Univision Communications is pushing back against the FCC proposal to put in place Section 111 of the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act Reauthorization Act of 2014, saying the idea that cable systems will be assumed to be facing effective competition could mean "significant harm to Hispanic consumers." In a filing posted Monday in docket 15-53, the Hispanic-centric media company said it met with FCC top staff to discuss proposed Section 111 implementation, which would make cable companies exempt from rate regulation unless a local franchising authority challenged their status as facing effective competition. The idea is opposed by many broadcasters (see 1505150035). In its comments, Univision said its viewers "were especially vulnerable to being forced to pay more to get an additional tier if [multichannel video programming distributors] had the latitude of taking this vital programming out of the basic tier package. The result would be increased cable rates across the country for Hispanic households."

Adoption of the FCC proposal to make presence of cable effective competition a rebuttable presumption would reduce the costs incurred by the commission in addressing effective competition petitions and cable carrier costs in filing them, said the American Cable Association in a meeting with an aide to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn Thursday. “The benefits that would flow to consumers from the adoption of the Commission's proposal outweigh the hypothetical harms" suggested by opponents of the proposal, ACA said in docket 15-53. “Adoption of the Commission's proposal will enhance competition by leveling the regulatory playing field between cable operators and their less regulated competitors.”

Broadband Internet issues -- not cable -- will be the focus of federal regulators reviewing the proposed Charter Communications buy of Bright House Networks and Time Warner Cable, said former FCC Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth and Public Knowledge President Gene Kimmelman on the latest segment of C-SPAN's The Communicators. "It's going to get very serious review," Kimmelman said. "What happens to my cable bill? What happens to my broadband prices? Do I get better speeds? Will the Netflix, the Amazon [streaming video] products ... be more available or will this combined entity try to cut off my options? That'll be the big [regulatory] question. The cable company has an incentive to favor its own product." Furchtgott-Roth said much of the FCC and Justice Department analyses likely will involve local individual markets. "These are geographically distinct companies," Furchtgott-Roth said. "I'm not convinced they have greater market power collectively than they do individually. At least initially from the outside, it's very difficult to see that there will be substantial antitrust problems." The episode was to have been televised Saturday on C-SPAN and is scheduled for 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday on C-SPAN-2.

Under a compromise replacement for the soon-to-expire HD carriage exemption supported by the American Cable Association and NAB, systems that become ineligible for the exemption after Dec.12, 2016, “would be expected [to] come into compliance promptly,” the associations said in a supplementary clarification filing posted Thursday in docket 98-120. The extension is currently set to expire June 12, and the compromise would replace it with a blanket exemption for small cable systems that don't offer HD programming that would take effect June 13. Cable systems using the extension June 12 that don't qualify June 13 must be in compliance by Dec. 12, 2016, the clarification said. The FCC is seen as likely to adopt the ACA/NAB compromise (see 1505190057).

Mediacom subscribers will continue to be able to watch Viacom's BET, CMT and MTV because they renewed their comprehensive carriage agreement, they said in a news release Wednesday. Along with Viacom’s cable networks and its network/VOD hybrid EPIX, the multiyear deal opens the door to Mediacom customers having more access to Viacom content on mobile devices outside the home, said Mediacom Vice President-Legal and Public Affairs Tom Larsen in an interview.

Comcast Ventures sees its Zenefits investment as a foot into a potentially $30 billion human resources services industry, principal Callum King wrote in a company blog post. Zenefits earlier this month said it raised $500 million in a Series C round of funding, with the money to be used for such needs as rolling out new products. King said the Comcast/NBCUniversal venture capital fund was one of the investors, putting the money in because of Zenefits' growth -- growing to more than 10,000 customers and close to 1,000 employees in its roughly two-year history -- as well as because of the potential market size and its business model. "Zenefits provides quality HR software for free and makes money by acting as their customer’s insurance broker," King wrote. "As the company continues to expand its product portfolio, they will become even more valuable for customers." Since its 1999 start as Comcast Interactive Capital, Comcast Ventures has invested in more than 100 companies, including Broadbus Technologies, CTI Towers, Intellon and TiVo.

The FCC Media Bureau granted TiVo’s request for a temporary waiver of the agency’s home networking digital interface requirement for cable operators that use the company’s set-top boxes, said an order in Friday's Daily Digest on docket 97-80. The waiver expires June 1, 2017, and though Verizon and NCTA had asked for the waiver to be industrywide, it applies only to companies using TiVo boxes, the order said. TiVo had argued that its set-tops already meet the intent of the home networking requirement by allowing consumers to send video content throughout their homes.

Comcast will roll out its new residential multigigabit broadband service to customers throughout the cable ISP's service areas in Colorado, Minnesota, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Washington state starting this summer, the company said in multiple news releases Thursday (see here, here, here, here and here). Gigabit Pro is a symmetrical, 2 Gbps service that will be delivered via fiber-to-the-home, said the operator.

NCTA backs FCC efforts to repurpose USF low-income money to promote broadband adoption by low-income consumers, the association said executives told Office of Strategic Planning Chief Jonathan Chambers and Wireline Bureau officials. Potential barriers are an "overly burdensome" eligible telecom carrier designation process "that could preclude broadband providers from participating in a Lifeline universal service program for broadband," said NCTA in a Wednesday filing in docket 12-23. It said cable operator programs for low-cost broadband to low-income consumers include: Bright House Networks, Cox Communications, Eagle Communications, Mediacom and Suddenlink's Connect2Compete; Comcast's Internet Essentials; and Midcontinent’s Broadband Lifeline Assistance program. Commissioners may vote on a Lifeline reform NPRM at their June 18 meeting (see 1505010051).

Competitive alternatives to cable are “ubiquitous,” said NCTA in a meeting Tuesday with an aide to FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, according to an ex parte filing posted Wednesday in docket 15-53. The FCC needs to update its effective competition rules “to reflect these marketplace realities,” NCTA said. Opponents of making effective competition a rebuttable presumption haven't demonstrated consumer harm, NCTA said. Even if effective competition rules change, the availability of must-carry broadcast stations still would be governed by the 1992 Cable Act, NCTA said.