[opendtv] Re: MVPD Definition

  • From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2015 08:55:28 -0400

On Aug 18, 2015, at 9:46 PM, Manfredi, Albert E <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:


The MVPD industry is using this definition, as I pointed out with quotes, and
the FCC is asking whether this definition should still hold. The fact that
the FCC asks that question, above, pretty much proves they know full well how
the MVPDs define themselves. I can't believe you're stubbornly holding onto
you claim that this is "not true." Clueless!

A segment of today's MVPD industry is holding to a now meaningless definition
of what a MVPD is, based on their self interests. Wow, that's historic!

Obviously the cable industry does not want the FCC to update the definition to
reflect the REALITIES that are outlined in the introduction to the NPRM.
Non-facilities based MVPDs already exist, they just do not have some of the
benefits the FCC has given to the facilities based services.

Do you see Dish Networks telling the FCC that a MVPD must be facilities based?
Of course not, as they already offer Sling, a MVPD that uses the Internet to
deliver its bits.


Okay, meaning let's not pretend to know what a VMVPD is, or to classify Sling
TV as one, obtusely.

We already know what a VMVPD service is, as several are now operational, and
several more are in development. There is nothing obtuse about calling a
"spade" a "spade."

What we do not know is whether the FCC will use the VMVPD acronym in the new
definition. They may just decide to call everyone a MVPD whether they are
facilities based or use the Internet.

What is far more important than the acronym or the definition the FCC comes up
with is what it will mean for MVPDs that use the Internet to deliver their
bits. Specifically, there are two major issues in play:

1. Will the program access rules be extended to Internet MVPDs?

2. If an Internet MVPD wants to offer the broadcast networks, Will they be
required to offer the local broadcast stations that match the geolocation of
the Internet service, and how will this geolocation be determined?

Yes, linear streams from multiple content sources has been the
basis of the definition for decades.

Uuuuh, you mean, before any other options were technically feasible?

Just history Bert. Look at the record.

Like I said, Craig, "channels" also carry VOD in these MVPDs, and have done
so for many years. Seems clear to me that the FCC wants to require "linear
streams" only because they believe their previous language, "channels,"
implied as much. Not the case anymore.

Linear streams are what the FCC is regulating with the program access rules and
the local-into-local rule for broadcast stations. The FCC does not require
every cable, Fios or DBS service to offer VOD, nor do they require content
owners to license content for VOD services to any MVPD on fair and equitable
terms.

Could the services offered by a MVPD be expanded as part of the rules in the
Report and Order that the FCC is developing from this NPRM? Time will tell, but
it is highly unlikely, as that might mean that the FCC could regulate ANY OTT
service.

Which is the only definition that makes any technical sense anymore, Craig.
Any Internet site that sells TV program streams, live and/or on demand, with
subscription fee. The more time passes, the more any insistence on "linear"
will become anachronistic - i.e. meaningless.

Only in your mind are linear streams meaningless. They are not going away,
although it is highly likely that the number of linear networks will shrink
back to a meaningful number, like 50 instead of 500.

Anyway, I don't think this matters a wit. It's the CEOs of the congloms that
are willingly trying new formulas. There's no need for the govt to coerce
congloms into making content available, with some drummed-up new definition.

I agree that the marketplace can work this out, as t has already done with
Sling and PlayStation Vue.


But we are talking about regulators here. Many people believe the FCC should be
shut down, but it is rare that the politicians eliminate the bureaucracies they
create.

Regards
Craig

----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways:

- Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at
FreeLists.org

- By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word
unsubscribe in the subject line.

Other related posts:

  1. Home
  2. opendtv
  3. Archive
  4. 08-2015