The FCC's recent regulatory proceedings on multichannel video programming distributors (MVPD), "intentionally or not," unfairly skew "what would otherwise be a robustly competitive marketplace toward Internet-based providers," Free State Foundation Senior Fellow Andrew Long wrote Wednesday. He said "an up-to-date, honest understanding of ... the video distribution marketplace in 2024" would have the FCC shelve certain pending rulemakings that only further chill competition. Those include rulemakings about requiring rebates for programming blackouts due to stalled retransmission consent talks and others barring certain conditions in MVPD-programmer contracts. "If the Commission truly wanted to maximize overall consumer welfare, it would focus broadly on eliminating legacy one-sided regulations in order to allow competitive forces in the marketplace to do their job," Long wrote.

Disney's entertainment streaming business -- not counting ESPN+ -- reaching profitability in the company's most-recent quarter "is a huge milestone for Disney and for the entire studio streaming ecosystem," Ampere Analysis' Guy Bisson wrote Tuesday. That $47 million operating profit came two quarters earlier than Disney predicted the entire direct-to-consumer business would reach profitability, he said. Disney was the only major studio to go so far with streaming, pulling back key content for its streaming platform, and "there is no going back from here," Bisson said. The move to profitability -- with other studios likely to follow in coming quarters -- "takes a huge amount of downward pressure off content spend," Bisson said. Streamers are moving to a "mix and match approach" of offering their originals while also seeking high-quality titles to license, he said. With linear viewing in decline, and spending on ads shifting to streaming, increased streaming profitability could accelerate that shift, he said. "As the 'proof of concept' is now signed, sealed and delivered, the industry will move even faster to transition away from traditional outlets."

Comments are due June 6, replies July 8, on the FCC's proposed prohibition of most-favored nation and alternative distribution method provisions in carriage agreements between independent programmers and multichannel video programming distributors, said a notice for Tuesday's Federal Register (docket 24-115). The FCC commissioners approved 3-2 an NPRM last month regarding indie programmers that proposed the restriction on carriage agreement terms and sought comment on bundling practices broadly (see 2404190063).

The Disney/Fox/Warner Bros. Discovery sports streaming joint venture (see 2402070006) "will eventually dominate the distribution market for live sports and will drive out competition," programming distributors and programmers along with advocacy group allies said Thursday in a letter to House and Senate Commerce and Judiciary committee chairs and ranking members. Consumer interests are never served when an important industry like live sports "is effectively controlled by three programming giants which decided to combine forces instead of competing against each other," they said. The letter requests a hearing on pay TV. Behind the letter were Fubo TV, DirecTV, Dish Network, Newsmax, Sports Fan Coalition, American Economic Liberties Project, Open Markets Institute and Electronic Frontier Foundation. House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., and Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, raised similar concerns in a letter last month to the JV members (see 2404170067).

The FCC should issue an NPRM seeking comment on a proposed report about content vendor diversity, Allen Media, the United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry, the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, Black Women’s Roundtable, and attorney David Goodfriend of I Street Advocates said in a meeting with an aide to Commissioner Geoffrey Starks Tuesday, according to an ex parte filing posted Thursday in docket 22-209. A petition for rulemaking on the proposal was already the subject of a round of comments in 2022 (see 2207250060). The proposed report “will be effective and not burdensome,” the filing said. The proposal would collect data from FCC regulatees that operate media companies -- such as Disney and Google -- about their vendors. “No vendor, including small vendors, will be required to submit data, but the data that is submitted will add to the publicly available information.” The data would “be consistent, according to FCC-adopted definitions and thus can be compared easily with each other, unlike the anecdotal information available now.” Creating the report would be in line with provisions in the Cable Act authorizing the FCC to adopt rules specifying how regulatees encourage minority and female entrepreneurship, the filing said.

Warner Bros. Discovery TV networks went dark on Fubo Tuesday evening, with the virtual multichannel video programming distributor (vMVPD) saying WBD is engaged in "abuse of massive market power that ultimately limits consumer choice." Fubo said WBD was demanding above-market rates for its content. "We have been and remain ready and willing to work diligently with Fubo to reach a fair market agreement," WBD said in a statement. "We proposed an extension of our current agreement, with no changes or price increases, that would allow Fubo to continue carrying these networks, and it is unfortunate that Fubo has decided to alienate their own customers in this way." The vMVPD is suing WBD, along with Fox and Disney, regarding the programmers' joint sports streaming service (see 2402210007).

Regional sports network SportsNet Pittsburgh is launching a direct-to-consumer streaming service. It posted Monday on X that its streaming app SNP 360 provides access to network content including live Pirates and Penguins games.

Comcast's and Charter Communications' forays into over-the-top TV service with Spectrum TV Stream (see 2404160069) and Now TV aren't about competing with virtual multichannel video programming distributors (vMVPD). Instead, their goal is maintaining broadband dominance, nScreenMedia analyst Colin Dixon wrote Wednesday. Cable companies have bundled TV and broadband for decades because that cuts churn for both services, he said. The high cost of cable TV "broke the bundle's positive impact," but a low-cost TV service "could help remake it and keep those broadband competitors at bay," he said. Smaller vMVPDs such as Philo and Sling TV could be particularly vulnerable to the cablers' streaming TV competition, he said.

Paramount Global shareholders will decide at the company's June 4 annual meeting on a shareholder proposal that the company prepare a transparency report about how it uses AI in business operations, as well as ethical guidelines for AI it has adopted. Also on the agenda is a shareholder proposal recommending the board adopt a policy requiring stockholder approval for certain "golden parachute" compensation packages, according to the annual proxy statement issued Monday. The board is recommending "no" votes on both.

While the "all-in" video pricing order has appeared in the Federal Register and is now effective (see 2404180008), compliance will be phased in, the FCC Media Bureau said in a public notice in Tuesday's Daily Digest. It said compliance for mid-sized and large cable and direct broadcast satellite operators won't be required until either Dec. 19 or when the Office of Management and Budget completes its Paperwork Reduction Act review, whichever comes later. Compliance for cable operators with annual receipts of $47 million or less won't be required until March 19, 2025, or Paperwork Reduction Act review, whichever comes later.