The Apple TV 4K will support the Spectrum TV app starting later this year, Charter Communications blogged Monday. It said mobile Apple products already support its app, which allows live viewing of linear channels and of on-demand content.
Discovery is spending $2 billion for global PGA Tour rights across all platforms outside the U.S. starting in 2019 and running through 2030, it said Monday. It said its PGA Tour deal will include live linear rights and creation of a dedicated, PGA Tour-branded streaming service. The programmer said it will televise PGA Tour events on its various pay-TV and free-to-air channels, and on digital and short-form platforms. The company said it anticipates sublicensing the rights, plus advertising, affiliate and digital subscription revenue. The deal "really solidifies [Discovery] as a global content player," Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker wrote investors.
The cable industry is resisting having to keep its channel lineups in online public inspection files. NCTA and the American Cable Association are advocating against the requirement, which was backed by a variety of broadcast and local franchising authority interests (see 1805310060). In a docket 18-92 posting Thursday, NCTA said cable channel lineups are available in numerous ways, making a public files requirement "outdated, unnecessary and unduly burdensome." ACA said operators have incentives to disseminate channel information or risk the loss of potential or existing customers. Company websites, on-screen guides and paper guides are easier to access than the FCC online public inspection file database, said the filing posted Friday. The cable groups urged eliminating the requirement that a current listing of channel lineups be maintained at a system's local offices.
Nearly 40 percent of U.S. broadband households own a streaming media player, said a Thursday Parks Associates report. Amazon’s share of the category advanced 4 percent year on year in Q1 to 28 percent, nibbling away at Google’s share (14 percent) while Roku held steady at 37 percent. Apple’s share leveled at 15 percent, and TiVo’s held at 1 percent. Analyst Kristen Hanich attributed the devices’ popularity to contemporary and friendly user interfaces, wide app support and affordability, which makes them easier to replace than a TV. Consumers ranked Roku first in several categories of usability, while Apple led in gaming and ability to buy content. Amazon’s Fire TV moved up to second place in ease of setup and approached Apple in ease of finding and buying content to watch. More than half of U.S. broadband households own a smart TV, setting up a two-lane competition for streaming eyes, as usage of gaming consoles for video has waned, said Parks.
NAB and the Alliance for Community Media back eliminating a requirement that cable operators keep at their local offices a paper listing of the channel lineup, saying online access makes more sense. NATOA had argued the same (see 1805300092). In a docket 18-92 filing Thursday, NAB said only cable operators' online public files are easily accessible and required to be accurate, while their company websites aren't required to have channel lineups or that they be up to date. Also backing keeping lineups in online public files, ACM said there might be an economic disincentive to providing complete information about public, educational and government channels since they don't generate revenue for the MVPD, and "a reasonably recent history" of full channel lineups should be kept.
Comcast Xfinity customers can find local showtimes and order movie tickets on TV using their X1 voice remote via a partnership with Fandango, said the companies Wednesday. The deal began with Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, and more movies will be added during the year.
The Antitrust Division should prod the FCC to eliminate network nonduplication and syndicated rules and to clarify material degradation and buy-through rules apply only to must-carry stations, said the Center for Individual Freedom in a letter to DOJ Tuesday. CFIF said that would allow free-market governance of carriage terms of stations and likely cut pricing. It said there's no justification for regulating carriage conditions when a broadcaster elects retransmission consent. The FCC didn't comment. An NAB spokesman emailed that the agency "has conducted multiple reviews of retransmission consent and concluded there is no justification for government interference in a free market negotiation process" and "broadcasters and pay-TV providers have every incentive to reach successful retrans agreements [which is] why 99 percent of these deals are concluded successfully, with no drama and no disruption of service to viewers.” DOJ has a Thursday roundtable on anticompetitive regulations.
Requiring cable operators to keep a current listing of channels available on their systems at their local offices is unnecessary, since people are unlikely to go to the office for such material when it's more convenient online, NATOA said in an FCC docket 18-92 posting Wednesday. It said retaining "a reasonable history" of that lineup in online public files would serve customers wanting that information and give the FCC and local franchising authorities means to verify compliance with franchise agreements and customer service standards.
Comcast/Fox likely has an easier route to antitrust approval than Disney/Fox, New Street Research said in a note to investors Tuesday. The analysts said both potential deals raise horizontal issues because Comcast and Disney have programming assets, but the Disney deal is potentially riskier due to the theatrical release market. They said there could be a Clayton Act problem with the Murdoch family having control of Fox's broadcast assets while also significant interest in or even a board seat on an entity that controls ABC. That Disney isn't an ISP or MVPD makes Disney/Fox less a vertical issue, but DOJ generally doesn't challenge vertical deals anyway, and Comcast/Fox likely doesn't raise big vertical red flags since Comcast doesn't have a national footprint, wrote the analysts. Neither deal seemingly will require FCC approval, they said, noting Disney/Fox could face smoother sailing politically due to Trump administration antipathy to Comcast/NBCUniversal. New Street said a DOJ loss in its bid to block AT&T's buy of Time Warner helps both Disney and Comcast, but Comcast especially since DOJ will be particularly timid about opposing similar vertical deals, while a Justice win would hurt Comcast more because the agency might see it as a judicial mandate to bring more such suits. Others see Comcast/Fox having a likely easier time getting government approval (see 1805240034).
The U.S. District Court in San Diego doesn't have subject matter jurisdiction to handle Charter Communications' first amended complaint against a California municipality since that complaint fails to establish complete diversity, the city of El Centro said in motion to dismiss (in Pacer) Thursday. The docket 18-cv-00679-AJB-PCL filing also said even if the court finds it has jurisdiction, it should abstain from exercising it in this case and let Charter challenge the citations in state court. Charter didn't comment Friday. It and El Centro are suing each other over a blackout of Northwest Broadcasting stations on Charter's lineup, and seeking dismissal of each other's complaints (see 1805240006).