Black households are particularly heavy users of subscription VOD and free streaming services, Horowitz Research said Tuesday. It said 80% of Black Americans report using free over-the-top services in the past month, compared with 69% of consumers overall. It said 76% of Black consumers report subscribing to at least one SVOD, up from 68% in 2022. It said 67% of consumers overall report having at least one SVOD subscription. Horowitz said offering content representing the array of Black experiences and communities can help keep that audience engaged.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel's letter to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, saying classifying streaming services or virtual MVPDs (vMVPDs) as MVPDs is outside the FCC’s jurisdiction (see 2303310061) “overlooks the forest for the trees,” said Free State Foundation Senior Fellow Andrew Long in a blog post Monday. Long said Rosenworcel’s conclusion that the agency doesn’t have authority over streaming was correct but ignored that more competition from streaming services means the agency should roll back regulations on industries it does oversee. “Given the vast array of competitive options available to consumers, regulations premised upon that technical distinction have outlived whatever utility they once may have had and should be eliminated,” wrote Long. The “goal of the Commission in 2023 should be to identify opportunities to eliminate outdated rules that apply to traditional MVPDs, not extend them to the new entrants,” he said.

Online video distributors don’t fit the statutory definition of an MVPD, and it would require changes to the Communications Act and copyright policies to change that, said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in a letter posted Friday replying to Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa. Grassley wrote Rosenworcel in February, amplifying calls from broadcasters for the FCC to refresh the record on a 2014 proceeding on classifying streaming services as virtual MVPDs (see 2301260057). As subscribers increasingly move from regular MVPDs to streaming, broadcaster retransmission consent revenue is falling, and under the current system streaming services such as Hulu negotiate compensation for programming with networks rather than individual broadcasters, said Grassley. In the 2014 proceeding, “the record revealed significant concerns with the agency asserting jurisdiction over MVPDs,” Rosenworcel responded. The FCC “lacks the power to change these unambiguous provisions on its own but can do so if Congress changes the underlying law,” she said. If the FCC proceeded anyway, it’s not clear if the U.S. Copyright Office would allow the current statutory programming license used by current MVPDs to apply to virtual MVPDs, she said. The license allows MVPDs to negotiate for broadcast programming without having to negotiate with every entity that holds rights to each program. Without the license, “those distributors would be obligated to black out programming for which they are not able to negotiate copyright licenses, she said. The FCC is monitoring the matter of networks negotiating streaming contracts for broadcasters and the FCC Media Bureau “is carefully reviewing the record as it assesses appropriate next steps,” the letter said. “In light of the decades-old legal framework governing these matters, please know I would be happy to work with you to update underlying law to better reflect the current marketplace,” Rosenworcel said.

Citing a weakening overall economy, a sluggish advertising market and higher than previously forecast losses in its direct-to-consumer segment, S&P said Thursday it's lowering its Paramount Global rating on senior unsecured debt from BBB to BBB-. Paramount Global didn't comment.

Eighty-seven percent of U.S. internet households subscribe to at least one of the 354 independent over-the-top services, Parks Assocates said Tuesday. At the same time, 44% of households watch some form of pay TV, showing ongoing support for live/linear and ad-supported content, it said.

Newsmax's blackout on DirecTV is ending, with the two striking a multiyear distribution deal, the cable news network said Wednesday. Terms weren't disclosed. Newsmax's going dark on DirecTV in January got considerable criticism from House GOP members, and the FCC received dozens of public complaints in the days after, claiming viewpoint censorship (see 2303100007). “Newsmax recognizes and appreciates that DIRECTV clearly supports diverse voices, including conservative ones,” Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy said in a statement. Echoed DirecTV CEO Bill Morrow, "This resolution with Newsmax, resolving an all-too-common carriage dispute, underscores our dedication to delivering a wide array of programming and perspectives to all our customers."

Cable and direct broadcast satellite operators would have to prominently specify the “all-in” price for video service in their promo material and on bills, under a draft NPRM circulated by FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel's office, the agency said Wednesday. The agency didn't make the item publicly available but said it proposes that the line item in bills and the figure in promo materials include retransmission consent, regional sports programming and other content fees. The agency said the aim is "to eliminate the misleading practice of describing these video programming costs as a tax, fee, or surcharge." "No one likes surprises on their bill, especially families on tight budgets,” Rosenworcel said. “We’re working to make it so the advertised price for a service is the price you pay when your bill arrives and isn’t littered with anything that resembles junk fees."

Media rights revenue for the top 15 sports leagues will likely grow from $43.8 billion this year to $67 billion by 2028, Rethink Technology Research said Tuesday. It said growth won't be uniform, with MLB growing the slowest, with a compound annual growth rate of about 2% over the next five years, while the NBA is expected to enjoy a CAGR of 26.3%, reaching $13.5 billion in 2028, it said. Heated competition between legacy pay-TV systems and streaming new entrants is driving the growth, it said. Inevitably, sports leagues will take their content direct to the consumer exclusively via proprietary streaming platforms, it said.

Streaming service spending on content, after two years of double-digit growth, is likely to flatten this year, MoffettNathanson Robert Fishman wrote investors Tuesday. He said as companies shift the focus away from subscriber growth and toward profitability, industry content spending will likely stay relatively flat or even start declining. Wall Street increasingly is questioning "whether streaming is a good business" and companies "are no longer willing to spend whatever it takes, in part because attitudes and strategies have shifted and rationalized, but also because their balance sheets no longer have what it takes," it said.

The recent unsolicited offer to sell Showtime "wasn't that interesting to us," Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish said Wednesday in a Morgan Stanley investor conference. "Our internal plan is far more value creating" for earnings and synergies, he said. He said there's "huge opportunity" to gain market share in streaming, especially given this year's consolidation of Paramount+ and Showtime. "The NFL clearly works on streaming," he said. "We like sports." Paramount Global spending on content has gone up considerably the past two years, but it will peak in 2023, he said.