The FCC delayed the October meeting until Oct. 27 largely at the urging of staff working on universal service/intercarrier compensation, so they'd have more time to work out the details on a final order, agency officials said. Officials said they would prefer not to let a vote slip until Nov. 30, the Wednesday after Thanksgiving. Meanwhile, state members of the Federal/State USF Joint Board are not expected to make any additional recommendations before the October meeting date and have many continuing concerns about proposals now before the agency, especially the America’s Broadband Connectivity Plan.

Sezmi is shutting down its consumer hybrid over-the-air/personal TV service, after struggling to gain retail distribution. Sezmi sold the service and one terabyte DMR-1000 DVR with indoor antenna ($299) through Best Buy in select markets and through Amazon, but didn’t gain the agreements it sought with other top-tier retailers and regional telcos (CED July 1/10 p2). On Monday, Amazon listed having three used Sezmi DVRs available at $100, and Best Buy was promoting the hardware at $149. Best Buy officials weren’t available for comment.

The FCC Media Bureau is keeping low-power TV stations in mind as the commission continues seeking congressional authority to voluntarily auction TV spectrum and share proceeds with licensees, bureau officials said during a Q-and-A Monday. Some current proposals would let the commission hold an auction of the spectrum of full-power stations and Class A outlets, but not LPTV stations, an official noted at an FCBA event. The bureau’s proceedings on retransmission consent and the quadrennial review of media ownership rules, last week’s program access order against Cablevision and Madison Square Garden LP and the annual survey of cable rates were other subjects industry lawyers asked about. Few definitive answers on pending proceedings were given.

House Agriculture Committee lawmakers seek broadband “equality” between rural and urban areas, they said a Rural Development Subcommittee field hearing Saturday in Springfield, Ill. The lawmakers said they may take up the issue when they reauthorize the farm bill next year. Among other things, Subcommittee Ranking Member Jim Costa, D-Calif., urged revision of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s definition of rural. Witnesses at the hearing testified about the importance of broadband to education, healthcare and business.

CEA President Gary Shapiro thinks the administration of President Barack Obama is the most “anti-business” of his lifetime, he said in a debate Friday night on CNBC’s The Kudlow Report. Facing off against Shapiro on the program were Howard Dean, former Democratic National Committee chairman, and Robert Johnson, chairman of the investment firm RLJ Companies and former chairman of Black Entertainment Television.

Cable’s lobbying against the right-of-first-refusal sections of the incumbent-backed ABC plan appears to be gaining traction at the FCC, with staff pressing incumbents with concerns about the proposals, telecom officials told us Friday. Wireless and satellite companies have also lashed out at the plan, but cable has been the most aggressive, they said. Cable has stormed Capitol Hill and the commission in the past few weeks with objections to right-of-first-refusal that would let ILECs be the first to be able to refuse USF funds and other parts of the plan (CD Sept 22 p2). “It’s definitely on the radar screen at the commission, as an issue,” a telecom lobbyist said.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Dish will introduce a new Blockbuster-branded movie and game rental and online video streaming product to its subscribers Oct. 1, executives said Friday. The service, at Blockbuster’s lowest tier of one disc out at a time, will cost existing Dish subscribers $10 a month. New subscribers to Dish’s America’s Top 200 tier will get the Blockbuster Movie Pass service included in their $40 monthly subscription for a year. “Dish and Blockbuster are uniquely positioned with a consumer friendly platform to launch our own streaming service,” CEO Joe Clayton told reporters Friday. The announcement comes about five months after Dish acquired Blockbuster.

Senate Republicans resumed their effort to reject the FCC’s December net neutrality order, after the rules were published in the Federal Register on Friday. Publication meant they will take effect Nov. 20 and started a 60-day shot clock under the Congressional Review Act for Senate Republicans to move their joint resolution of disapproval (SJ Res 6). The House passed its own joint resolution (HJ Res 37) earlier this year. But it could be difficult for Republicans to overcome a veto threatened by the White House. Meanwhile, Verizon and MetroPCS are expected to file challenges in coming days to the rules now that they're taking effect. Other legal challenges are also expected.

It makes sense for the FCC to research the diversity of media ownership because a rule targeted at women and people of color was sent back to the agency, officials said Friday. The head of the FCC’s Office of Communications Business Opportunities and an aide to Commissioner Michael Copps said the agency may have to do more research in light of July’s remand of media ownership rules. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia sent back an eligible entity rule, and OCBO Director Thomas Reed said his office is working on the issue. Joshua Cinelli of Copps’ office said his boss hopes there will be more studies than the 11 the agency already has done for its current ownership review, with at least one on diversity.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski asked the reconstituted Communications Security, Reliability & Interoperability Council to make 911 call prioritization a key focus as it starts work. Genachowski was not at Friday’s CSRIC meeting, but sent a letter, which Public Safety Bureau Chief Jamie Barnett read at the start of the session. The FCC is also asking questions about 911 prioritization in a rulemaking approved Thursday (CD Sept 23 p6).