Bringing the fight to people

They are at it again.  An MVPD vs. Programmer.  This time it is DISH and Comcast that can’t seem to agree on acceptable carriage terms.

ROUND I goes to Comcast.  Last week, Comcast notified DISH (and non-DISH) subscribers via ads and tweets that they were at risk of losing NBC-U programming because of a contract dispute between the two firms.

ROUND III goes to DISH as it sues Comcast over the ads and agrees to enter arbitration.  On Friday, DISH notified the FCC that it will seek arbitration to resolve the dispute.  During the initial 10-day cooling period and subsequent binding arbitration, NBC-U is not allowed to blackout its networks.

Who wins in the end?  Maybe neither as fed-up subscribers “view” it as another reason/excuse/final straw to switch exclusively to over-the-top streaming services.

It’s [almost] a done deal

Charter is about get FCC approval on its plan to buy TWC and Bright House Networks for $60B+.  Likely conditions attached to the deal are assurances to comply with net neutrality rules, even if thrown out by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, expand high-speed broadband into communities with no alternative to the low-speed offerings of the incumbent telecom company, and limit/restrict Charter from including how content owners can distribute their programming.

With little network overlap among cable firms, the DOJ’s antitrust concerns will not be on the elimination of local TV market competition, but on the combined firm’s heft in programming negotiations (same concern with the Comcast-TWC deal, but on a smaller scale).

If the merger is approved, Charter will be the second largest MVPD/ISP in the country.