The expiration Saturday of the FCC's conditions on Comcast's buy of NBCUniversal was criticized by the American Cable Association and Commissioner Mignon Clyburn. ACA in a statement Monday said the FCC "should examine and then address" harms Comcast/NBCU might cause by strengthening program access rules, such as deciding whether an arbitration remedy and standstill condition should be codified. It said the agency should amend program access rules so the National Cable Television Cooperative qualifies as a buying group. Clyburn's Friday tweet said with the DOJ opposing AT&T's proposed buy of Time Warner on the same grounds that prompted the FCC to put conditions on Comcast/NBCU, "has anything really changed?" Comcast didn't comment on the tweet or ACA's comments, but in a statement said it "met or exceeded all of the commitments and obligations," and none of its six annual compliance reports was challenged by the FCC, members of Congress or third parties. It said all markets in which it operates "are more robust and more competitive now than they were” before the deal. Comcast said it doesn't anticipate any operational changes due to the conditions' expiration. It disputed conditions in AT&T/TW are analogous to Comcast/NBCU, since it doesn't have a national distribution network like AT&T's DirecTV or its wireless network, and it doesn't operate cable or broadband services in the nation's two biggest markets, New York City and Los Angeles. Experts said it's unlikely regulators would extend the Comcast/NBCU conditions or that DOJ would revisit the issue (see 1712210018).
Wall Street increasingly sees a Viacom/CBS as likely. In an email to investors Tuesday, Barclays analyst Kannan Venkateshwar said dynamics for such a deal differ compared with rumors in the past: the existence of other media mega-deals like Discovery/Scripps Networks Interactive, Viacom's deteriorating performance and the lack of its content on over-the-top bundles, and CBS advertising woes. He said such a deal would buy Viacom more time in its turnaround. In a separate note Tuesday, MoffettNathanson analyst Michael Nathanson said CBS CEO Les Moonves' rumored increased openness to a deal isn't surprising given comments he has made about the need for more scale to compete with the likes of Disney and Comcast. Nathanson also said a merger would mean more cash flow for CBS in upcoming NFL negotiations. CBS and Viacom didn't comment.
Spectrum Brands Holdings announced Tuesday it signed a definitive agreement to sell its Rayovac battery and lighting business to Energizer for $2 billion in cash. Spectrum, which reported $5 billion in sales in FY 2017, will use proceeds to reduce debt, reinvest in its core businesses organically and through acquisitions and repurchase shares, it said. Spectrum’s broad brand portfolio includes Kwikset, Baldwin and Black+Decker. Spectrum Executive Chairman David Maura said the sale is part of a capital strategy toward faster growing and higher margin businesses.
Rupert Murdoch's record of success indicates he's likely right that now is the best time to sell most of Fox's assets to Disney, The Diffusion Group Senior Adviser Rob Silvershein blogged Thursday. Fox will have a challenge in repackaging itself to remain competitive, but "I would not bet against it beating the odds," he said. Fox "was ill-equipped to handle the brave new world of broadband video" and is taking "the best deal it could," and it now can focus on news, he said. He noted Fox is interested in buying independent stations. He said the company "has placed a bet on old thinking and old technology," and its long-term success doesn't come with a focus on linear TV stations, live news and sports, and cheaper programming. Fox may buy some stations to be divested from Sinclair/Tribune (see 1801120049).
Netflix is too expensive even for Apple to buy, wrote tech and media investor Eric Jackson, president of EMJ Capital, in a CNBC column Friday: Aside from the $94 billion market capitalization, founder Reed Hastings is likely particularly reluctant to sell since Netflix "has reached escape velocity" as an over-the-top service with robust subscription growth globally. "Acquisition averse" Apple is more likely to start its own subscription VOD service, he said. Apple didn't comment.
Meredith Corp. said U.S. antitrust overseers won't challenge its planned takeover of Time Inc. With early termination of the merger waiting period in hand, the owner of TV stations and magazines expects to complete the deal announced Nov. 26 within 30 days. The acquirer plans Q1 completion of the $2.8 billion transaction that's getting funding from Koch Equity Development (see 1711270014). The FTC and DOJ didn't comment right away Friday.
The FCC Media Bureau is pausing the 180-day “shot clock” for the Sinclair/Tribune deal so Sinclair can amend its application and file divestiture applications and staff can review them, the bureau said in a letter to Sinclair Wednesday. The pause, which the letter describes as being “as of January 4, 2018,” is a reaction to Sinclair’s informing the Media Bureau in a Jan. 4 meeting (see 1801100032) that it was evaluating divestitures and Top-4 showings and that DOJ review may “impact” divestiture choices, the letter said. “It is appropriate to stop the informal 180-day clock until after the referenced amendments and divestiture applications have been filed and staff has had an opportunity to fully review them,” the letter said. The shot clock on the FCC’s website was paused at day 167 Thursday. Sinclair didn’t comment.
Sound United bought the Classé Audio line from Bowers & Wilkins, it said Monday. The Classé Audio electronics line had been in limbo since B&W's restructuring earlier this year. Sound United CEO Kevin Duffy said the acquisition "opens opportunities to capitalize on new markets and niches within the high end audio community." He cited global opportunities and said Sound United looks forward to partnering with Classé's management team to grow the combined business. Classé Audio President Dave Nauber will continue to lead the brand. Classé dealers had expressed frustration over the future direction of the high-end electronics line, which complemented B&W speakers, after the B&W restructuring. Rich Campbell, B&W's chief revenue officer, told us at CEDIA (see 1710030031) that the company stopped development of the Classé Delta series amplifiers but was supporting existing products in the portfolio on the service side, and it had re-upped certification of some products with external partners.
Having closed Thursday on its $1.4 billion MetroCast acquisition, Atlantic Broadband is considering additional mergers and acquisitions. "We have an appetitive for more" once the MetroCast integration is complete, President Dave Isenberg told us Thursday. He said Canadian pension fund Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is a co-investor in the MetroCast deal, with the idea of future acquisitions. "They see this as a platform for growth," Isenberg said, saying opportunities range from cable operators to regional fiber networks perhaps contiguous to Atlantic Broadband service areas. The MetroCast deal was announced in July (see 1707100040). Atlantic owner Cogeco Communications said it now operates in 11 states. It said MetroCast will keep its existing brand and will offer a variety of enhanced services under the Atlantic Broadband brand starting in the spring. Isenberg said Atlantic will use the same strategy with the rest of MetroCast that it employed with its 2015 takeover of MetroCast operations in Connecticut (see 1508210008): a variety of new products and services aimed both at residential customers, like gigabit Internet speeds and Atlantic's TiVo-based video platform, and at enterprise customers, such as hosted private branch exchange services. He said Atlantic continues to see broadband growth, and doesn't anticipate incoming 5G services providing significant competition to its wireline services in the near future since the company largely focuses on suburban and rural territories. It "will be an incredibly long time" before a wireless solution replicates terrestrial service, he said. Programmers increasingly are open to skinnier cable bundles, though there's not consensus among programmers, Isenberg said. "We're not at an inflection point, but the trend is clear," he said. He said video remains profitable and an Atlantic priority, and the Connecticut territory went from losing video customers at faster than industry averages to adding customers profitably.
Liberty Interactive and GCI shareholders are likely to approve Liberty's takeover of the cable ISP at shareholder meetings Feb. 2, FBN Securities analyst Robert Routh emailed investors Thursday. The FCC (see 1711090005) and Regulatory Commission of Alaska (see here) already have approved.