The FCC denied Digital Broadcasting’s application for certification to operate an open video system in a service area including the top 210 U.S. designated market areas and “Territories, Commonwealths, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Guam, and American Samoa,” said a Media Bureau order Thursday. The application was denied over concern that Digital Broadcasting didn’t fulfill a requirement to serve the filing on all local communities that would be covered in the proposed “vastly expansive” service area, the order said. The application shows “hundreds” of communities and local authorities were given notice electronically, but it “does not make clear whether every local community covered within Digital Broadcasting’s anticipated service area was properly served.” The order said there are indications at least some communities in some DMAs weren’t given notice. Since the application is being denied without prejudice, it could be refiled with a more complete listing, the order said.
The 8K Association landed Amazon Prime Video, UL and 4by4, a producer of 8K demonstration and promotional videos, said the group Thursday. The association didn’t speculate on the ramifications of Amazon's new membership for 8K streaming content on Prime Video, and the customarily secretive Amazon didn’t respond to questions. 8KA, the brainchild of Samsung and Samsung’s broader display ecosystem, also revised the criteria for earning its certification logo to include “a broader set of video decoding standards that will promote the wider availability of 8K streaming content,” it said. The association unveiled its logo program a year ago (see 2101040054).
Comments are due Feb. 14, replies March 1, on an FCC Media Bureau proposal to delete vacant FM broadcast station allotments in Snowflake, Arizona; Millerton, Oklahoma; Powers, Oregon; Mount Enterprise and Paint Rock, Texas; Hardwick, Vermont; and Meeteetse, Wyoming, said a docket 21-502 NPRM Thursday. The agency said there were no bids for the seven in two FM auctions, and their deletion opens the door to new FM allotments in nearby communities or upgrades of existing stations.
Comments are due Jan. 24, replies Feb. 8, on Peloton's petition for an 18-month waiver of FCC rules requiring accessibility of user interfaces on some digital devices, giving it more time to implement extra accessibility features for its connected fitness equipment, said a Media Bureau public notice Thursday in docket 12-108.
SES is 30% done with C-band accelerated clearing Phase II satellite transitions, including broadcast TV, cable network and other services being received at 3820-4000 MHz, the satellite operator said in an FCC docket 18-122 quarterly report Wednesday. About 10% of antennas part of the Phase II transition are installed and all SES-associated incumbent earth stations have any needed compression equipment, it said. It said all compressed services were transitioned by Oct. 31, and filter installation will happen after all incumbent earth station services at 3700-3980 MHz have fully transitioned on the satellite. It said it remains on schedule to meet Phase II clearing obligations.
Tech use by people over 50 “skyrocketed” during the COVID-19 pandemic and is expected to continue, AARP reported Tuesday. This year, they spent an average $821 on tech, vs. $394 in 2019. Smartphones and accessories, plus Bluetooth headsets, topped purchases. A third of older adults ordered food online from a restaurant and one in four listened to a podcast in the past two years. Seniors subscribe on average to three streaming video platforms; four in 10 feel technology isn't designed with them in mind.
Fitness equipment company Peloton wants the FCC to grant it an 18-month waiver from some video accessibility requirements for new software it plans to launch on its bikes, treadmills and consoles, said a petition posted in docket 12-108 Tuesday. Though Peloton remains "fully committed to extending the functionality" of its products to blind or vision-impaired users, it needs additional time "to analyze, develop, and implement accessibility plans,” it said. “Designing and successfully integrating assistive technology into Peloton’s platform is more complex than a simple software update.”
Streaming services Cinedigm and Shout Factory signed a deal to provide film and TV series content to one another, Cinedigm said Monday.
Disney channels returned to YouTube TV's lineup, the streamer said Sunday, after Friday's expiration of their licensing agreement. YouTube TV said monthly pricing remains $64.99. During the blackout, YouTube TV cut prices $15.
“Strict enforcement” of accessibility deadlines for user interfaces on some digital devices wouldn’t be “the most constructive approach” due to supply chain woes, said CTA and the Information Technology Industry Council in a call with aides to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel Thursday, per a filing in docket 21-140. Disruptions created by the COVID-19 pandemic, including to semiconductor availability, could make it hard for some entities to meet a Dec. 20 accessibility deadline for “limited capability digital apparatus,” said the filing: “CTA members facing these constraints are working diligently to come into compliance as soon as possible given circumstances largely outside their control.” Earlier this month, the American Council of the Blind said the requirements have been pending for eight years and should take effect “without delay.”