FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated an NPRM on the 10th floor on “leveling the playing field” for independent video programming, said a news release Wednesday. “Stakeholders continue to raise concerns that certain marketplace practices by distributors may hinder independent video programmers from reaching consumers across all video platforms,” said the news release. The NPRM would seek comment on “the current state of the marketplace for diverse and independent programming,” including “obstacles faced by independent programmers seeking multichannel video programming distributor carriage and carriage on online platforms” and actions the FCC can take to promote competition in that area, the release said. An FCC official told us the item seeks broad comment on MVPD practices in carriage negotiations with independent networks such as most favored nation clauses. Former FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn was a vocal proponent of the agency's previous look at these matters in 2016 (see 2112100027).

Two former Fox executives say they regret their efforts to secure regulatory approval for the network, according to a blog post by former Fox lobbyist Preston Padden, who's backing a challenge to a Fox-owned TV station’s license renewal. The blog is a joint statement from former Fox executive vice president Ken Solomon -- who now heads the Sinclair Broadcast-owned Tennis Channel -- and former Hogan attorney William Reyner -- now of MissionTV. “For what little it may, or may not, be worth at this point, Preston Padden, Ken Solomon and Bill Reyner wish to express their deep disappointment for helping to give birth to Fox Broadcasting Company and Fox Television that came to include Fox News Channel,” said the blog post. They secured waivers of FCC rules and convinced affiliates to switch to create a fourth broadcast network, the blog post said. “We genuinely believed that the creation of a fourth competitive force in broadcast television was in the public interest,” said the blog post. “We never envisioned, and would not knowingly have enabled, the disinformation machine that, in our opinion, Fox has become.” Fox didn’t comment.

The FCC should refresh the record in docket 14-261 on whether streaming services should be treated as MVPDs (see 2306230062), said the National Association of Black-Owned Broadcasters and the Multicultural Media Telecom and Internet Council in a call Thursday with an aide to Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, according to an ex parte filing posted Monday. “The regulatory treatment of vMVPDs has implications for broadcast ownership diversity both in terms of new entry and retention of existing owners,” said the filing. “If local stations are unable to control carriage of their signals on vMVPD platforms or cannot be accessed on such platforms, prospective minority owners will be deterred from entering the ranks of television station ownership.” The “continued viability of free over-the-air television is critical to minority viewers and their communities,” the filing said.

Owning a movie or TV show, rather than streaming it, could make a comeback due in part to the popularity of ad-supported subscription VOD, nScreenMedia Colin Dixon blogged Sunday. At least some subscribers would presumably want to avoid ads for a particular piece of content, and could do so by buying it, he said. Innovations including blockchain video network Eluvio -- which allows purchase of video with bonus features or to sell a video the way one might sell a DVD -- also could help reverse the decline in purchasing of video, he said.

Nexstar started negotiating a retransmission consent renewal in bad faith when it terminated consent to retransmit its signal June 30 and refused multiple requests for a one-week extension while negotiations continued, Hawaiian Telecom Services said Thursday in a docket 12-1 complaint. Nextstar demonstrated bad-faith negotiating by not honoring the terms and conditions of the expired retrans consent agreement while negotiations were ongoing and there was no impasse, HTS said, asking the agency to declare Nexstar is acting in bad faith and unspecified FCC relief. Nexstar didn't comment.

Nexstar and DirecTV are blaming each other for a blackout over the weekend of 159 Nexstar stations on DirecTV's direct broadcast satellite and streaming lineup. Nexstar said Sunday that DirecTV rejected extending the now-expired distribution agreement between the two to Oct. 31 as they negotiate. It said it offered "the same fair market rates it offered to other distribution partners with whom it completed successful negotiations in the past year." DirecTV said Nexstar was demanding "more than double the previous fees for the same content."

"Everybody in the industry knows" Nexstar broadcast sidecars Mission and White Knight gave de facto control of their licenses to Nexstar, which operates their stations in every meaningful way, DirecTV said Friday in an informal FCC complaint that raises similar issues as its pending antitrust complaint before the U.S. District Court for Southern New York (see 2303150041). DirecTV said its control of the stations means Nexstar can hike retransmission consent prices, "evade the Commission’s local ownership rules, and exceed Congress’s national ownership cap." In its complaint, DirecTV asks the FCC to declare the existence of de facto control "and to take whatever remedial and disciplinary measures it deems appropriate." Nexstar didn't comment.

Comments are due July 31, replies Aug. 29, in the FCC's "all-in" cable and direct broadcast satellite TV pricing NPRM adopted this month (see 2306200042), per a notice for Friday's Federal Register. The docket is 23-203.

Dozens of free, ad-supported NBCUniversal streaming channels are coming to Amazon Freevee and Xumo Play in a deal signed with the streaming services, NBCU said Thursday.

The Paramount+ Premium plan now includes Showtime content, with the price going from $9.99 a month to $11.99, Paramount Global emailed subscribers Tuesday. The streaming service package's name is changing to Paramount+ with Showtime, it said. The price will be effective on or after July 27, it said.