I'm not ready to plant the flag,” he said.

The FCC’s first-of-its-kind auction may present complexities beyond the technical details for longtime telecom attorneys with clients that may sell broadcast-TV frequencies to the agency or wireless carriers that may be wanting to buy that relinquished spectrum for wireless broadband. Such firms representing multiple clients in the incentive auction, which government and industry officials have called extremely complex, may face challenges avoiding conflicts of interest, said wireless and broadcast attorneys in recent interviews. Firms that represent both wireless and broadcast clients -- such as Wilkinson Barker and Wiley Rein -- may not be able to do so in the auction, under local bar association ethics rules or possibly FCC anti-collusion rules, the attorneys said. Since the parties are buyer and seller on opposite sides, firms may not be able to act for both kinds of participants in the auction expected to raise many billions of dollars.

Comcast’s attacks on programmers, Dish Network, Netflix and others in the reply comments filed in docket 14-57 and released Wednesday (CD Sept 25 p6) aren’t likely to have much effect on the eventual outcome of FCC review of Comcast/Time Warner Cable, said cable industry observers in interviews Thursday. Comcast and its opponents are both “posturing,” said Mediacom Group Vice President-Legal and Public Affairs Tom Larsen. Mediacom has not filed comments in the Comcast/TWC proceeding. FCC merger review teams are “more insulated” from comments and news reports and not likely to respond to “rhetoric,” said Free Press Policy Director Matt Wood. Free Press filed a petition to deny Comcast/TWC. Other entities appeared to take Comcast’s accusations more seriously -- public interest group Common Cause demanded an apology. “Comcast’s suggestion that we've offered to withdraw our opposition in return for favors from the company is absolutely unfounded and untrue,” said former FCC Commissioner Michael Copps in a news release (http://bit.ly/1BcVL3Q). Copps is special adviser to Common Cause’s Media and Democracy Reform Initiative.

Broadcasters asked the FCC not to require Comcast and Time Warner Cable to disclose sensitive retransmission consent information as part of the combining cable companies’ response to the agency’s recent request for more information on the deal, said a letter posted Monday in docket 14-57 (http://bit.ly/1sVbe42). Though such documents would be treated as confidential and redacted to anyone not a party involved in the proceeding, said the letter addressed to Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake from E.W. Scripps, Gray Television, LIN Television, Nexstar and Sinclair, it asked that FCC officials instead view the agreements at the Department of Justice. “Given the large number of parties to this proceeding, we have many concerns about the potential widespread dissemination of these extremely competitively sensitive documents, even if only among outside counsel,” said the broadcasters.

Sinclair’s petition for review of the FCC incentive auction order (CD Sept 19 p12) raises a broader scope of issues than the NAB challenge (CD Aug 19 p1), and the company hasn’t decided if it will push for an expedited hearing of the case as did NAB and the FCC, Sinclair Vice President-Advanced Technology Mark Aitken told us Friday. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued an order Friday consolidating the two petitions and vacating the expedited briefing schedule requested by NAB and FCC.