Regional sports networks (RSNs) are the most-essential nonbroadcast channels for sports fan viewers, Fox Sports said in a news release Wednesday as it pointed to the results of a Nielsen Media Analytics Primary Research study on RSNs. Fox Sports said that according to the study it commissioned, looking at more than 1,500 pay-TV subscribers nationwide who described themselves as sports fans, those surveyed named RSNs as their fifth most-important channels behind the big four broadcasters. The unit of 21st Century Fox said that in St. Louis, the local RSN -- Fox Sports Midwest -- was named more essential than any other channel, while in Detroit, Fox Sports Detroit was ranked the second most-essential network.
Liberty Media is selling $1.55 billion worth of newly issued common stock at $25 a share to raise money toward its acquisition of motor sport federation Formula One (see 1609080031), the company said in a news release Wednesday. The buyers are Coatue Management, D.E. Shaw group, Jana Partners, Ruane Cunniff, Soroban Capital Partners, SPO Advisory and Viking Global Investors, it said. The shares will be issued with the completion of the Formula One takeover, it said, adding that the additional cash will reduce the number of Liberty Media shares to be paid to Formula One shareholders from 138 million to 7 million. It said the total number of shares to be issued by Liberty Media in connection with the Formula One deal will remain at about 138 million.
Dec. 27, the first business day after the Christmas holiday weekend, is a bad day to be the deadline for comments in the diverse and independent programming NPRM, Covington & Burling said on behalf of that law firm and some clients it didn't identify in a motion Tuesday in FCC docket 16-41 asking for a 30-day extension to Jan. 26. It asked for the replies deadline to be moved 30 days, from Jan. 23 to Feb. 22, because of the New Year's and Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekends that come shortly thereafter and the need for time to prep submissions and respond to comments. The firm said the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council backs the request.
A U.S. District judge has rejected Charter Communications' motion for reconsideration in a lawsuit alleging racial bias in the company's programing decisions but granted its motions for a stay and for certification. In an order (in Pacer) filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, Judge George Wu said the reconsideration motion asking for clarification of the record pending an appeal of an October ruling against Charter (see 1611140044) wasn't proper since the operator is trying to "shoehorn an overlooked argument in through the 'material facts' door" and was pointless given that however the court characterized Charter's arguments doesn't alter what the record reflects. "Any record on appeal will speak for itself," he said. On the Charter motion for certifying for appeal that October court order denying that company's motion to have the Entertainment Studios Networks/National Association of African American Owned Media suit tossed out (see 1610260069), Wu said Charter's First Amendment defense "is a novel (and important) one" and meets requirements for certification. While granting an interim appeal doesn't automatically stay litigation, Wu said, it wouldn't make sense to deny a motion for one pending an appeal since he just certified for interim appeal the October order.
Comcast says it is investigating employee actions during an Indiana outage that were the subject of a video that went viral this week. The video appears to show numerous vehicles sliding off an icy road trying to avoid a Comcast truck parked doing repairs and field techs being dismissive of the videographer's request for more traffic cones to be put on the road. In a statement, Comcast Cable Senior Vice President-Technical Operations Ed Marchetti said the company "will reach out to those who were impacted by this incident." He "was very concerned by what I saw," he said. "Our employees should always protect people and treat them with respect no matter what the situation. Safety matters most -- especially in dangerous weather conditions like this. Within the next 24-48 hours, my team leaders will meet with our technicians across our company to use this as an example of how important it is to make everyone’s safety a priority in everything we do. And just as important, there’s no place for disrespect."
Over-the-top network Haystack TV will carry Gray Television's local news content, Gray said in a news release Tuesday. Gray said the OTT deal is a way of reaching millennial viewers, and follows it making its CBS affiliates' content available via the CBS All Access platform (see 1504090026). “Upon accessing Haystack TV, local users will see a mix of the top news stories and other content tuned to their specific interests based on their viewing habits, preferred publishers and favorite topics,” said the broadcaster about the service focusing on millennials. Haystack “features content from traditional news broadcasters, as well as from newer niche publishers,” it said.
The National Advertising Division says Charter Communications agrees with it that some broadcast ads targeting AT&T-owned DirecTV's offerings and pricing should be pulled as unsubstantiated, NAD said. In a news release Monday, the investigative unit of the ad industry’s self-regulation system said Charter could support claims in the series of commercials challenged by DirecTV that referred to the satellite company's promotional pricing. The ads featured comic actor Kevin Nealon as captain of a "'Satellite TV Headquarters' space station." Charter didn't comment.
More Turner brands and live coverage of its premium sports events will be featured on Snapchat's Discover platform, and Snap will work with other Turner brands to develop Snapchat shows, Time Warner said in a news release announcing a Turner/Snap partnership. TW said the deal covers content, distribution and advertising for Turner's portfolio. It said Turner will work with Snapchat parent Snap to develop new shows, and Turner's Bleacher Report will start a Discover sports channel. The companies will work jointly on advertising sales, TW said.
NATOA is taking to the FCC Media Bureau its concerns about a cable industry petition seeking approval for emailing customers certain information. In an ex parte filing in docket 16-126 Friday, the group recapped a meeting between Executive Director Stephen Traylor and bureau staffers at which he discussed its concerns about electronic notifications that would require a subscriber's confirmed email address and worries about subscribers' ability to opt-out of electronic notifications and receive hard copies of required notices (see 1606130028).
The Game Show Network is asking the FCC to order Cablevision to immediately comply with last month's administrative law judge advisory ruling saying the network should be moved back from a premium tier to the multichannel video programming distributor's expanded basic tier (see 1611230046 and 1612080038). "Cablevision has made clear that it will not comply with the ALJ’s Order in a timely manner unless ordered to do so," GSN said in its petition Thursday in docket 12-122. Cablevision parent Altice USA didn't comment Friday. GSN said Section 76.10 of the rules is clear that ALJ decisions in carriage disputes are effective on release and stay in effect pending appeal, unlike ALJ decisions in other contexts, where they are subject to automatic stays on appeal. GSN said it continues to suffer harm being on the far-less-watched specialty tier and that "swift enforcement is ... appropriate" because under Section 616 of the Communications Act it can't get monetary damages for the past discrimination.