Senate Hears FCC Oversight Testimony

The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee held its FCC oversight hearing on Wednesday featuring for the first time the newly sworn-in Commissioners Rebecca Rosenworcel and Ajit Pai. Compiled from prepared statements and published reports, here's some of the hearing's highlights:

• Commerce Committee Chair Sen. John (Jay) Rockefeller (D-W.VA), began the proceeding by welcoming all five members of the FCC to the hearing, saying everyone was glad to finally have them sworn-in and ready to work. He said the nation's communications landscape is undergoing "massive changes" and regulators must give serious consideration to how current and future laws will protect consumers' basic interests. The Senator congratulated the FCC on its USF reforms (even though "the efforts have not pleased everyone"), and said he plans on monitoring the implementation of spectrum auctions "aggressively." Lastly, Rockefeller said while critics say the FCC's statutory authority needs to be updated, he's "not interested in a reform exercise that ... benefit(s) one industry player at the expense of another."

• In FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski's prepared remarks, the regulator said the agency's mission moving forward is to "maximize the power of communications technology to grow our economy, create jobs, enhance U.S. competitiveness, empower consumers, and unleash American innovation..." The Chairman focused his remarks largely on broadband and wireless technologies (much to the chagrin of broadcasters), while promoting an agenda of "freeing spectrum for both licensed and unlicensed use, removing barriers to broadband buildout, and taking strong and balanced steps tow preserve internet freedom. "

• Newest Republican FCC member Ajit Pai's testimony comes just two days after officially beginning his term, joking he welcomed the looming scrutiny of his office's performance during the 52 hours since being sworn in. Funny. More seriously, however, Pai went to bat for freeing up additional spectrum for broadband as the proliferation of mobile devices and increased use of high-bandwidth apps "is straining network capacity." The Commissioner added that the FCC needed to implement incentive auction legislation "swiftly," saying the federal government has control over too much spectrum. "Faced with an industry as vibrant and dynamic as today's communications sector, the Commission must guard against clinging to 20th century methods of addressing the technological landscape of the 21st century," he said.

• Newest Democratic FCC member Jessica Rosenworcel made quick opening remarks, saying incentive auctions had raised nearly $50B for the U.S. Dept. of Treasury, and with the right combination of "engineering and economics," future auctions can continue to help pay down the nation's debt while being "fair to all stakeholders." She said public safety is "paramount" (surely making Rockefeller - her former boss - pleased), and that universal service means everyone... "no matter who they are or where they live, should have access to first-rate communications services."

• Sen. Kay Hutchison, ranking member of the Commerce Committee, also urged the FCC to move quickly on bringing more spectrum to the wireless market in order to increase competition in mobile broadband. The Senator said she "completely disagreed" with the FCC imposing net-neutrality regulations last year, and that any actions the agency take moving forward "must be constrained to what (it is) authorized to do." Hutchison said there are few things that the FCC can do to grow the nation's economy more than bringing spectrum to market, and she hopes the agency moves "as fast as it can" implementing new spectrum legislation. •

SVOD Links Smart-TVs in U.S., not Overseas

New research suggests subscription VOD services such as Netflix, Hulu Plus, and Amazon Prime, are driving U.S. consumers toward more connected TV sets. The same doesn't seem to be true in Europe. And, says Strategy Analytics, despite sales of smart-TVs expected to top 200M units this year, the majority of consumers still are not using the sets' web-enabled features.  

According to the research firm, 34% of all connected TV owners are hooking their sets up to the internet at least once per week, with Netflix being the most popular web-application. SA says 33% of owners connect to the web less than once per week, 12% don't connect anymore, and 22% have never connected to the internet.

Conversely, SA found nearly half (48%) of European smart-TV owners are not using web-connected features on their sets, and 1/3 (33%) have never even connected their TVs to the web. Less than 10% of all European smart-TV owners use web-enabled features at least once per week, the firm says.

"Once again our research has demonstrated that what most smart TV owners want is video," SA analyst David Mercer writes. "If connected TV is to become more widely used, manufacturers, content owners and emerging service providers must create compelling video services just as Netflix has done in the U.S." •

Viacom & TWC Resolve Dispute - Netflix Buys 'Avengers' – FCC Stays SatDish Install Ruling

Disputes: Viacom has agreed to resolve a legal dispute with Time Warner Cable that allows cable customers to see content from Paramount film studio, MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central on more devices. "All of Viacom's programming will now be available to Time Warner Cable subscribers for in-home viewing via internet protocol-enabled devices such as iPads,"  the companies said late Wednesday in a joint statement. TWC also will continue to carry Viacom's CMT.

TVE: Time Warner Cable added iNDemand's Vutopia movie library to its TVE service. Customers who subscriber to TWC's MoviePass package can access Vutopia content online, the company said.

Rules & Regs: The FCC will begin working with FEMA this month to develop a text-message alerts program notifying citizens of any imminent threats to safety, including weather and missing children. Called the Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS), the messages are free and will not count against a user's text plan.

Online: Good news for Netflix subs, the company has reportedly purchased streaming rights to both "The Hunger Games" and "The Avengers." The bad? Netflix won't be able to offer the blockbuster films until 90 days after their DVD release and launch on EPIX. --- Yahoo is launching Movieland, an interactive online game promoting dozens of big-budget summer films. The platform allows users to watch trailers, purchase tickets and win prizes...

SocialTV: The video search engine blinkx app is now available on Sony connected devices, including the CE giant's BRAVIA HDTV line and Blu-ray disc players. --- Youtoo is launching its first Facebook app called 'Be on TV,' which enables users to record and upload videos to air on the company's cable network YoutooTV. --- Visiware said more than 700 interactive TV shows across the globe now use its 2nd-screen PlayAlong social TV platform. --- HitFix is launching HitFixTV, an iPad app featuring news, real-time comments and alerts for TV shows.

Programming: SpikeTV's "Guys Choice" awards show airs Saturday, June 9 at 9pm ET. Presenters include Emma Stone, Mila Kunis, Mark Wahlberg and Seth MacFarlane. Notable "match-ups" include: Guy of the Year - Brad Pitt v. Louis C.K.; Biggest Ass-Kicker: Ryan Gosling v. Liam Neeson; and Holy Grail of Hot: Scarlett Johansson v. Sofia Vergara. Men...

Tech: Avail-TVN unveiled its new DAI content prep services which provide mid-roll marking and stream conditioning as an enhancement to encoding and editing work. The company's new digital ad-insertion tool allows providers to monetize VOD content by managing metadata with operators in accordance with CableLabs specs. In related news, Avail-TVN is partnering with NBC Sports Group to support the delivery of the VOD tsunami coming from the Olympic Games this summer. --- StreamTV Networks is partnering with Unihan to manufacturer Stream's 3D w/o glasses, real-time converter devices.

Deals: Turner Broadcasting is hooking up with Funny or Die to become the exclusive ad seller for the humor website. --- Rentrak extended its media measurement relationship with Raycom to include the NBC-affiliate WIS-TV in Columbia, SC.

SkyREPORT: The FCC further delayed a decision on the petition filed by DIRECTV, DISH and the SBCA seeking to block the City of Chicago from imposing strict satellite installation rules until after the agency rules on a similar case in Philadelphia. --- Arianespace said it successfully launched JCSAT-13 for Japanese operator SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation and VINASAT-2 for the operator Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) on Tuesday.

Over, Up, & Under: Kabel Deutschland (KDG) is acquiring cable operator TeleColumbus for an estimated €600M-€800M ($763M-$1B). If the deal goes through, KDG will have outbid both Deutsche Telekom and Liberty Global... both reportedly interested in buying the cable co. --- During the past 12 months, BBC World News has added 40M global households, bringing the net's reach to more than 300M worldwide.

Green: Wireless device trade-in provider eRecyclingCorps (eRC) was named the 'Recycler of the Year" at the International Electronics Recycling Conference. eRC has 15K retail locations worldwide and counts Verizon and Sprint as clients.

Quote of the Day: "CBS leads the industry in delivering the coveted 18 to 49 trips to the bathroom demographic." -Jimmy Kimmel

--- Catch today's media market news in The Evening BRIDGE. •