The FCC should pay closer attention to pay TV consolidations and their effect on independent programmers and on the diversity of programming, the Starz network said in an ex parte filing posted Tuesday in docket 14-90. The imbalance of power between multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) and independent programmers "is so significant that most companies will not raise concerns to the FCC or in public for fear of retribution," Starz said, saying that was the reason the topic came up so little in AT&T/DirecTV merger. While that merger is expected to lead to lower programming costs for AT&T/DirecTV, those cuts likely will fall heavily on small and independent content providers, Starz said. The FCC's public interest responsibilities need to include paying attention to the fact major MVPDs will lean toward "programming with the broadest appeal to the detriment of niche and diverse audiences and at the expense of small and independent programmers," Starz said. The filing detailed a series of meetings between Starz and FCC representatives, including network CEO Chris Albrecht; Omari Hardwick, star of the Starz series Power; FCC General Counsel Jonathan Sallet; and Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel. Starz didn't oppose the AT&T/DirecTV merger but signed a new carriage deal with AT&T shortly after the FCC approved the merger last week.

Time Warner Cable added Israel, Romania and Thailand to the countries in its Business Class Phone Global Calling Plan, the company said Tuesday. The plan offers discounted rates on calls to more than 50 nations.

Buying online distribution rights should be an option -- not a requirement -- for programmers, and such a rule wouldn't be much help to the nascent over-the-top marketplace, AMC Networks officials told FCC representatives in a meeting on the agency's proposed reinterpretation of the definition of a multichannel video programming distributor to include some types of online video delivery. Making them buy online distribution rights from content holders -- especially when such rights are sometimes not available, or come at a huge price -- would put programmers at a negotiating disadvantage, "exacerbating the already unequal playing field between affiliated and unaffiliated programmers," AMC said in an ex parte filing posted Wednesday in docket 14-261. Meanwhile, the OTT marketplace "is already developing rapidly, without any need for governmentally enforced access to programming," AMC said.

Numerous media companies hope to block Viacom's attempts to get program distribution agreements (PDAs) with Cablevision. In an order filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, U.S. Magistrate Judge James Cott approved a motion by content providers including CBS, Discovery Communications, ESPN and HBO, allowing them to intervene in Cablevision's 2013 lawsuit against Viacom for allegedly forcing the cable company to carry ancillary networks in order to obtain such core networks as MTV and Nickelodeon (see 1302280044). Viacom filed a motion earlier this month asking the court to compel Cablevision to provide PDAs spelling out pricing and other carriage commitment details. In their motion last week seeking the right to intervene and also opposing the Viacom motion, the content companies argued that the information Viacom is seeking in its discovery requests "is neither relevant nor necessary" and producing the information raises confidentiality issues. "Viacom has not demonstrated that it is entitled to intrusive, far-reaching discovery" of Cablevision carriage agreements, the media companies said.

Comcast and Discovery Communications signed a new carriage agreement, the two said Monday. The deal includes TV Everywhere rights, allowing Xfinity TV customers to access Discovery programming on multiple platforms.

Mediacom is aiming large doses of snark at NAB as it pushes the FCC to retool retransmission consent rules. In a filing posted Monday in docket 10-71, the cable company referenced everything from Star Trek and Flip Wilson's "the Devil made me do it" catchphrase to South Park and the Nazi Party as it attempted to rebut NAB arguments made earlier this month against greater regulatory control over retrans as the agency has begun rulemaking for the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act Reauthorization's Section 103, which covers retrans (see 1507140021). NAB is distracting the FCC by arguing that multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) are bigger bad actors, as "that would simply mean there are two scamps, rather than only one scalawag that the FCC needs to sit in the corner," Mediacom said -- while adding that NAB allegations of MVPD misdeeds such as poor customer service, excessive equipment fees and questionable billing practices are groundless. Mediacom also scoffed at the NAB's much-repeated argument that blackouts are engineered by MVPDs to leverage FCC intervention: "The absurd premise underlying this claim is that poor, gullible, meek and powerless station owners like CBS Corp., Disney, Fox and Sinclair Broadcast Group have been maneuvered and coerced into ordering station blackouts against their will," Mediacom said. The cable company also likened the argument that MVPDs cause blackouts to Germany's framing Poland as the aggressor to legitimize its 1939 invasion. NAB is making "a giant leap" when it argues that since most retransmission consent negotiations are resolved without blackouts, such negotiations do not need FCC intervention. Pointing to Star Trek's Mr. Spock once saying he was needed most of all "among a shipload of illogical humans," Mediacom said he was needed more elsewhere -- "In a roomful of broadcast industry lobbyists relying on assorted logical fallacies to defend the status quo for retransmission consent." NAB did not respond to a message seeking comment Monday.

Repeating Charter Communications' argument that its planned merger serves the public, CEO Tom Rutledge met with FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn and separately with FCC General Counsel Jonathan Sallet and with Owen Kendler, who's overseeing the agency working team reviewing Charter's purchase of Bright House Networks and Time Warner Cable, Charter said in an ex parte filing posted Monday in docket 15-149. In both meetings, Charter said it "is committed to offering high speed broadband with policies that promote data intensive uses like online video" and plans to do likewise post merger, Charter said. Its proposed low-income broadband program also could help bring connectivity to underserved populations, Charter said it told Clyburn. The FCC meanwhile officially accepted for filing the joint Charter/BHN and TWC applications for change control of licenses, the Media Bureau said in a public notice released Monday in docket 15-149. The agency has not set the pleading cycle for the merger, though it said the merger proceeding would follow the typical, informal 180-day clock.

NCTA, citing results of an Arris consumer research study (see 1507220035), wants an increase in unlicensed spectrum. The research, an NCTA blog post said Friday, showed consumers "love watching TV on whichever device they have handy via whatever broadband access point is near," and more spectrum is needed to keep up with consumer demand for easier content access and more ubiquitous Wi-Fi. The cable industry has the technical ability capable of handling its data streaming needs well into the future, it said in the blog post, but lacks the allotted spectrum to do so.

Technicolor’s agreement to buy Cisco’s connected devices business for $450 million cash and $150 million in newly issued Technicolor’s shares includes a “strategic partnership” deal under which the two companies will “develop and deliver” next-generation video and broadband technologies, with an emphasis on IoT “solutions and services,” Technicolor said in a Thursday statement. “By combining their strengths and leading video expertise, from content creation to in-home delivery, the two companies will accelerate innovation and forge a leading entity that network service providers can rely on for their next generation connected home experiences.” Technicolor and Cisco agreed to cross-license patents owned by both companies, it said. Technicolor said its acquisition of Cisco's connected device business is expected to close in late 2015 or early 2016.

Cox Communications' gigabit broadband, G1gablast, is expanding to some residential markets in Louisiana, the company said Thursday. Cox already offers G1gablast in parts of Orange County, California, and Phoenix, and in Las Vegas and Omaha, and plans to have residential 1 Gbps speeds across its entire footprint by the end of 2016.