EAS participants should be given 30-days notice of upcoming live code emergency alert system tests “to allow for planning and coordination,” the American Cable Association said in meetings with aides to Chairman Ajit Pai, Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Brendan Carr, plus Public Safety Bureau staff, an ex parte filing in docket 15-91 posted Friday said. “We agree that this modest step would encourage wider participation in live code tests and help minimize disruptive side effects,” ACA said. Authorities should obtain contact information from EAS test participants that may have limited visibility within State Emergency Communications Committees (SECCs) or other planning bodies,” ACA said. The FCC “should work with State and local authorities as appropriate to help these authorities identify and acquire contact information for such participants.”
Under the HDR10+ licensing program (see 1806200047), the Fox-Panasonic-Samsung consortium running the program had a strong rationale for requiring TV makers to submit their sets to third-party certification, while Blu-ray player and over-the-top set-top manufacturers self-certify, Bill Mandel, Samsung Research America vice president-industry relations, told us at last week’s Advanced Display Summit in West Hollywood, California (see 1806280006). The Blu-ray Disc Association “is just a gigantic organization that’s been around forever and they’re making really commodity products,” said Mandel, Samsung’s HDR10+ project manager. For a “source device” like a Blu-ray player or OTT box to be capable of HDR10+, “it needs to be able to generate that VSIF data,” said Mandel of vendor-specific information field protocol. “That would have to be programmed into the firmware.” For a TV, “it needs to understand that that VSIF is coming,” he said. Products lacking that protocol will need to get a firmware update to enable them to render HDR10+, said Mandel. “We’re already running the Amazon protocol” to enable the sets to render the display of Amazon Prime content in HDR10+, he said. Samsung’s 2018 TVs are “already compatible with Amazon,” he said.
The blackout of Univision content on Dish Network and its Sling over-the-top product continued (see 1807020030) Tuesday, both sides confirmed. And access by the MVPD’s subscribers to the broadcaster’s programming over the air became another point of contention. Dish is continuing to give some subscribers free antennas so they can watch the broadcasts terrestrially, a spokeswoman told us. Qualifying for one “depends on where a customer is located and the signal strength available in that” market, she emailed. “The ball remains in Univision’s court. Univision walked away from the negotiation table June 29 and has not countered DISH’s latest proposal.” The broadcaster’s Galavision and Univision Deportes Network are only on pay TV, noted a Univision spokesman. “Plus, getting TV over the air simply isn’t an ideal option for a significant number of Americans,” he emailed. “DISH’s attempts to devalue Univision by pointing to over the air option as an across-the-board solution is either uninformed or disingenuous. DISH customers who value Univision’s programming have already subscribed to their bundled service and expect it.”
Advanced communication service accessibility in videogames “still presents substantial technical challenges,” the Entertainment Software Association reported to the FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, released Monday. The industry has created an updated accessibility plug-in for a widely used videogame engine; an alternative input device for those with limited mobility; and is implementing real-time speech-to-text translation and text-to-speech audio game chat, ESA said.
Nexstar’s retransmission blackout of Horry Telephone Cooperative (HTC) in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, is “disgraceful,” said American Cable Association President Matt Polka Monday. “All cable subscribers shoulder the cost of broadcasters' greedy retransmission consent demands because TV station owners insist that all subscribers take the package that includes local stations.” Nexstar pulled two stations from HTC after the MVPD declined a 163 percent rate hike, Polka said. Congress and the FCC should reform retrans, Polka said. Nexstar didn’t comment. Dish Network and Univision also are in a blackout (see 1807020030).
Fox shareholders are to vote July 27 on whether to accept Disney's raised bid for Fox's nonbroadcast assets (see 1806200015), Fox said Thursday. The Fox board is urging acceptance of the bid, which DOJ would allow with a divestiture (see 1806270032). Comcast, which has been in a bidding war with Disney, didn't comment Friday.
Dish Network's Sling TV added la carte channels and services, it said Thursday. It said it's hiking the price of its Orange programming package to $25 a month, up $5. It said that reflects an increased number of channels in the Orange package. Dish said the revised Sling service -- which now also allows buying pay-per-view events and movies without a base subscription -- is available starting on Roku devices and will be available on other Sling-supported devices soon.
South Carolina cable ISP HTC is warning of carriage negotiation problems with Nexstar. It said Tuesday it's in talks for carriage rights for Nexstar signals -- including CBS affiliate WBTW Florence, South Carolina -- that expire June 30, but Nexstar seeks retransmission fees double what HTC currently pays "without justification." Wednesday, the broadcaster didn't comment.
Comcast's bid for Fox's nonbroadcast assets faces dicier odds for regulatory OK than Disney's, said Fox's board. In an SEC filing Monday, Fox said its board opted last week to accept the Disney revised offer (see 1806200015) partly because it's higher than the Comcast bid and Comcast/Fox "would be subject to a greater degree of regulatory uncertainty, including the possibility of an outright prohibition and a higher risk of divestitures and delay to closing, as compared to a strategic transaction with Disney." It said Comcast "did not sufficiently limit that regulatory uncertainty" because its June 12 offer -- while better than its late-2017 proposal -- didn't address regulatory risks despite a Comcast transaction raising "a significantly more difficult set of regulatory issues." Fox said its board discussions on a Comcast bid involved DOJ's "apparent sensitivity to the potential anticompetitive effects of vertical integration and rejection of behavioral remedies before and after the litigation with respect to the AT&T/Time Warner transaction," Comcast's market share, its NBCUniversal acquisition, Fox's past regulatory submissions on Comcast's proposed buy of Time Warner Cable and AT&T/TW, expiration of the Comcast/NBCU consent decree, and FCC net neutrality deregulation. The programmer said it considered the prospect of Comcast having controlling interest of Hulu, which competes with Comcast's core business and Comcast's regional sports network ownership. Fox said it and Disney filed Hart-Scott-Rodino report forms Feb. 1, and received a second request March 5. It said based on talks with U.S. and international regulators, the deal should be complete by June 2019. Comcast didn't comment Tuesday.
Univision is warning its viewers on Dish Network of a possible forthcoming blackout. In a statement Friday, it said Dish has "dismissed multiple good-faith carriage offers," including one that would extend the current agreement temporarily to avoid a blackout. Dish "still seems intent on entering what would be their 68th broadcast blackout since 2010," it said. Univision said it's notifying viewers through social media, its radio stations in applicable markets and its apps. Dish said Univision is asking for a rate increase of 75 percent for channels that have had ratings declines of close to 33 percent over the past five years, and Univision lost rights to the World Cup for 2018, 2022 and 2026. The MVPD said it's "unsure why Univision decided to involve customers in the contract negotiation process" since there's still time to reach a deal. Neither company said when the current carriage deal expires.