The resignations of Warner Bros. Discovery board members Steven Miron and Steven Newhouse (see 2404010068) follow the DOJ's Antitrust Division's concern that the two also serving on the Charter Communications board violated Section 8 of the Clayton Act, Justice said Monday. DOJ said Charter's Spectrum cable service and WBD's Max's streaming service are both video distributors. The Clayton Act's Section 8 bars people from serving simultaneously on the boards of competitors. Miron and Newhouse were Advance Publications designees on both boards, it said. Justice "will continue to vigorously enforce the antitrust laws when necessary to address overreach by corporations and their designated agents," Deputy Assistant Attorney General Michael Kades said.

The FCC's proposed $1.8 million proposed forfeiture for Nexstar and sidecar operation Mission Broadcasting (see 2403220067) is "an encouraging sign to everyone that has been urging the Commission to bring an end to this media ownership shell game" that are sidecar agreements, ACA Connects Vice President-External Affairs Zamir Ahmed blogged Thursday. He said broadcasters use sidecars to "circumvent federal rules and squeeze even more money out of pay-TV subscribers." The FCC action "should be just the first step in increased oversight of sidecar agreements that overstep the law," he said.

An FCC proposal that requires broadcasters and MVPDs to report on blackouts related to retransmission consent negotiations exceeds FCC authority and wouldn’t collect useful information, all four broadcaster network affiliate groups said. Instead, they urged the agency to focus on reopening the record on reclassifying streaming services as MVPDs. The FCC’s attention “should be trained on seeking 'basic information' about the ever-changing, uber-competitive multichannel video programming distribution ecosystem” and virtual MVPDs, said the affiliate groups for Fox, ABC, NBC and CBS in reply comments posted Wednesday in docket 23-427. Adding regulations to traditional MVPDs while leaving competing linear streaming services "entirely free of such regulations” will not help consumers, the groups said. “The instant proceeding underscores that the Commission’s multichannel video distribution rules are becoming increasingly irrational, underinclusive, and out of step with current marketplace realities.”

Comments are due April 15, replies April 25 in docket 12-108 on a joint proposal for closed caption display settings accessibility, an FCC Media Bureau public notice said in Tuesday’s Daily Digest (see 24031900). A joint effort of NCTA, the National Association of the Deaf, the Hearing Loss Association of America and TDIforAccess, the proposal represents a consensus from those groups on how to make the settings usable through a button, key or icon in a specific section of a set-top device settings menu.

TV revenue in the U.S. dropped $2 billion last year, to $220.9 billion, nScreenMedia's Colin Dixon blogged Monday. Revenue from traditional pay TV and advertising was lower, while virtual multichannel video programming distributors, subscription VOD and connected TV ads were up. He said disc sales and rentals continued falling while digital rentals and sales saw a slight gain. At the end of 2022, 70% of U.S. TV revenue came from traditional pay TV, disc sales and rentals, and traditional TV ads, but their combined share dropped to 64% in 2023, Dixon said.

Hawaiian Telecom's application for review of an FCC Media Bureau $720,000 notice of apparent liability issued against Nexstar (see 2403080072) is part of HT's "continuing crusade" to punish it and other broadcasters for not extending expiring retransmission consent agreements, Nexstar said Monday. In a docket 23-228 opposition to HT's review application, Nexstar said the liability notice clearly refutes HT's "meritless" argument that the bureau should have considered the circumstances around Nexstar withholding a meaningful retrans agreement extension to determine whether the broadcaster acted in bad faith. With it already facing a potential $720,000 forfeiture, Nexstar said there "is neither a need nor a legitimate basis for requiring the Bureau to expend even more resources in taking up what amounts to a petition for a new and improper revision of the Communications Act and the FCC’s [retrans consent] rules."

Netflix's stated goals of expanding its live content offerings and its World Wrestling Entertainment deal (see 2401300062) point to the streamer playing a bigger role in the traditional sports rights market, Ampere Analysis wrote Friday. The growing number of subscribers watching with ads means Netflix will be in a position to profit from large audiences viewing live content in a way it previously couldn't, Ampere said. It said non-U.S., non-China rights for the NBA could also be an option for Netflix, as they will be up for renewal in many key territories in the next few years and would be far more affordable than domestic rights.

One in 10 streaming service subscriptions is shared with someone outside the subscriber's household who isn't paying for it, Leichtman Research Group said Wednesday. In addition, it reported 88% of U.S. households have at least one streaming video service from the top 15 services, with 53% of households having four or more direct-to-consumer streaming video services. Leichtman said its data comes from an online survey of 2,546 U.S. households.

The Media Bureau is seeking comment on a joint proposal for closed caption display settings accessibility from NCTA, the National Association of the Deaf, the Hearing Loss Association of America and TDIforAccess, according to an NPRM released Tuesday. Under the proposal, closed caption display settings would be in one area of the settings, accessed by “button, key or icon,” and cable operators would commit to making the settings available to app providers through an application programming interface (API). Cable operator apps on third-party devices would respect the caption setting of the host device, and cable operators would commit to training customer support employees on adjusting the closed caption settings, the NPRM said. All the proposals would be “subject to being achievable and technically feasible,” and would apply going forward “after a reasonable implementation period,” the NPRM said. Comments will be due in docket 12-108 twenty days after the item is published in the Federal Register.

Pay-TV industry interests are pushing the FCC for more time to implement "all-in" video pricing disclosure rules. FCC commissioners will vote on the proposed rules at Thursday's open meeting (see 2402210057). MVPD interests are lobbying on implementation timelines, according to docket 23-203 filings Friday. DirecTV said it would need more time and asked for at least a 12-month deadline or maintenance of the current nine-month deadline for all-in disclosures in advertisements but allowing an additional six months for customer bills. It said solely regulating cable and satellite TV hurts their competitiveness with online services. At least give operators a 12-month window for compliance, ACA Connects told aides to Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Anna Gomez. It said changing customer bills "is a complex undertaking that can involve many sequential steps," especially if the providers use third-party software platforms. Pricing requirements won't address the "underlying dysfunction" in the video marketplace, and urged the FCC against adoption. Pointing to arguments that the rules just apply to cable and direct broadcast satellite, One Ministries said virtual MVPDs should be regulated along with MVPDs. Without it, virtual MVPDs "will continue to discriminate against local 'mom and pop' independent TV stations by not carrying them and only carrying the major network TV stations in the various TV markets," it said.