The FCC docket for the Comcast/Time Warner Cable transaction is closed, said the chiefs of the International, Media, Wireless and Wireline bureaus in an order Wednesday. Comcast, TWC, Charter Communications and the spinoff that the deal would have created withdrew their applications Friday (see 1504270038), the order said. The docket’s termination means all parties that filed for access to confidential information have two weeks to “destroy or return to the Submitting Party all Stamped Confidential Documents and Stamped Highly Confidential Documents,” the order said.

A three-year extension of an exemption for small cable systems from requirements to carry HD broadcast signals would protect those cable systems and consumers, said the American Cable Association, NCTA, WTA and small cable operator TDS in reply comments posted online in docket 98-120 Tuesday. The extension would “ensure that small systems utilizing the exemption today are able to time their investments in the transition of their systems to carry digital signals on a schedule that makes economic sense,” ACA said. If the exemption is not extended from its current end date this year -- June 12 -- until “at least June 2018,” consumers could experience “service disruptions and discontinuations resulting in reduced competition,” WTA said. NAB disagrees, and argued in its own reply comments that extending the exemption is not consistent with the goal of transitioning consumers to digital. The FCC doesn’t have the authority to extend the exemption, NAB said. “Notwithstanding NAB’s objections, the fact that this authority is broad and flexible enough to encompass the Commission’s adoption, and extension, of the HD Carriage Exemption is not open to serious debate,” TDS said. If the extension is granted, the FCC should limit the systems eligible to benefit from it, NAB said. “Under no circumstances” should it be granted to cable systems affiliated with larger companies, NAB said. Though 2,000- or 2,500-subscriber cable systems “might be larger than the ‘average’ small system, such systems still lack the economies of scale and subscriber base necessary to reasonably support the additional investment that would be required to comply absent the exemption,” WTA said.

The owner of the Weather Channel formed a multi-technology division, as that and other independent programmers are said to be facing a tougher time getting pay-TV carriage (see 1504090051). The new Weather Channel Television Group includes programming, distribution, broadcast operations, video technology, and addressable TV advertising platforms, said The Weather Co. in a Tuesday news release. It said the Weather Channel is expanding into "new forms of citizen news gathering such as Periscope and Burst" and using new distribution services including Dish Network's Sling TV and a la carte services. The new division will be led by Dish veteran Dave Shull (see 1504280026).

Cablevision and Hulu signed an agreement to offer Hulu’s subscription streaming service to Cablevision’s Optimum customers, they said in a news release. “Cablevision is the first cable or satellite provider to agree to distribute Hulu’s comprehensive catalog of on-demand content,” it said. “There is a new generation of consumers who access video through the Internet, and whatever their preference, Cablevision will facilitate a great content experience,” said Cablevision Chief Operating Officer Kristin Dolan.

Spectrum sharing is critical to Wi-Fi, NCTA said Monday in a post on its blog. “By increasing the amount of spectrum that Wi-Fi can share, our spectrum supply can keep pace with the tremendous growth in Wi-Fi usage and jump-start a new generation of Wi-Fi that can reach speeds of up to a gigabit per second.” The group sees special promise in sharing the 5.9 GHz band with automakers who plan to use the spectrum for crash avoidance systems (see 1402040029). The spectrum was allocated more than 15 years ago for that use, NCTA said. It said that auto manufacturers haven't developed "a commercial product despite millions in government subsidies, which means that today, while there are neither auto nor Wi-Fi technologies in the band, is the perfect moment to rethink how these frequencies can be best utilized and shared and to develop a true win-win solution.”

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts spoke with FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler last week before the company backed out of the deal to buy Time Warner Cable Friday in the face of regulator opposition, according to an ex parte filing in docket 14-57. April 20, Roberts “emphasized that Comcast, as it has in proven in prior transactions, will live up to the commitments it made in the docket,” the filing said. Industry officials familiar with the proceedings told us that concern about Comcast’s record on prior transaction conditions was one of the factors in FCC opposition to the deal (see 1504230060). Charter Communications, Comcast and TWC formally withdrew their applications for the Comcast/TWC Friday, in an ex parte letter filed in docket 14-57. The Comcast and Charter spinoff that was to be created out of Comcast/TWC, also withdrew its application, the filing said.

Beyond the existing video-centric set-top box software, members of the reference design kit community are working on RDK software for broadband devices, said a news release from RDK. Broadband devices, similar to set-tops, can benefit from a software baseline of commonality and standardization that could be enhanced by an RDK-like structure, RDK said. RDK-B is being developed by key operators, system-on-a-chip companies and original equipment manufacturer companies, it said. RDK Management is making the product available as soon as the software and minimal support aspects are ready for the community, and is targeting the second half of 2015, said its release. It confirmed that the joint venture among Comcast, Liberty Global and Time Warner Cable has more than 5 million RDKs running (see 1504070044).

Charter Communications supports an FCC proposal to make it a rebuttable presumption that cable companies face effective competition throughout the U.S., Charter Senior Vice President-Government Affairs Alex Hoehn-Saric said in a meeting Tuesday with Maria Kirby, aide to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, according to an ex parte filing Thursday. The proposed rule change reflects the state of competition that exists today and satisfies the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act Reauthorization, Charter said.

Cablevision is targeting cord cutters with new Internet-focused Optimum products that let consumers have more choices, the company said Thursday. The cord cutter package provides access to high-speed broadband that facilitates a high-quality over-the-top video experience, a digital antenna and the option to add new digital streaming service HBO Now, Cablevision said. There's also an Optimum Everyday Low Price package, which is designed for highly price-sensitive consumers, it said. That package includes Internet Basics 5 Mbps service, Freewheel phone and a digital antenna, Cablevision said.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit ruled against former wrestler Steve “Wild Thing” Ray's appeal of his lawsuit against ESPN, saying U.S. District Court Judge Scott Wright was correct in dismissing the lawsuit because the Copyright Act “preempts Ray's claims” that ESPN misappropriated his name, invaded his privacy and interfered with his prospective economic advantage by re-telecasting his Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) performances. Ray claimed that ESPN re-telecast his wrestling performances without his consent, saying the matches had been “filmed for future use to generate revenue.” Wright ruled in 2014 that the Copyright Act pre-empted Ray's claims because his performances were part of copyrighted material “and his likenesses couldn't be detached from the copyrighted performances that were contained in the films.” ESPN and Ray didn't comment. The appeals court is based in St. Louis.