A unanimous Supreme Court Thursday upheld on process grounds the previous FCC’s relaxation of several broadcast ownership rules (see 2101190070). This makes it unlikely that future challenges to quadrennial reviews will end up before the same panel of 3rd U.S Circuit Court of Appeals judges that has consistently ruled against QR orders for nearly two decades, experts noted in interviews. “The FCC’s decision to repeal or modify the three ownership rules was not arbitrary and capricious for purposes” of the Administrative Procedure Act, said the majority opinion by Justice Brett Kavanaugh. “We reverse the judgment of the" 3rd Circuit.

House Commerce Committee leaders urged nine ISPs and as many associations Wednesday to “raise awareness” of the FCC’s $3.2 billion emergency broadband benefit program. The FCC said Wednesday more than 200 providers say they want to participate. “It is critical that eligible customers know about the benefit, which providers are participating in the program, and how they can access the benefit,” said House Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J. Also signing: House Commerce ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash.; Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa.; and Communications ranking member Bob Latta, R-Ohio. The letters went to: ACA Connects, Altice, AT&T, Charter, Comcast, the Competitive Carriers Association, Cox, CTIA, Frontier, Incompas, Lumen, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, NCTA, NTCA, T-Mobile, USTelecom, Verizon and the Wireless ISP Association. For EBB “to help the greatest number of people, it will require the cooperation and support" of ISPs. While “the FCC is working to establish the start date of the program, your company can play an important role in its success by proactively raising awareness of the program to your customers and the public, including households likely to be eligible,” they said. The agency is reviewing applications and “will eventually share the names of accepted providers,” emailed a spokesperson.

After overwhelmingly going virtual in 2020, major communications groups are announcing plans to hold in-person conferences this year, a Communications Daily survey found. This is despite the remaining pandemic threat and as vaccinations must keep up with evolving variants. Public health experts said in interviews that in-person meetings may be safe this summer, and much depends on vaccine rollout and the virus trajectory.

Amazon’s getting NFL long-term media rights distribution agreements is a “big win” for the tech giant, LightShed Partners wrote investors Friday. The long-term media distribution rights agreements with Amazon, CBS, ESPN/ABC, Fox and NBC cover 2023 through 2033, said the NFL Thursday. Amazon will be the “exclusive home of Thursday Night Football across hundreds of compatible digital devices,” said the league. LightShed called it “the day the multichannel TV bundle died.” The trajectory is clear, the analysts said, “and the proverbial ‘floor’ on multichannel video subscribers is far lower" than the 40 million-50 million LightShed had predicted due to the NFL. That’s now closer to 20 million, “as more and more marquee sports content (especially NFL content) becomes available outside the legacy multichannel bundle,” analysts said. With games on Amazon Prime Video, ESPN+, Paramount+, Peacock and Fox digital platforms -- in addition to NFL Mobile and digital platforms -- NFL games “are now available in more places and on more devices than ever before,” said the league. It said it continues to be “the only sports league that delivers all of its games" on free, over-the-air TV, while noting increased flexibility to watch Sunday and Monday night games. The pact sets the stage for Fox, the only major network without a subscription VOD service, to launch a subscription tier on Tubi that includes NFL programming, LightShed said. Citing the acceleration of cord cutting and legacy media’s “urgency to build their own streaming services and connected TV advertising presence,” LightShed expects all media companies to employ their simulcast streaming rights “sooner than later.” MoffettNathanson analyst Michael Nathanson agrees the distribution deals could accelerate cord cutting, he wrote investors Friday. He said the NFL is likely receiving about $10 billion a year, a sharp step up from the $5.6 billion now for the U.S. rights, with those higher NFL costs will likely mean higher affiliate fees being charged to distributors and local affiliates, leading to higher consumer prices. ACA Connects deems the distribution agreements bad news for cable subscribers, it said Friday. Broadcast networks and TV station owners will use NFL games and the threat of blackouts as leverage to drive up retransmission consent fees, it said, It applauded the reintroduction of the Modern Television Act by Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La. (see 2103110064). The bill would repeal parts of the 1992 Cable Act, including retransmission rules.

ISP associations appealed last month's court ruling denying their preliminary injunction against California's net neutrality law to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Tuesday (in Pacer and see 2102230073), as expected. ACA Connects, CTIA, NCTA and USTelecom told U.S. District Court in Sacramento of their plans. "As the district court has already recognized, California has the authority to protect and enforce net neutrality during ongoing litigation," said a state DOJ spokesperson. "We will continue to fight for net neutrality in court and oppose all efforts to stop enforcement of the law.”

State and local officials backed Connecticut broadband regulations proposed by Gov. Ned Lamont (D) that would require universal buildout while updating infrastructure rules. But telecom industry officials opposed HB-6442 as regressive overreach, at the livestreamed Joint Energy and Technology Committee hearing Tuesday. Anticipating federal net neutrality action, some Connecticut lawmakers questioned the need for SB-4. Telecom lawyers disagreed in recent interviews on how other states will be affected by last month’s ruling by U.S. District Court in Sacramento allowing California’s law to take effect.

Providers are gearing up to offer discounted services through the FCC emergency broadband benefit program. The $3.2 billion program is expected to help millions of low-income consumers and those hit hardest by the pandemic (see 2102260058).

ACA Connects promotes John Higginbotham to executive vice president-chief operating officer, Caroline Persinger to manager-grassroots, and Tomeika Slappy to assistant to President-CEO Matt Polka ... Jenner & Block advances partner Rebekah Goodheart to co-chair, Communications, Internet and Technology Practice ... Latham & Watkins hires ex-FTC Competition Bureau Director Ian Conner as partner, Litigation and Trial Department and member, Antitrust and Competition Practice.

The FCC released rules for the $3.2 billion emergency broadband benefit program Friday. The order adopted several recommendations that commissioners sought, including a uniform start date for participating providers and a streamlined approval process for noneligible telecom carriers (ETCs). Commissioners unanimously voted to approve the rules Thursday (see 2102250066). Commissioner Brendan Carr's statement Friday showed he voted to approve in part and concur in part.

Consider including ISPs "in measures to address the chip shortage, support initiatives that will expand domestic innovation and investment in semiconductor development and manufacturing facilities for all industries and ensure coordination across government and with industry partners on supply chain matters,” four ISP groups urged President Joe Biden Thursday. Biden signed an executive order Wednesday, as expected (see 2102240065), that directs agencies do a 100-day comprehensive review of U.S. supply chains for semiconductors and three other products. It directs the Commerce Department to do a one-year review of the U.S. supply chain for information and communications technology. “Take a whole-of-government approach” in its review of U.S. supply chain issues “and leverage existing public-private partnerships addressing specific supply chain risks,” ACA Connects, CTIA, NCTA and USTelecom wrote Biden. “Work with Congress to fully fund” the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors for America Act. The measure passed in the FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (see 2101030002).