Viacom's Q3 revenue was up 6 percent in what CEO Bob Bakish said was the long-promised return to advertising sales growth. In a call with analysts Thursday, he said domestic ad sales grew for the first time in 20 quarters, "a significant milestone." He said Viacom will launch BET Plus this fall, a streaming service featuring a variety of original content, in partnership with producer/director/actor Tyler Perry. He said its Pluto TV streaming service has grown from 12 million active monthly users at the start of the year to 18 million in July, and user growth should continue as Viacom broadens distribution and content. Chief Financial Officer Wade Davis said Paramount is on track for full-year profitability, its first since 2015. Asked about Disney Plus competition to Nickelodeon, Bakish said Disney pricing "does look very competitive," but Viacom's strategy is to play in the various price points from free to big, more-expensive bundles. It didn't take questions on a possible Viacom/CBS deal. Viacom said revenue for the quarter was $3.36 billion, up from $3.24 billion last year.
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The CBS All Access streaming subscription VOD and livestreaming service will add children's programming to its library starting later this year, including some original programming, CBS said Thursday. The broadcaster also said its CBSN Local, its set of local streaming news services, will accelerate rollout in the 13 major U.S. markets where CBS TV Stations has local news operations. CBSN New York launched in December, CBSN Los Angeles in June, with Boston and Bay Area services to roll out this year. CBS said Thursday it will launch CBSN in remaining markets in early 2020. Those markets are Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Denver, Miami, Sacramento, Pittsburgh and Baltimore.
The FCC will create grounds for a legal challenge based on the Administrative Procedure Act if Chairman Ajit Pai circulates an order approving the T-Mobile/Sprint/Dish Network deal without seeking additional comment, Rural Wireless Association Counsel Carri Bennet told us. RWA and NTCA formally asked the FCC to seek comment on T-Mobile's DOJ-supported buy of Sprint and the sale of assets to Dish (see 1908050061). FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks also sought another pleading cycle (see 1907260071). Bennet said the transaction itself isn’t subject to the APA, but the Dish license transfers and extensions that are part of the larger deal are. The companies and the FCC declined to comment.
The 2019 nationwide emergency alert system test appeared to go relatively smoothly Wednesday, said emergency alerting officials gauging early results.
House Communications Subcommittee Vice Chair Doris Matsui, D-Calif., said Wednesday she filed her C-band-centric Wireless Investment Now in (Win) 5G Act (HR-4171). The bill, which Matsui floated in June as a draft (see 1906260078), would set up a tiered system for satellite companies to benefit from an FCC-administered auction of spectrum in the 3.7-4.2 GHz band in which freeing up additional spectrum would increase satellite companies' share. The filed version shortens the deadline for submitting a transition plan to the FCC to four months from the six months in the draft. It also shortens the timeline for the FCC to ensure a transition plan is adequate to two months from the original 90-day deadline. “Since releasing the draft of this legislation, I am [pleased] with the breadth of stakeholders who have offered support for a compromise and consensus-based approach,” Matsui said in a statement. “As introduced, the WIN 5G Act includes stronger timeframes for the review and reallocation plan to be completed -- ensuring that this spectrum can be repurposed for 5G rapidly and equitably.”
The National Association of Attorneys General urged streaming services to protect young viewers from tobacco imagery in video content. In a letter released Wednesday, 43 state and territory AGs said the companies should eliminate or exclude tobacco imagery in future original streamed content for young viewers; designate as such tobacco-free content for all ages; allow controls to restrict access to content with tobacco imagery, regardless of rating; and stream “strong anti-smoking and/or anti-vaping Public Service Announcements, as appropriate, before all content with tobacco imagery.” The letters were sent to 13 companies, including Amazon.com, Comcast, Discovery, Google and Viacom, NAAG said. The companies didn't comment.
NAB told the FCC it should move forward on the C band and not wait for more "ill-conceived" proposals on how to reallocate the spectrum for 5G. The FCC can make no more than 200 MHz available without raising interference concerns, said a filing Wednesday in docket 18-122. “If the Commission caves to unreasonable and unjustified pressure to reallocate more spectrum in the C-band for terrestrial wireless services, it will no doubt be harming the backbone of our nation’s audio and video content delivery system,” NAB said: “Further delay in reallocating 200 MHz of spectrum will give oxygen to ill-conceived, self-interested schemes that are out of touch with reality.” The FCC shouldn’t force broadcasters to rely on fiber as an alternative to C-band spectrum, as proposed by a coalition led by America’s Communications Association (see 1907150010), NAB said. ACA didn’t comment on the NAB arguments. But ACA said in a filing posted Wednesday it spoke with Aaron Goldberger, aide to Chairman Ajit Pai, about its plan. Coalition members had conversations “with most of the MVPD programmers that use the C-band for delivery of video programming and have participated in the proceeding, and that it has a few more scheduled this week,” ACA said: “Within weeks, ACA Connects will be supplementing its original proposal. The additional material will further detail how the fiber network would be designed, established, launched, maintained, and paid for, particularly the part of the network that connects programmers to data centers.” China is "spending tens of billions of dollars to deploy high-capacity fiber-optic and advanced wireless infrastructure in order to win the race to 5G,” emailed ACA Senior Vice President-Government Affairs Ross Lieberman. “To compete, the United States must do the same. The 5G Plus Plan is the only proposal before the Commission that clears at least 370 MHz on a nationwide basis and builds out more than 100,000 miles of fiber to small markets and rural areas. It’s hands down the best solution in the record.” ACA understands broadcasters want to remain in the band and can under the plan, he said: “It now seems broadcasters want to tell small cable operators to stay on the band too.”
T-Mobile/Sprint suffered two blows last week, with the trial of the case against the deal shifted to start Dec. 9 and Texas joining the case. Both could prove harmful to completing the deal, analysts said. The Texas attorney general is the first Republican to join the suit in New York. “With the trial now likely to start on December 9 and last two to three weeks, and with writing the decision likely to take four to six weeks (plus a little extra time due to the holidays), we do not expect a trial court decision until late January or early February,” said New Street’s Blair Levin in a note to investors. The delay hurts Dish Network and Sprint more than T-Mobile, he said: “T-Mobile is full steam ahead executing on its plans and, doing well while doing so.” Texas AG Ken Paxton's joining the case “clearly creates better political optics for the states and increases the odds that other states, particularly Republican controlled states, will join,” Levin said. “Ultimately we are dubious it really affects the outcome of a trial -- Texas joining does not change the law, the precedent, or the facts to be tried -- but it does give the states less motive to settle.” After the “euphoria” over the settlement with DOJ (see 1907260021) T-Mobile got “two pretty big blows,” wrote Well Fargo’s Jennifer Fritzsche: “Put another way, if settlement does not come before hand we could be in our winter boots and mittens when we get resolution.” Dec. 9 “will represent 589 days from when the deal was originally announced,” she said.
The marketing point man for Experimax, a chain of independent repair shops, alleges Google Ads recently began pulling down his franchisees' local advertising as a possible “handshake” with consumer tech companies that oppose third-party repair. “While customers find us organically very often, Google Ads allow us to stay competitive with larger retailers like Best Buy, Walmart, and Apple,” commented Joshua Muir, Experimax brand development manager, in a post Friday in the FTC’s "Nixing the Fix" docket (FTC-2019-0013). The agency is probing whether manufacturer restrictions on third-party repair can undercut the consumer protections in the 1975 Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. It had a July 16 workshop (see 1907160058) and is accepting comments in the docket through Sept. 16. “Limiting our ability to post ads with Google (which is, by and large, the biggest search company) is a hindrance to our growth,” said Muir, who supervises the advertising of 85 franchised Experimax locations in 29 states: “This seems more of a handshake between Google and electronics manufacture(s) than protecting the general population from scams, etc.” Experimax stores are “trusted, local, retail locations” that specialize in repairing computers, phones and tablets, said Muir. “Whether through my stores, a competitor, or by their own means, people should have the right to repair their products without needing approval from or being restricted by the manufacturer. I am not required to go to a branded car dealership to get an oil change, so why must anyone be required to go to the original manufacturer to get a battery or screen replaced in their electronics?” Google didn’t reply to emails. "No comment," emailed an FTC spokesperson Saturday after we asked if the agency will look into Muir’s allegations.
China vowed Friday to retaliate if the Trump administration carries out its threat to impose the 10 percent List 4 Section 301 tariffs on $300 billion in Chinese imports not previously dutied (see 1908010059). If the U.S. “imposes tariff measures and implements them” as threatened Sept. 1, “China will have to take necessary countermeasures to resolutely defend the core interests of the country and the fundamental interests of the people,” said a Commerce Ministry spokesperson. “All the consequences will be borne by the US.”