The FCC is proposing to ban most favored nation (MFN) provisions in carriage agreements as part of a resurrected look at challenges independent programmers face in getting carriage. An NPRM adopted Wednesday and released Friday also proposes banning unreasonable alternative distribution methods (ADM) in carriage agreements. The NPRM was approved 3-2 along party lines. A previous look at indie programmer challenges had been championed by Commissioner Mignon Clyburn under Chairman Tom Wheeler (see 1601290047), but no action was taken under Chairman Ajit Pai. The NPRM asks questions about the state of the video marketplace and whether indie programmers have better carriage opportunities on platforms than they did in 2016. Beyond MFNs and ADMs, the NPRM also asks about the prevalence of forced bundling practices and if other practices impede indie programmer market entry or growth. MFN provisions guarantee all multichannel video programming distributors (MVPD) pay a programmer the same. ADMs bar programmers from showing content on an online video distributor for a window of time after it has aired on a linear channel. "The marketplace for video programming continues to evolve and provide consumers with new ways to watch," Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said. "But the laws that govern this marketplace from Congress have not changed. What also has not changed is that independent programmers continue to express concern about the challenges they have getting their programming on the channel line-up of cable and satellite television." Commissioner Brendan Carr in his dissent said the NPRM "proceeds from a dated view of the [video] marketplace that can only further tilt the regulatory playing field in a way that will not serve consumers’ interests." He said it stretches the FCC's authority under Communications Act Section 616 -- prohibiting MVPD discrimination against programmers -- beyond what Congress intended. Commissioner Nathan Simington said in his dissent: "A public notice refreshing the record, or a fresh notice of inquiry, would have been appropriate paths for the Commission to take up the questions posed by the notice of proposed rulemaking here... Instead, we opt to tentatively conclude a great deal about the structure of the video marketplace, and what public interest demands we do, on the basis of a stale record."

The Warner Bros. Discovery board is recommending shareholders reject three shareholder proposals during the company's annual meeting June 3. The proposals would have the company disclose its use of AI in business operations, as well as any WBD ethical guidelines for AI use and adopt a right for shareholders to call a special shareholder meeting, according to its proxy statement filed Friday with the SEC. In addition, shareholders will vote on a recommendation that the board convene a committee that will oversee WBD policy positions and advocacy in areas such as alleged political bias on CNN.

Netflix will expand its use of charging different prices in different countries, co-CEO Greg Peters said in an earnings call Thursday after the market's close. Peters told analysts the company has no set position on a potential ceiling to its pricing. Netflix said its Q1 revenues were $9.4 billion, up 14.8% over Q1 2023. Asked about the streamer's live sports strategy, co-CEO Ted Sarandos told analysts that Netflix is "not anti-sports but pro-profitable growth" and that it would consider other sports opportunities that could drive engagement and revenues similar to its World Wrestling Entertainment deal.

The FCC's "all-in" pricing disclosure requirement for cable and direct broadcast satellite operators will be effective Friday, according to a notice for that day's Federal Register. The commission voted 3-2 on party lines at its March meeting to mandate "all-in" pricing for bills and promotional materials (see 2403140050).

CTA is “concerned” about a joint proposal for closed caption display settings accessibility from NCTA and a number of consumer groups representing the hearing impaired, it said in comments filed this week in docket 12-108. Under the proposal (see 2403190056), caption display settings would be located in one place and accessible by a single button, key or icon, and cable operator apps on third-party devices would respect the caption setting of the host device. “The 2024 Joint Proposal, although a notable development, is limited in nature and does not provide answers to many foundational questions that remain outstanding in the proceeding,” CTA said. The proposal doesn’t specify where caption settings would be stored or how responsibility for captions should be divided among distributors, programmers, app owners, device-makers and operating systems, CTA said. It also doesn’t cover how companies should handle the privacy implications of sharing user caption setting information, the group said. Any eventual FCC rules on the matter “should be appropriately tailored to the fact that different participants in the video-display ecosystem control different elements of the user experience” and should “align responsibility accordingly,” CTA said. Any final regulations “should avoid design mandates, be forward-looking, provide a reasonable compliance period and preserve implementation flexibility” CTA said.

The proposed Disney/Fox/Warner Bros. Discovery sports streaming joint venture (see 2402070006) raises questions about sports streaming competition, choice and access, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., and Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, said Tuesday in a letter to CEOs of the three companies. Pointing to concerns about higher prices for consumers and less-fair licensing terms for sports leagues and video distributors, the lawmakers posed a series of questions, such as whether the JV will distribute channels of non-JV partners, whether the three programmers will implement provisions that prevent anticompetitive sharing of pricing or other sensitive competitive information with each other, and. whether the three will continue bidding competitively against one another for sports rights as they become available.

Local TV broadcasters' retransmission revenues will likely peak in 2025 at just shy of $9 billion, followed by slight declines the following five years, S&P said Monday. It said price increases during contract renewals will be relatively moderate and not offset elevated subscriber churn. "It will be increasingly difficult for local TV broadcasters to increase prices given the already high cost of pay-TV, declining TV audiences, weaker broadcast network content, and less exclusive broadcast network content (as the parent companies of the broadcast networks prioritize their owned streaming platforms versus their owned broadcast networks)," the report said. S&P said local broadcasters' retrans revenues should be up 2.8% this year, driven by Nexstar and Sinclair, with gross retransmission revenues for most of the other local TV broadcasters likely flat to down in the low single-digit percentages.

Cable TV systems have no reason any longer to preclude carriage of stations throughout a designated market area that opt for must-carry status, One Ministries said Thursday in docket 24-14. Capacity no longer limits systems and must-carry rules should be updated to reflect that, it said. Large cable systems that also operate major networks use the must-carry rules to preclude carriage of smaller independent stations throughout the market, One Ministries said. It should be required that full-power TV stations get carried by cable systems throughout TV markets assigned to that station.

Comments are due April 29, replies May 13, on a proposed reinstated collection by the FCC of Form 395-A, which gathers multichannel video programming distributors' workforce composition data, the Media Bureau said Wednesday. The Form 395-A Further NPRM was adopted 3-2 in February alongside an order reinstating collection of broadcaster workforce demographic data via Form 395-B (see 2402220078). Comments are to be submitted in docket 98-204.

Ad-supported video on demand is increasingly turning its eye to subscriptions, Rethink TV said Wednesday. By 2029, subscription revenue is expected to comprise almost half of user-derived AVOD platform revenue, narrowly behind advertising revenue. Driving this is the rise of subscription VOD with advertising, with almost every major SVOD platform -- except Apple TV -- now offering some lower-priced ad-supported tier, it said. That SVOD trend and the increase of free ad-supported TV like Pluto TV and Tubi are squeezing AVOD platforms like Dailymotion, Crunchyroll, MX Player, Fandango At Home, Youku and Viki out of the over-the-top video advertising marketplace, with AVODs now trying to double down on subscriptions, it said.