Cablevision's request for summary judgment in Game Show Network's carriage complaint against it is based on the idea that the cable operator can't be found to be engaging in discriminatory behavior “unless it permanently cripples GSN on a nationwide basis,” said the programmer in an opposition motion posted in docket 12-122 Thursday. “Cablevision is wrong.” That “contrary, toothless” reading of the Communications Act would immunize all pay-TV companies from liability, GSN said. By moving the channel from the basic tier to a sports tier, “Cablevision violated the program carriage rules in its zeal to promote its affiliated networks at the expense of a competitor,” GSN said. The operator recently said that if the case goes to trial before a commission administrative law judge, the network won’t be able to prove that Cablevision’s tiering decision involved “discriminatory intent” (see 1504300051).

Last quarter was the worst Q1 for pay-TV customer additions in the more than a decade that Leichtman Research Group has tracked this statistic, it reported Thursday. It said the 13 top U.S. pay-TV companies, with 95 percent of the market, together added fewer than 10,000 net video subscribers last quarter, versus adding more than 250,000 in the year-ago period. LRG said top cable operators lost 60,000 video customers last quarter and satellite TV lost 74,000, while top telco-TV service providers added 140,000, which was a 44 percent decrease from Q1 2014. Pay TV lost 370,000 subscribers in the past year, up about 700 percent from losses in the prior 52-week period, said the researcher. “In addition to changes in consumer demand for video services spurred by competition from alternatives, the decline of about 0.4 percent of subscribers over the past year was also driven by several providers becoming more discerning in customer acquisition and retention," said LRG President Bruce Leichtman in a news release.

The FCC shouldn’t adopt a rebuttable presumption of effective competition for all cable companies, a group of broadcasters and the National Hispanic Media Coalition said in separate meetings with agency staff, according to filings posted in docket 15-53 Wednesday. Representatives of ABC, CBS, Disney, Fox and NAB said the proposed rule is unlawful. "It is odd, indeed, for the FCC to go far beyond what Congress just instructed it to do; namely, make mere administrative changes for small cable operators,” the broadcasters said. Changing the rule and taking all cable beyond rate regulation could be “disastrous” for Latinos, said NHMC, since it could lead to higher cable rates. NAB has argued the rule change could lead to cable companies no longer having to place local broadcasting on the basic tier. That’s a concern for Latinos as well, NHMC said. “If cable operators are allowed to move Latino programming to more expensive cable tiers, it is very likely that viewership and revenues of Latino networks would drop, making it more difficult to finance and produce programming that serves Latino audiences.”

Time Warner Cable's Los Angeles area sports network is widely available, just not on all multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs), said TWC. Despite "much speculation" that almost 70 percent of the Los Angeles TV market can't watch the Dodgers on the network, SportsNet LA, it's "actually available" to more than 80 percent of the market's TV homes, channel owner TWC said in a Tuesday blog post. "We continue to believe in the network’s long-term value and remain eager and willing to talk to other providers for carriage, but at this point, fans will need to switch to Time Warner Cable or Bright House Networks" to watch it, said the cable operator. "We are in negotiations with all other providers," said an FAQ on the website that the blog linked to where consumers can ask their operator to carry SportsNet LA. "We are actively seeking distribution with providers in the Dodgers territory (DIRECTV, AT&T U-verse, Cox, Verizon FiOS, Charter, Comcast, DISH, etc.)." Despite "our repeated attempts," major L.A.-area MVPDs that don't carry SportsNet LA "have been unwilling to engage in any discussions," a TWC spokeswoman emailed us Wednesday. She said her company and Bright House Networks are the major pay-TV companies in the area distributing the network. Cox Communications remains "open to carry the network at flexible terms and reasonable pricing that doesn't overburden our entire customer base," a spokesman said. "We've also long said that we have been approaching a tipping point with sports programming costs and the [L.A.] market has shown we have reached it." Dish Network is "interested in carrying high quality content at an appropriate value," said a spokesman. "If that balance can be struck, we are willing to consider it.” Verizon has had talks about carrying SportsNet LA, "and there remain some significant differences," a spokeswoman said. "We are looking for a more customer-friendly model: for example, one that is driven by a customer's willingness to pay for or watch the channel." Comcast isn't in that market, a spokeswoman noted. Other MVPDs cited in TWC's SportsNet LA FAQ had no comment.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit should affirm the FCC’s decision not to reopen Tennis Channel’s carriage complaint against Comcast, already decided by the court in the cable giant’s favor, the FCC said in a motion for summary affirmance filed Wednesday in response to the Tennis Channel’s March petition for review of the FCC decision. “The Commission correctly determined that ‘Tennis Channel had a full and fair opportunity to litigate its complaint’ -- both before the agency and on judicial review,” the FCC filing said. Tennis Channel had argued that the Comcast decision against it had created a new test for when a company is being discriminated against and asked the FCC to reopen the proceeding so it could submit new evidence to fulfill that test. The FCC disagreed that the court had intended for the case to be reopened. “Context” doesn’t suggest “that the Court intended the Commission to conduct remand proceedings to revisit the question whether evidence of unlawful discrimination exists -- on either the existing record or a new one,” the FCC said. Since the court and the FCC have already ruled on the matter, the D.C. Circuit should affirm the commission’s ruling to bring the proceeding to a close, the FCC said.

The FCC needs to ensure that the Downloadable Security Technical Advisory Committee “results in solutions that enable robust competition among retail and operator-leased navigation devices,” said a letter Monday to Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake and the FCC staff on the DSTAC from several committee members and non-member companies and groups, including Amazon, CCIA, Free Press, Google and Public Knowledge. That comes after a letter sent by multichannel video programming distributors in April, which opposed Public Knowledge and TiVo's efforts on the committee. “Limiting the DSTAC’s scope to downloadable security alone, without reference to the committee’s broader mandate of furthering the competitive availability of navigation devices, would result in a walled-garden approach” that doesn't promote ”vigorous competition and innovation,” the new letter said. It responded to MVPD complaints that PK and TiVo are trying to make the group's product resemble CableCARD. “Congress recognized that the FCC and the private sector need to enhance functionality like that provided by CableCARD,” Monday’s letter said. “The DSTAC’s final recommendation should avoid moving backward, by ensuring the ability of retail navigation devices to offer differentiated and innovative user interfaces, search functions, and recording and cloud functionality.” The FCC should “focus not on specific services or commercial arrangements, but on the features and choices available to consumers,” the letter said.

Another group opposed an FCC rulemaking that proposed to give cable operators nationwide effective competition deregulation (see 1505060051) unless local franchise authorities (LFAs) demonstrate otherwise, saying that would "unfairly burden" LFAs. The group, Consumer Action, cited cable rate increases that have outpaced inflation. It said the commission should at least "slow down and carefully consider how these rule changes could affect consumers." There's "no reason to rush through" the congressionally mandated proceeding to streamline the effective competition process for small cable operators, said the group in a filing posted Monday in docket 15-53. Agency and industry officials and the NPRM itself say the 2014 Satellite and Television Extension Localism Act Reauthorization Act requires the revamp of at least the small-operator effective competition rules by June 2 (see 1505070046).

Among the Comcast service enhancements revealed this week was a coming modem that allows 1 Gbps speeds for an "overwhelming majority of our customers," it said in a news release. The modem goes into production this year and will be available to subscribers in early 2016, said the cable operator. "Because it works with our Hybrid Fiber Coaxial network already in place, the Gigabit Home Gateway will be able to deliver gigabit speeds to virtually all Xfinity customers once the DOCSIS 3.1 networking standard is deployed nationally," said a post by Comcast Chief Technology Officer Tony Werner. "The Gigabit router is also fully backward compatible with the DOCSIS 3.0 networking standard that is in place today." Comcast CEO Brian Roberts used the INTX show that's wrapping up in Chicago to demo various enhancements. CableLabs, the cable industry's research and development arm that developed the DOCSIS 3.1 specification, has said products meeting that spec can deliver up to 10 Gbps on hybrid fiber-coax networks (see 1412160036).

Gigabit Pro will be available next month, offering more than 500,000 customers in Nashville a chance to have 2 Gbps broadband at home, said Comcast in a news release Wednesday. The service will be offered in the metropolitan area and surrounding middle-Tennessee communities, the company said. Comcast has announced Gigabit Pro rollouts in Atlanta, California, Chattanooga, Chicago and Florida, and plans to deliver the service to 18 million homes by the end of the year, it said. The service will be available to any home within close proximity to Comcast’s fiber network, it said.

Comcast will launch an Ultra HD set-top later this year as it brings its Xfinity in UHD catalog to the X1 platform, the company said in a Wednesday news release. The Xi4 will deliver UHD content “directly to the television, enabling X1 customers to enjoy unlimited virtual 4K linear channels by creating personalized playlists from the Xfinity in UHD library,” Comcast said. It will follow that next year with the launch of a high-dynamic-range Xi5 set-top, Comcast said. Comcast representatives didn’t comment whether the Xi5 set-top will support an open HDR standard such as that being espoused by the UHD Alliance or a proprietary standard such as Dolby Vision. The Xi5 high-dynamic-range set-top will provide “increased color, contrast and brightness,” Comcast said. The deployment of Xfinity in UHD for the X1 platform will mean “our customers can easily and seamlessly enjoy some of the best 4K programming available today as part of their subscription with no additional equipment or costs,” Comcast Cable General Manager-Video Service Matt Strauss said. Comcast said it also plans to add hundreds of additional films and shows to its Xfinity in UHD catalog, including IMAX films and content from Starz, SyFy and USA. At the INTX cable show in Chicago, the operator demo'd other enhancements as it's trying to improve customer service (see 1505060012).