Early moves by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai stir optimism for the CEO of the owner of Cablevision, Suddenlink and other operators. Altice USA CEO Dexter Goei, in a rare cable executive keynote speech at the NAB Show, cited the agency under Pai undoing net neutrality ISP privacy rules, while saying he hasn't seen anything public about what the chairman may next do with the net neutrality rules overall and no public disclosure of possible plans there (see 1704250056). "Everyone in our industry where I sit today is cautiously optimistic that we will be able to operate in a fair and efficient way," Goei said in Q&A Tuesday here in Las Vegas. "Chairman Pai has done a terrific job ... clarifying some issues that were an overhang on our industry which potentially misaligned us with some people who were tangential to our industry." Goei cited privacy rules, in which non-ISPs weren't subjected to the same regime as broadband service providers that Goei said generally aren't engaged in commercial activities around data on users' IP addresses. The agency "has moved at a very quick pace in the first few months here, so we remain cautiously optimistic," he said. On Altice's heavy spending on fiber deployments in the U.S. and in Europe, where it got its start before entering America, Goei said he expects those capital expenditures to prove worthwhile. "Fiber today remains the most robust and efficient and reliable technology," he said. Investing in "little steps to eventually get to fiber makes no sense," he added. Such fiber deployments aren't just about future needs, "when one understands this is the present," he said. Altice USA has said it's building a fiber-to-the-home network capable of 10 Gbps across most of its footprint by 2022 (see 1611300029). On the company's initial public offering plans (see 1704110009), Goei said it wants "to be ready to the extent that it makes sense that someone wanted to talk about any type of combination or strategic" issues, but "we are very happy where we are today." Even amid rising programming costs, a trend he said is "going in the wrong direction," Altice USA has "a good relationship with our programming brethren." The executive was the first cable speaker in recent memory to be an NAB Show keynoter, noted his questioner Mark Robichaux, editorial director of publications including Broadcasting & Cable. Said Goei later: "I’m surprised that more of my peers haven’t been able to come to the show previously."

LAS VEGAS -- Pay-TV subscribers on the go and on mobile and other devices increasingly use TV Everywhere to stream live and VOD content, and usage may further rise, according to NAB Show panelists and a later interview with the head of the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing. New CTAM and Adobe research (see here and here) discussed by another panel Monday (see 1704240062) illustrates the trends. Further refinements to TV Everywhere are likely, making it easier to use, after some earlier issues, cable and programmer representatives said on the later panel.

LAS VEGAS -- Media ownership rule relaxation, or at least a hard look at existing rules, is likely under this FCC, said speakers on a panel at the NAB Show, including Commissioner Mike O'Rielly. He and others cited the so-called eight-voices test, which limits common ownership of TV stations within markets with fewer than that number of outlets. Panelists also cited rules against one company publishing a daily newspaper and owning a broadcaster in the same market.

LAS VEGAS -- The surge in audience consumption of TV via streaming and other nontraditional methods brings many challenges to related industries, along with benefits of consumer convenience, executives said during an NAB Show panel.

Current and former journalists defended their profession at a discussion about a report that news coverage of technology gradually has become more negative. Some panelists speculated one reason the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation study found increased negativity was greater sophistication about tech.

Acting FTC Chairman Maureen Ohlhausen's agenda lines up with that of President Donald Trump, she said on a Federalist Society podcast, in which she also explained her reasons for voting against the agency's Jan. 17 complaint against Qualcomm. The new president's priorities seem to fit "pretty well" with Ohlhausen's themes at the commission, she said, citing her longtime advocacy for "the importance of economic liberty, particularly as it's tied to job growth," and of "regulatory humility." Some in the tech and telecom industry hope Trump names Ohlhausen permanent chairman (see 1702150030).

The FCC decision Monday to end a broadcaster quiet period in the incentive auction (see 1702060065) had almost immediate effects. Gray Television said about 16 hours later that it expected to get some $91 million from the auction. With the rule change, "broadcasters can engage in M&A," wrote Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker to investors. NAB also backed the change, which had been requested by the broadcast industry for months (see 1610210059). Meanwhile, broadcaster, carrier and engineer replies were posted Monday and Tuesday in docket 16-306 on reporting requirements for the transition after the auction's conclusion. NAB and T-Mobile have some differences (see 1701260033), and the Competitive Carriers Association disagreed with the broadcaster association.

Staff in several FCC bureaus, sometimes acting jointly, undid numerous actions from the administration of then-Chairman Tom Wheeler. All withdrawn Friday afternoon: a report raising questions on zero rating practices of AT&T and Verizon; an inquiry about Comcast's video streaming practices; staff guidance that could have placed additional standards of review on mergers and acquisitions of TV stations involving some resource and other sharing pacts; actions on TV station political advertising that highlighted a need for disclosure of certain information; and a report on E-rate modernization. Other actions effectively canceled were on cybersecurity and 5G device security.

In an FCC pilot begun Thursday morning, the agency will release the full text of draft items before commissioners vote on them, when they're slated for consideration at members' monthly public meetings. Chairman Ajit Pai did just that, releasing a draft NPRM on broadcasters' envisioned move to next-generation ATSC 3.0 TV, plus an order on AM revitalization, of which he has been a major proponent.

In one of Ajit Pai's first steps as chairman, the FCC removed from circulation some draft items, including at least two high-profile orders. Draft actions on updating broadband data services (BDS) rules and on making it easier for pay-TV customers to connect to subscription video services without an operator-provided set-top box were removed from consideration Friday afternoon. That's according to our review of the circulation list and an interview with an FCC spokesman Saturday.