D.C. Memo: Carr to Comcast, 'Show Me the Contracts'
◾ Comcast Down 226K Broadband Subs in Q2 ◾ WISPA Pitches States on FWA Funding ◾ N.C. Has REINS Act in Close Veto Override ◾ Ontario Won’t Reveal Starlink ‘Kill Fee’ ◾ Nexstar Aids Texas Flood Victims
BREAKING: Comcast said Thursday it lost 226,000 broadband subscribers in the second quarter to end with 31.54 million. Analysts tracked by FactSet expected about 235,000 residential broadband net losses. Comcast shares were up slightly in early trading, perhaps because the broadband losses were better than consensus. Comcast said it added 378,000 mobile lines in the quarter to end with 8.5 million lines. Cable One and Shentel report later today.
CARR: In the recent past, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has talked about his concerns with the broadcast TV network-affiliate relationship at a high level. He’s said a few times that network financial dominance of the affiliates can be so extreme as to implicate the agency’s TV station ownership attribution rules. And he left it at that, pretty much. In his letter to Comcast on Tuesday, Carr filled in the blanks, saying he’s “heard numerous reports that the approach that NBC and other similarly situated networks are taking in recent negotiations is an attempt to extract onerous financial and operational concessions from local broadcast TV stations.” Carr said he was troubled about the impact on consumers. “Under this approach, networks threaten termination of long-held affiliations, which could result in blackouts and other harms to local consumers of broadcast news and content,” he said. (More after paywall.)
