The two Democratic senators from Connecticut criticized the fallout of a retransmission dispute between Cablevision and Meredith Corp.’s WFSB Hartford, but the cable operator pointed to others at fault. It “does a disservice to Connecticut families,” said Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Christopher Murphy in a Friday letter to both parties (http://1.usa.gov/1gqui5Z). They said blackouts are “harmful for consumers” and that “WFSB deserves to be fairly compensated for its content under law,” with broadcasters playing what they call a “fundamental role” in the U.S. They asked Cablevision to commit to refunding Litchfield and New Haven County subscribers upon request for the value of WFSB that they have lost. Cablevision said the senators “are absolutely right that the WFSB owners should put Channel 3 programming back on during negotiations and stop holding Cablevision customers in one area of Connecticut hostage in order to force customers in a different part of the state to pay double for CBS programming.” A Meredith Corp. spokesman pointed to a statement issued last week. “Cablevision’s assertions are untrue and reflect its lack of understanding of Connecticut television viewers,” Meredith said. “Other subscription television operators recognize the value of WFSB local programming and have entered into agreements to compensate us accordingly. However, Cablevision has refused to even negotiate, and is revealing its true colors by wasting time with baseless press releases meant to mislead Connecticut residents, as well as a nuisance filing in the St. Louis market, a jurisdiction where it doesn’t even serve any viewers.” Meredith is ready to negotiate in good faith, it said.

Aereo closed a $34 million round of financing to fund “rapid nationwide expansion,” it said in a news release Tuesday night. New investors in the company include IAC, Himalaya Capital Management and Gordon Crawford, formerly of Capital Research and Management, the release said. “Aereo is available in 10 markets and will grow to 15 by the end of the quarter,” said CEO Chet Kanojia in the release. Aereo is currently available in New York City, Boston, Atlanta, Miami, Salt Lake City, Houston, Dallas, Denver, Detroit and Baltimore. The company is embroiled in ongoing court challenges to its business model in Utah and Massachusetts, and the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to announce Monday whether cert has been granted on a broadcaster appeal of a 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in Aereo’s favor (CD Jan 3 p9).

TV and movie ratings systems need to be comprehensively overhauled, said the Parents Television Council in a news release Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1aIfprx). “Networks routinely assign age ratings for horrifically violent content on broadcast TV deeming it appropriate for children,” said PTC President Tim Winter in the release. Ratings for “Movies are no better, as new research found that PG-13 rated films contain as much violence as R-rated films,” Winter said. This week is the one-year anniversary of a series of meetings between Vice President Joe Biden and the entertainment industry on media violence, PTC said. “In one year, the industry has done nothing to reduce media violence,” said Winter. Ratings for TV and movies should be “accurate, consistent, transparent and publicly accountable,” said PTC. “More than 3,000 medical and sociological studies in the last 50 years have proven that children are affected by the media content they consume,” Winter said. NAB and MPAA didn’t comment.

Akamai Technologies will provide online video streaming delivery, site performance and security services to NBC during the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, it said. Akamai’s cloud-based digital media, site performance and security products “help make the entire online experience faster, scalable and more secure,” it said in a news release (http://bit.ly/19esuxE). NBC also will deliver video through NBCOlympics.com and the “NBC Sports Live Extra” mobile app, Akamai said. “These experiences are automatically optimized for viewing devices and network variability while enjoying protection against malicious traffic."

The FCC should investigate Meredith Corp.’s blackout of a station on Cablevision in Connecticut, and deny the broadcaster’s application to take ownership of KMOV-TV St. Louis, the operator wrote Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake. KMOV is the station Belo agreed to divest to receive regulatory approval from the Department of Justice and FCC for its purchase by Gannett (CD Dec 17 p6). “Violation of one of a broadcaster’s primary public interest obligations -- the requirement that it serve residents in its community of license -- demonstrates unfitness to hold additional broadcast licenses,” said Cablevision. “Cablevision’s assertions are untrue and reflect its lack of understanding of Connecticut television viewers,” said Meredith in a written statement. The retransmission consent dispute between the companies involves Meredith’s WFSB(CBS) Hartford-New Haven. Cablevision pays to carry WFSB as the local CBS affiliate in Litchfield and New Haven counties, but Meredith also wants the provider to pay to carry the station in Fairfield County, where Cablevision already pays for CBS affiliate WCBS New York, said Cablevision. That demand is “unprecedented,” Cablevision said. “The ABC, NBC, and Fox affiliates in the Hartford-New Haven DMA all have either allowed Cablevision to carry their stations on the Fairfield County system without payment or permitted Cablevision not to carry their station in Fairfield County.” Meredith has refused those options, and pulled WFSB from Cablevision customers in all three counties, Cablevision said. WFSB is “Connecticut’s leading news station” and covers the news of the entire state, Meredith said. “Other subscription television operators recognize the value of WFSB local programming and have entered into agreements to compensate us accordingly.” Cablevision has “refused to even negotiate, and is revealing its true colors by wasting time with baseless press releases meant to mislead Connecticut residents,” Meredith said. Meredith is “violating its public interest obligations” by blacking out programming “completely in one part of the state in order to reap fees in another part of the state,” said Cablevision. The blackout is a signal that Meredith will behave similarly with other broadcast properties, said Cablevision. “These actions portend Meredith’s unwillingness to serve the public interest in the St. Louis market, were it to receive approval for a transfer of a broadcast license to operate KMOV-TV,” said the cable operator in a news release. Cablevision’s references to KMOV are “a nuisance filing,” said Meredith, saying Cablevision doesn’t have viewers in the St. Louis area. “We remain ready to negotiate in good faith,” said Meredith. The bureau didn’t comment on whether a denial of Meredith’s application to buy KMOV would have any effect on Gannett/Belo.

U.S. consumer spending on home entertainment content jumped 0.7 percent in 2013 to $18.2 billion, said the Digital Entertainment Group Tuesday in its annual year-end report. Highlights of the report included a 47.2 percent increase in electronic sell-through to $1.2 billion, marking the first time that category surpassed the $1 billion mark, the DEG said. Other forms of digital delivery also fared well, the DEG said. Spending on subscription streaming jumped 32.1 percent to $3.2 billion, while VOD rose 4.8 percent to $2.1 billion, it said. However, sell-through of packaged media fell 8.1 percent to $7.8 billion, and rental spending in all forms declined 5.2 percent to $6.1 billion, it said. Other highlights: (1) Blu-ray software spending “remained consistent,” rising about 5 percent, the DEG said, without disclosing a specific dollar volume. (2) Total Blu-ray U.S. homes exceed 72 million, including those that own at least one stand-alone Blu-ray player, PS3 or Blu-ray-equipped home theater in a box. (3) There are now more than 15 million UltraViolet accounts, and “most major retailers support UltraViolet,” the DEG said. (4) “Strong consumer interest” in Ultra HD “bodes well for the home entertainment industry,” the report said.

A lawmaker questioned what he called the “onerous conditions” the Tribune Co. is placing on the Los Angeles Times and other publications amid corporate restructuring. House Commerce Committee ranking member Henry Waxman, D-Calif., sent a letter to Tribune Monday (http://t.co/eUJY6w0fKh). Tribune is putting profits ahead of public interest, and while other companies have spun off print publications, “none have saddled their newspaper units with the punishing terms you are proposing for the Tribune Publishing Company,” Waxman said. There’s an appearance of the company “looting” the newspaper, he added. A Tribune counsel will meet with Waxman’s staff on Jan. 15, according to the letter. Waxman asked Tribune to have several documents, outlined in the letter, ready for that meeting. “We look forward to meeting with Congressman Waxman’s office next week and to the opportunity to demonstrate that our plans for our publishing business are focused on it being a successful stand-alone company,” Tribune told us.

NPR developed a news app for Chevrolet and Opel vehicle owners. The NPR News App “is one of the initial offerings in the in-car AppShop, available this summer in select Chevrolet vehicles with MyLink technology,” NPR said in a news release (http://n.pr/1gB1B70). It provides U.S. drivers with news, culture and humor from NPR “and more than 900 public radio stations nationwide, including live broadcast listening and more than 80 all-music streams,” it said. “The app uses a vehicle’s GPS location to automatically localize listening to the nearest NPR member station.” The app already is compatible with Ford’s Sync AppLink system, and will be on display this week at CES in Las Vegas, NPR said.

The Copyright Royalty Board started two proceedings, the first to “determine reasonable rates and terms for certain digital performances of sound recordings and the making of ephemeral recordings,” it said Monday (http://1.usa.gov/1daEocV). The other proceeding will determine rates for the “use of sound recordings and the making of ephemeral recordings by new subscription services” (http://1.usa.gov/1daEktQ). In each case, the deadline to file a petition and pay the fee to participate is Feb. 3,and the term of the final determination is Jan. 1, 2016, to Dec. 31, 2020.

Cox Enterprises bought 25 percent of AutoTrader Group from Providence Equity Partners, giving Cox 98 percent ownership of AutoTrader, Cox said in a press release Friday. AutoTrader Group is “the nation’s largest digital automotive marketplace,” and owns Autotrader.com, Kelley Blue Book and several other companies associated with assisting car sales, said the release. Cox also owns and operates vehicle remarketer Manheim. With the buy of Providence’s shares in AutoTrader, Cox Enterprises “will continue to look for opportunities to grow our leadership position and further innovate ways to meet the needs of car buyers,” said Cox Enterprises CEO John Dyer.