Cable operators large and small largely are unified on many issues that affect the industry, some of them high profile, that are pending before the FCC, our survey of executives found. Retransmission consent deals, where pay-TV operators contend broadcasters force them to pay unfair carriage fees, are the latest example of a unified message across operators of all sizes (CD May 20 p4) and the NCTA, representing big operators and programmers, and the small-operator lobbying group American Cable Association (ACA). Concern about FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski’s plan to reclassify broadband transport under parts of Title II and a desire to use cheap HD set-top boxes with integrated navigation and security features are shared by many cable system owners.

A new chief of FCC review of Comcast’s purchase of control of NBC Universal starts work Monday, a commission spokeswoman said after the hiring of John Flynn was confirmed Wednesday. The FCC chose him about a month ago to oversee its staff evaluation of the deal (CD May 3 p1), commission officials said. Some speculated that the agency had held off on publicizing the action while Chairman Julius Genachowski worked to release details of his plan to reclassify broadband transport under Title II, with forbearance on many rules. Flynn will head the “working team” reviewing the transaction “under the guidance of the inter-bureau steering committee” that Genachowski set up soon after the companies sought commission approval, the commission said. Flynn most recently was general counsel of ICO Global, a communications satellite company, where he won the largest U.S. jury verdict of 2008, the commission said. The company got a jury verdict of more than $371 million in a contract dispute against Boeing. Flynn has worked at WilmerHale, where other top commission officials hired by Genachowski have been employed. They include Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake, who will work with Flynn on the deal review. Like Genachowski and other aides, Flynn was a Supreme Court clerk. “John’s expertise and broad experience will help to ensure that the Commission’s review is thorough, fair, and efficient,” Genachowski said in a written statement. Flynn isn’t commenting on his plans for the job, the commission spokeswoman said.

Cash and other compensation for carriage of TV stations in more deals between them and pay-TV providers doesn’t mean the FCC needs to change how it handles contractual disputes, many broadcasters said late Tuesday. It’s a sign that additional competition for multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD) customers with the addition of subscription-video providers means broadcasters can get fair value for their signals, they said. Cable operators are no longer the only ones consumers pay to view TV, giving broadcasters more leverage, some filings suggested.

Broadcast and wireless industry representatives agreed that additional stations probably will look at taking part in the spectrum auction the FCC sought in the National Broadband Plan. Speaking at a Media Institute lunch Tuesday, President David Donovan of the Association for Maximum Service TV and CTIA Vice President Chris Guttman-McCabe agreed that the voluntary approach the commission is taking to the mobile-future auction is best. They agreed on little else and often interrupted each other and occasionally moderator Richard Wiley.

Broadcast and cable groups were among those seeking more time to get ready for a new technology that can geographically target emergency alerts across broadcasters, subscription-video providers and wireless services. Comments to the FCC from the NAB, the NCTA and Monroe Electronics, a maker of emergency alert system (EAS) gear, seek longer than the maximum of 180 days that the commission gives EAS participants to configure their networks to accept alerts based the Common Alerting Protocol after the technical standards are published by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA has said the alerts may be adopted by the third quarter, the NCTA noted. FEMA has lagged in coming up with the standards. It had hoped to come up with guidelines for them in 2008 (CD May 30/07 p2).

The FCC likely will request about ten media ownership studies from outside experts around the time it releases the forthcoming notice of inquiry (CD April 16 p3) formally starting the quadrennial review mandated by Congress for 2010, agency officials said. With revisions to the draft notice by commissioners’ offices nearing an end, it could be released within a week but may take longer, they said. The latest edition of the draft item, circulated last week, has many changes but none deemed likely to alter the course of the inquiry, they said.

LOS ANGELES -- FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said Thursday he’s open to self-regulation on net neutrality -- with a commission “backstop” -- and to work with industry to ensure forbearance in the broadband reclassification he proposes can’t be undone. Wholesale unbundling and rate regulation in the six sections of Title II Genachowski seeks to impose on broadband transport are “off the table,” he said in a Q-and-A with NCTA President Kyle McSlarrow at the cable show. “We're going to rely on competitive markets,” Genachowski said.

LOS ANGELES -- Industry engagement, not rhetoric, was sought by FCC aides in proceedings including those on new video devices and Chairman Julius Genachowski’s plan to reclassify broadband transport under parts of Title II. They said on an NCTA convention panel Wednesday that sustained industry dialogue would improve the outcome of the proceedings. Back in Washington on Tuesday, Commissioner Mignon Clyburn had sought to dispel what she called myths of reclassification (CD May 12 p3) OR (WID May 12 p2).

LOS ANGELES -- The shift to viewing video on a variety of devices, with content now often distributed online, offers good and bad news for the entertainment industry, said CEOs from a Hollywood studio, cable and broadcasting. Content producers in those industries must be careful to still get paid for their programming to avoid the mistakes made by the music industry, panelists at the NCTA show said Wednesday. Those industries may need to make changes to continue to profit as content moves to more and more devices, they said.

LOS ANGELES -- Consensus among the interests on net neutrality would be good, and both political parties would seem to agree, said Majority Chief Counsel Roger Sherman of the House Commerce Committee. Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., welcomes a legislative approach “that everyone can get behind and can become law,” but the FCC “can’t sit still waiting for Congress to act,” Sherman said at an NCTA lunch. “The door is open, and I'm sure [Minority Counsel] Neil [Fried] would agree we'd love to hear suggestions.”