Game Show Network adopted the same arguments in its program carriage case against Cablevision as those put forth by Tennis Channel (CD March 12 p24) in its bid to have the FCC reopen its carriage case against Comcast, said a status report filed in GSN’s commission case Thursday (http://bit.ly/1kekhwh). GSN and Tennis Channel are represented by Covington Burling cable attorney Stephen Weiswasser. GSN v. Cablevision had been put on hold to wait for the end of the Tennis Channel case. In both cases, Weiswasser has argued that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit decision against Tennis Channel in Comcast established a new standard of evidence for showing that a company had discriminated against another in program carriage. Though the D.C. Circuit decision never explicitly described a new test for evidence, the court decided against Tennis Channel because it never showed that Comcast didn’t have “a legitimate business purpose to treat unaffiliated program services differently from affiliated services,” said Weiswasser in the status report. That test “had never previously been articulated or applied by the Commission or the Presiding Judge,” said Weiswasser. Cablevision disagreed. The D.C. Circuit didn’t create new tests, but “merely assessed the well-developed trial record before it under the existing Commission standards,” said Cablevision’s status report. “No additional discovery is required and the case is trial ready, as it has been since June 25, 2013 when the matter was stayed to permit the appellate process in Comcast Cable to run its course.” GSN should be allowed to gather only information that updates the existing record to account for the time that has passed, Cablevision said. “GSN now seeks discovery on subjects that the parties have already thoroughly exhausted in document production and depositions.” Both parties have requested a Nov. 12 hearing.

Companies and public interest groups have begun filing Acknowledgments of Confidentiality in the FCC docket assigned to Comcast’s proposed buy of Time Warner Cable (http://bit.ly/1eebqdG). The American Cable Association, Netflix, Public Knowledge, Dish Network and Broadview Networks entered filings asking to be allowed to access confidential and highly confidential documents related to the proceeding.

Game Show Network said it and Cablevision have “significantly different views” on the impact of the program carriage court ruling in Comcast v. FCC on their own carriage dispute. The channel seeks a later deadline to file a status report to the administrative law judge overseeing the channel’s FCC case against the operator. Comcast concerned a dispute between Tennis Channel and Comcast over which tier the channel was offered on, and the GSN v. Cablevision FCC case involves a similar issue. GSN v. Cablevision was put on hold to allow the Comcast matter to resolve to let the two sides adjust their arguments and evidence based on the decision. “There remain issues on which the parties would benefit from limited additional time for further consideration and discussion,” said GSN’s filing posted Tuesday in docket 12-122 (http://bit.ly/1kLLIM7). “These discussions will permit the parties to streamline the universe of issues presented to the Presiding Judge for resolution.” The litigants asked for an extension to Thursday to file status reports. Neither Cablevision nor the FCC Enforcement Bureau object, said GSN.

Charter Communications’ app enabling subscribers to watch more than 130 live channels on mobile devices inside their households is now available for free at major app stores, said the cable operator in a news release Tuesday (http://bit.ly/R1h6h6). “Customers can even use their device as a remote to change channels on their TV."

The procedures adopted in the FCC joint protective order in the proposed Comcast/Time Warner Cable merger docket give appropriate access to the public while protecting competitively sensitive information from improper disclosure, and the procedures thereby serve the public interest, the FCC Media Bureau said Friday. By designating documents and information as confidential or highly confidential under the order, a submitting party will be deemed to have submitted a request that the material “not be made routinely available for public inspection under the commission’s rules,” the FCC said in a joint protective order (http://bit.ly/1ea0xtI). Any person wishing to challenge the designation of a document as confidential or highly confidential must file such a challenge at the commission and serve it on the submitting party, it said. Persons obtaining access to confidential and highly confidential information under the protective order shall use the information solely for the preparation and conduct of this proceeding before the FCC “and any subsequent judicial proceeding arising directly from this proceeding ... shall not use such documents or information for any other purpose,” it said.

Sony plans a major May 1 announcement in San Francisco on a “nationwide approach to how we're going to educate consumers” on 4K and “really put this in a demonstration anywhere across America where they may live,” Sony Electronics President Mike Fasulo told reporters in a briefing Sunday here in Las Vegas at the NAB Show. Sports “is probably the most complex live production that you can do, so it’s probably going to be a couple of years before you see major sporting events done live in 4K,” said Alec Shapiro, president of Sony Professional Solutions of America. “The interest is certainly there.” At a Sports Video Group conference this past weekend, “where a lot of the sports production experts get together, this was the topic of their conversation,” Shapiro said. “They're all looking at how they do it. So I think they're all interested.” NBC with Comcast tested a live 4K transmission from the Sochi Olympics through a center in Philadelphia, “so it’s certainly top of mind,” Shapiro said. But in predicting how long it takes to get there, “there’s a lot of components to the production chain,” he said. “It’s not just the cameras. It’s switchers, it’s infrastructure, graphics. Everything you see today in 2K, you have to have in 4K.” The good news is that all the new production trucks are being built with 4K “capabilities, so we're getting there,” Shapiro said. Moreover, FIFA plans to shoot 4K footage of this summer’s World Cup quarterfinals, semifinals and final, Shapiro said. Though it’s doubtful any country televising World Cup to fans back home will do so in live 4K, FIFA plans to assemble a highlight video for distribution after World Cup for demonstration purposes, he said.

SiTV Media bought Fuse Network from Madison Square Garden Co. for $226 million. Fuse, a national music network, reaches 73 million Nielsen subscribers, MSG said in a news release (http://bit.ly/1efFyQs). The transaction enhances MSG’s distribution relationships and expands its aggregate subscriber base, it said. Under the terms, MSG will receive 15 percent equity of the combined company, it said.

The FCC Media Bureau granted an unopposed request from TiVo for an extension for manufacturers of the deadline for interactive HD set-top boxes to include Internet Protocol outputs, said an order released Friday (http://bit.ly/1oyIpxL). The deadline is now June 1, 2015, one year after the previous June 2, 2014, deadline. Small cable operators with fewer than 400,000 subscribers have until Sept. 1, 2015. TiVo, NCTA and others had requested a waiver or extension of the deadline because the Digital Living Network Alliance has not released industry standards for the boxes; standards were expected to come out in 2013. “Waiving the IP-based output rule to allow development of the new DLNA standard is in the public interest because it will assist the introduction of a new home networking technology,” the bureau said. TiVo had also asked the bureau to issue a clarification that the rules requiring IP outputs in HD boxes are still in effect and not vacated by the EchoStar decision in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which wiped away several FCC rules involving set-top boxes (CD Nov 19 p6). NCTA and several pay-TV companies opposed that request, and the bureau decided to defer a decision on the matter. “To provide the Commission time to resolve the issue concerning the continued effectiveness of the rule,” the bureau granted the extension “without determining whether the rule remains in effect after EchoStar,” said the order.

With Viacom programming blacked out for Cable One subscribers, cable operators are ratcheting up complaints about fees charged by programmers, while one programmer insists its fees remain low. Cable One CEO Tom Might said total programming costs for the cable operator have gone up 50 percent in four years, “while total viewing is exactly flat.” This increase has to be passed through to Cable One customers, “who now have to pay a lot more for their same viewing,” he said in a press release. Video subscribers are starting to make other choices, like accessing content online or through other over-the-top solutions, he said. Viacom channels were dropped from Cable One’s lineup this week due to a retransmission consent dispute (CD April 2 p16). Disney/ABC, Viacom, NBCUniversal and other large companies represent the majority of Cable One’s programming increase, and broadcast retransmission demands make up the rest, he said. “As a result, an increasing number of lower income consumers are being priced out of the video subscription marketplace each year.” Several of the programming groups, including Viacom, “have substantially less viewership than they did when we last negotiated, yet they still ask for enormous increases at renewal time,” he said. Cox Communications offers a comprehensive video package and balances the specific programming provided with the cost of that programming, a Cox spokesman said. “Programming acquisition represents our highest operational cost and it is increasing at levels that cannot be sustained long-term.” Most of the increase is due to retrans and sports programming, he said. To keep programming costs down, broad distribution for emerging independent networks is key, said Charles Herring, Herring Networks president. Herring, a smaller programmer, tries to find opportunities to fulfill customer programming needs at a cost-competitive price, he said. “With broad distribution, required programming operational revenue can be spread out across a larger base of subscribers, thus reducing the affiliate fees … charged to each” multichannel video programming distributor. Herring’s newest channel, One America News Network, gained national distribution on Verizon FiOS TV and smaller regional cable providers, he said.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau cited hotels for exceeding signal leakage limits in aeronautical bands and failure to file aeronautical usage notifications. Super 8 and Silo Inns in Portland, Ore., didn’t notify the FCC before operating multichannel video programming distributor systems and exceeded the leakage limits, the bureau said in citations and orders (http://bit.ly/1mNoLMP), (http://bit.ly/1lEjXJq). Country Inn & Suites by Carlson, Best Western in Portland, Ore., and Homewood Suites by Hilton in Vancouver, Wash., failed to notify the FCC before operating MVPD systems with carriers in the aeronautical radio frequency band, the bureau said (http://bit.ly/1eezrfm),(http://bit.ly/1sdAZPU), (http://bit.ly/1dVTjsP). The hotels have 30 days from April 3 to respond to the commission with specific actions taken or planned to correct the violations, the bureau said. The rules provide that cable and non-cable MVPDs transmitting carriers with certain characteristics within frequency bands of 108-137 MHz and 225-400 MHz “must comply with specific technical requirements delineated in the rules in order to avoid interference to other licensed operations,” the citations and orders said.