The onslaught of quarterly reports has come and gone ... the Hampton's  are again filled with frolicking folks ... but, unlike Augusts past, the drum beat of media news continues.  Among the items to keep on your head's up list:

• OTT Ogre:  Well, "ogre" might be the wrong word as everyone from Comcast to DIRECTV is scrambling to harness the monster, but it remains notable that Netflix's paid subscribers continue to rise (22,797K at last count) while No. 1 MSO Comcast's continue to fall (22,525K).  Still, let's keep a grip on potential panic:  For 2Q11 Comcast's average monthly revenue per video customer was $138.  Netflix: $11.49.  Apples v. Oranges maybe; but interesting.

• Social Media Everything:  Everybody wants on this bandwagon ... whether it makes sense or not.  Still, an excellent example of social media muscle comes from a recent NYT piece:  A protestor in Syria explained the purpose of a small, quickly disbanded demonstration:  The group wanted cell phone videos to upload on YouTube.

• Continued fractures in the News Corp. Juggernaut:  We don't believe the empire will fall, or even sustain serious cracks (too much accumulated power).  Still, that Murdoch mess in England just keeps getting messier as per this from a 2007 letter written by fired royals reporter Clive Goodman on the phone hacking scandal:  "This practice was widely discussed in the daily editorial conference, until explicit reference to it was banned by the Editor.... " Now former News of the World reporter James Desborough, who was recently based in LA, has been arrested by British police.  Next up:  Murdoch Jr. back at Parliament?•

GPS Industry Denies Interference Responsibility

Not long ago, 4G LTE startup LightSquared penned a letter to the FCC blaming the GPS industry itself for the reported interference issues the services are experiencing by not using the proper filters. This week, the GPS industry fired back, saying not only are their devices not responsible for the spectrum conflict, but LightSquared's attempt to blame the industry is "flawed" and "inappropriate."

The U.S. GPS Industry Council's latest filing with the FCC appears to claim that LightSquared is incompetent on GPS technical issues.  Says the Council, LightSquared's stance that GPS makers aren't following Dept. of Defense standards is misleading as DOD protocols are for military usage, not commercial and consumer devices.

"LightSquared is wrong, and its arguments reflect its fundamental lack of technical understanding of GPS and the profound technical difference between how communication and satellite navigation signals operate and are received," the GPSIC wrote.  The company's letter, "changes nothing, and must be rejected as just another flawed effort on LightSquared's part to deflect attention from the technical and regulatory inappropriateness of introducing 4G LTE service into the(se) bands." •

Etc: FCC Eyes Telco Regs - Non-DIRECTV Access for Sunday Ticket - Gawker Rips Kutcher

Gov't: A report in Forbes says the FCC and DOJ will increase telecommunications regulation if the agencies approve AT&T's $39B takeover of T-Mobile, going so far as to 1) force the company and its largest rival Verizon Wireless to keep prices from rising to prevent a duopoly, or 2) make AT&T sell some of its spectrum to Sprint to keep that company competitive.

Alt. Video: Sony published on its blog this week that it had reached a deal with DIRECTV to provide the 2011 NFL Sunday Ticket in HD on its Play Station 2 console via live streaming. The company said non-DIRECTV subs who own a PS3 can buy the Ticket for $340; current DIRECTV subs can access the football package on their consoles for an extra $50 and use the PS3 as an additional receiver. --- Analysts say TiVo is aggressively seeking new partners as it transitions from a primarily DVR company to an integrated, multi-system OTT service.

Rumor Mill: Sources tell the Hollywood Reporter that DIRECTV is likely to pass on bidding for online video hub Hulu. Google's interest in the site may have grown due to its $12.5B bid for Motorola Mobility, a move analysts say showed the search giant's hand with plans to enter the TV market. Read more here.

Strategy: DISH SVP of Programming Dave Shull tells BloombergTV the company is "pushing down the path of authentication." The exec says the new biz model is that of paying content providers once, having subscribers pay DISH once, and then being able to include that on-demand content with DISH's linear subscription service to its customers.

Programming: After TBS cancelled its only other late-night talk show in George Lopez, the WSJ says the net is doubling down on Conan O'Brien's show by stocking up on costly lead-in programming to protect its red-haired investment. Numbers show that Coco's viewership is down nearly 60% since his debut last fall.

Distribution: Comcast said it is expanding its distribution agreement with nuvoTV, the English-lang. network targeting American Latinos onto its digital-preferred tier on select systems in Atlanta, Chicago, Jacksonville, FL, Seattle, Southwest Florida, the Twin Cities and Washington, D.C.

Mobile: ESPN will supply sports venue data to Foursquare's recently-launched Events platform allowing users who check in at games to access game times, teams, location data and more.

Retail: A group of Californian nonprofits with the backing of state legislators are asking Amazon customers to cancel accounts and boycott the online retailer until it starts paying the same sales tax brick-and-mortar retailers pay. Home Media Mag has more.

SkyREPORT: Globecomm landed a 5-year contract to provide satellite-based voice and data services to Agility Recovery Solutions across the US and Canada. --- SES Astra subsidiary HD PLUS inked an agreement with NetRange MMH to develop and operate an interactive web portal for connected receivers equipped with the HD InterActive feature.

Up, Down & Over There: Screen Daily says a Spanish-language Netflix version is headed to Spain in early 2012; meanwhile  the company refused to comment on a rumored UK launch. Other rumored Netflix-abroad destinations are the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Scandinavia all of which have high broadband penetration rates.

Enterprise: TiVUS debuted its e-SmartRoom solution designed to replace a hotel's legacy CRT TV system with a complete HD IPTV in-room platform for internet and video services complete with ad-insertion capabilities and an 42" flat-screen HDTV.

Obits: A memorial service has been set for "Bud" Donald Grant, former CBS Entertainment president, on Aug. 30. Information can be found at Bud Grant Memorial.

D'Oh!: Check out Gawker's article titled, "Ashton Kutcher is a Massive Whore." Apparently the actor/interwebs entrepreneur tried his hand as a news editor by releasing an "online-only" version of Details magazine. The only problem? His piece dubbed 'The New Titans of Tech' focuses on all the companies with which he's invested money... without even a hint of disclosure. •