WASHINGTON—The U.S. Supreme Court has issued a 8-1 decision upholding the Federal Communications Commission’s authority to levy fines as part of its enforcement efforts.

The ruling involves massive penalties totaling nearly $200 million that the FCC imposed on Verizon Communications ($47 million), AT&T ($57 million), T-Mobile ($80 million) and other wireless carriers for failing to protect their customers’ location data.

Both Verizon and AT&T appealed the decision, arguing that the FCC’s fines violated their Seventh Amendment rights to a jury trial.

In a June 4 ruling written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the court found that “the FCC’s forfeiture proceedings fit comfortably within the Court’s Seventh Amendment precedents. The Seventh Amendment ‘preserve[s]’ the right to trial by jury in ‘Suits at common law,’ and applies in all proceedings in which ‘legal rights’ are to be ‘settle[d],’”

“It does not, however, ‘prescribe at what stage’ of a legal dispute “a trial by jury must, if demanded, be had," Roberts wrote. ”The Amendment requires only that, before legal rights and obligations are conclusively ‘ascertained and determined’...a party has the chance to insist that a jury make the ‘ultimate determination of issues of fact’...Consistent with these principles, this Court has upheld nonjury adjudications making initial findings of fact that are subject to de novo review in a subsequent jury trial…Given the similar features of the Commission’s enforcement scheme, the Commission may issue forfeiture orders without the involvement of a jury.”

The court’s decision earlier this year to address the Verizon and AT&T appeals had raised concerns about the FCC’s ongoing ability to impose fines.

In the last two decades, the Supreme Court has steadily chipped away at the legal authority of government regulators, most notably in its 2024 ruling rejecting the doctrine of “Chevron deference,” under which courts were to defer to a regulatory agency’s expertise in interpreting federal laws where Congress’ intent was unclear, and in a second 2024 ruling in Securities & Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy. In the SEC case, the Court ruled 6-3 that the securities regulator must bring fraud cases seeking civil penalties to federal court instead of relying on its internal tribunals.

Based on the SEC case, both Verizon and AT&T appealed the fines, arguing the FCC was denying the defendants their right to a jury trial by issuing them.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York denied that argument in the Verizon case and upheld the fine but the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans overturned the fines against AT&T.

Following that, Verizon appealed the 2nd Circuit ruling to the Supreme Court and the FCC appealed the AT&T case. The June 4 decision resolved the conflict between the Circuit Court judgments.

In its June 4, ruling the Supreme Court ordered that “the judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in No. 25–406 is reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opin-ion. The judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in No. 25–567 is affirmed.”

Justice Clarence Thomas issued a dissenting opinion arguing that the Court was wrong in ruling that the FCC fines were “nonbinding” and therefore did not violate the companies’ right to a jury trial.

“When the Federal Government seeks to deprive a person of property, it must go through an Article III court,” Thomas wrote, citing the SEC v. Jarkesy decision. “That means the regular course of trial proceedings with their usual protections, not the use of ad hoc adjudication procedures before the same agency responsible for prosecuting the law, subject only to hands-off judicial review. Thus, as this Court held in Jarkesy and reaffirms today, agencies can collect penalties only after adjudication in court through a trial de novo.”

In reaction to the opinion, Venable LLP partner and former SEC general counsel Megan Barbero who represented the government in SEC v. Jarkesy said that "the FCC decision reflects an effort by the Court to cabin—at least to some extent—the reach of its decision in SEC v. Jarkesy. The Court interpreted the FCC’s forfeiture orders as non-binding, non-final preliminary determinations of “suspected violations,” stressing that the orders are unenforceable unless the Department of Justice files a suit in district court to recover the penalty. The Court emphasized that, because the telecommunications carriers are entitled to a de novo jury trial on the underlying violation in that enforcement action, the Seventh Amendment was satisfied.

Barbero also explained that "the Supreme Court’s reasoning was based on the FCC statute at issue but likely extends to other agency schemes that similarly result in non-final and non-binding findings that the government must prove to a jury trial before collecting any fine. That may limit the reach of Jarkesy to a point. But the result of the Court’s decision will also limit federal agencies’ practical ability to collect administrative penalties through their administrative processes. Regulated parties under analogous statutory schemes may now feel they have more license to decline to pay administrative penalties assessed by an agency and choose to instead wait for the government to marshal the resources to bring a district court proceeding, which is no small lift for the government."

The full opinion is available here.

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to consider fines imposed on Verizon Communications and AT&T in two cases that could have a wide-ranging impact on the Federal Communications Commission’s ability to impose fines without a jury trial.

The cases involve massive penalties totaling nearly $200 million that the FCC imposed on Verizon ($47 million), AT&T ($57 million), T-Mobile ($80 million) and other wireless carriers for failing to protect their customers’ location data.

Over the past 15 years, the Supreme Court has been steadily chipping away at the authority of regulatory agencies, most notably in its 2024 ruling rejecting the doctrine of “Chevron deference,” under which courts were to defer to a regulatory agency’s expertise in interpreting federal laws where Congress’ intent was unclear, and in a second 2024 ruling in Securities & Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy. In the SEC case, the Court ruled 6-3 that the securities regulator must bring fraud cases seeking civil penalties to federal court instead of relying on its internal tribunals.

Based on the SEC case, both Verizon and AT&T appealed the fines, arguing the FCC was denying the defendants their right to a jury trial by issuing them.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York denied that argument in the Verizon case and upheld the fine but the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans overturned the fines against AT&T.

Following that, Verizon appealed the 2nd Circuit ruling to SCOTUS and the FCC appealed the AT&T case. The High Court’s decision to hear the cases together will resolve the conflict between the Circuit Court judgments.

“And the decision below has serious practical consequences, since it deprives the Commission of one of its most important regulatory remedies and severely impairs the agency’s ability to enforce federal communications law,” Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in the government’s petition, according to The Hill.

As cable operators face increased competition from 5G fixed wireless access providers, a new report from Ookla Research finds that T-Mobile is the FWA speed leader with a median download speed which is approximately double that of AT&T.

5G fixed wireless access (FWA) is a popular and growing broadband option in the U.S. with the top three U.S. FWA providers —T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon — adding 1.04 million new subscribers in Q3 2025 bringing the total number of FWA customers to 14.7 million, which is slightly more than 12.5% of the 117.4 million U.S. households with broadband, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey, the Ookla report noted.

According to recent Ookla Speedtest Intelligence data, T-Mobile maintains its FWA leadership position with median download speed of 209.06 Mbps for Q3 2025, which is approximately double that of AT&T’s median download speed of 104.63 Mbps in the same quarter.

The Ookla data indicates, however, that there was a noticeable decline in all three providers’ download and upload speeds during Q2 2025 and Q3 2025, which may be a seasonal pattern as we saw a similar decline in median upload speeds for all three operators in Q2 and Q3 2024 and a decline in download speeds for AT&T and Verizon in Q2 and Q3 2024.

It’s also possible that this may be an early indication that strong uptake in FWA is starting to impact performance, the researchers said.

Key takeaways from the report were:

• Speedtest users from all three U.S. FWA providers—T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T—experienced declines in both their median download and upload speeds during Q2 2025 and Q3 2025.
• AT&T Internet Air’s latency is higher than its peers but it’s improving. In Q3 AT&T’s median latency was 67 milliseconds (ms) compared to Verizon at 54 ms and T-Mobile at 50 ms. However, AT&T’s latency is improving every quarter from a high of 78 ms in Q3 2024.
• AT&T and T-Mobile customers in the 10th percentile of users are experiencing speed declines during peak hours in the late afternoon and evening. Verizon subscribers in the 10th percentile don’t have the same sorts of declines, indicating the operator’s enforcement of speed caps may be helping it deliver a more consistent experience to those customers.
• T-Mobile is the FWA speed leader. T-Mobile’s median download speed of 209.06 Mbps in Q3 2025 is approximately double AT&T’s median download speed of 104.63 Mbps in the same quarter.

More information is available here.

WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T’s $1.02 billion acquisition of spectrum from UScellular in a decision that was issued shortly after AT&T told the regulator it had abandoned its DEI efforts.

In agreeing to end its diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, AT&T joins a growing list of companies, including Paramount, Verizon Communications and T-Mobile, that abandoned such programs prior to receiving FCC approval for pending deals. The issue could also emerge if the FCC is called on to approve any possible deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, though that company is currently in an exclusive negotiating period with streamer Netflix.

In a memorandum opinion and order affirming the spectrum transfer, the FCC noted: “We recognize AT&T’s commitment to equal employment opportunity and nondiscrimination as strengthening its investment and service quality efforts. AT&T reaffirms this commitment and states that it has adjusted its employment and business practices, including as to its culture; career development, hiring, and mentorship; employee groups; suppliers; external, sector-specific surveys; and sponsorships. We accept AT&T’s commitments as firm and definite, and expect that these changes will prevent DEI discrimination in the post-transaction company, as consistent with the law and the public interest.”

Earlier this week FCC Chair Brendan Carr applauded a Dec. 1 letter from AT&T that promised to end DEI.

AT&T also needs approval from the FCC for its $23 billion deal to acquire spectrum from EchoStar.

Early in his administration, President Donald Trump issued an executive order ending DEI in the federal government.

Likewise, Carr ended DEI at the regulator and has threatened to investigate a number of media companies, including The Walt Disney Co. and NBCUniversal, for their DEI efforts. Paramount was given approval for the $8 billion Skydance merger in July after it publicly abandoned all DEI efforts.

The issue has also been cited as a potential issue in the any potential acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, particularly for Comcast and NBCUniversal, which have been repeatedly criticized by Carr for coverage of the Trump administration.

The FCC's sole Democrat, Anna Gomez criticized AT&T's decision to abandon DEI on X.

In a ruling that could have broader implications on the legality of regulatory agencies levying fines through administrative proceedings, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned a $57 million fine imposed by the Federal Communications Commission against AT&T for violating the privacy of its customers’ location data.

In an internal proceeding, the FCC found AT&T had violated Section 222 of the Telecommunications Act by mishandling customer data and fined the company $57 million.

AT&T sued the FCC, arguing, among other things, that the in-house adjudication violated the Constitution by denying it an Article III decision-maker and a jury trial.

The Court agreed and overturned the fine.

The case is notable in that the Court justified its decision in part by citing a 2023 Supreme Court’s decision in SEC v. Jarkesy. That case severely restricts regulatory agencies from levying civil monetary fines through the administrative process.

The 5th Circuit ruling indicates that other fines levied by the FCC through administrative processes could also be overturned. In a blog post about the earlier 2023 SEC v Jarkesy ruling, law firm Greenberg Traurig noted that “more broadly, the Jarkesy decision calls into question whether any federal regulatory agency—not just the SEC—can bring in-house proceedings to enforce civil penalties.”

At minimum, it means that agencies like the FCC would have to file cases in federal xourt to impose penalties, a much more expensive and labor-intensive process that could limit enforcement.

The decision vacating the AT&T fine also vindicates the decision by FCC Chair Brendan Carr (who was a commissioner when the FCC fine was issued) and FCC commissioner Nathan Simington to oppose the fines.

The full opinion can be found here.

A new study of fixed wireless access (FWA) providers and their internet access speeds shows that operators continue to improve their speeds, with T-Mobile’s median download speeds increasing by more than 50% from 134.99 Mbps in Q4 2023 to 205.44 Mbps in Q4 2024, according to Ookla.

The analysis found that AT&T’s Internet Air FWA customers experienced strong median download speeds of 150.47 Mbps as of Q4 2024.

Verizon, which has more than 4.3 million FWA subscribers, saw its median download speed rise more than 12% from 132.55 Mbps in Q4 2023 to 150.47 Mbps in Q4 2024.

“5G fixed wireless access (FWA) has steadily gained popularity in the U.S. over the past four years and now the service has more than 11.5 million subscribers —and that’s just counting the FWA subscribers from the big three nationwide operators,” explained Sue Marek, Ookla’s editorial director and part of the company’s analyst team “Today FWA is considered a viable broadband competitor, and its traction with customers has caused many cable operators to lose customers to FWA.”

Marek also reported that the study also found improved Upload speeds, which are becoming increasingly important to consumers and remote workers. “Our data shows that median FWA upload speeds increased from Q4 2023 to Q4 2024 with T-Mobile’s upload speeds consistently outpacing the competition,” Marek noted. “T-Mobile’s upload speed increased 9.05% from 19.88 Mbps in Q4 2023 to 21.68 Mbps in Q4 2024.”

FWA operators, however, saw less improvement in the area of latency, which is important for streaming live events and gaming.

“Unlike FWA upload and download speeds that have improved from Q4 2023 until Q4 2024, latency figures have remained somewhat static for Verizon and AT&T while T-Mobile’s latency has declined,” Marek wrote. “Latency is a key measurement because higher latency will impact real-time applications such as online gaming and video conferencing.”

More data and the full article is available here.

Years of speculation have finally come to fruition today, as the last two remaining satellite TV providers in the United States announced plans to merge in a deal worth nearly $10 billion. In an announcement from its owner AT&T, DirecTV agreed to acquire Dish parent company EchoStar that will result in creating the nation’s largest pay-TV service.

In a separate announcement, TPG, which AT&T has partnered with since 2021 to operate DirecTV’s satellite and streaming services as a joint venture, agreed to acquire the remaining 70% stake in DirecTV that it does not already own, for $7.6 billion. The deal is expected to be formalized by the end of 2025.

The agreement allows DirecTV to acquire EchoStar’s video business, which includes Dish TV and its Sling TV streaming service for $1 (not a typo) plus Dish’s net debt, valued at about $9.75 billion.

AT&T and TPG said their separate agreement will not be affected by the merger. Analysts expect the merger—which has been attempted in the past but resisted by regulators—will be quickly approved, given the decline in traditional pay-TV revenues that has coincided with the rise in cord cutting and streaming. U.S. pay-TV providers, including satellite TV services, lost 5.04 million subscribers in 2023, an increase from 4.6 million in 2022. This decline is part of a larger trend where pay-TV penetration dropped from 88% in 2010 to 64% in 2023, according to Evoca.

A combined DirecTV/Dish will have almost 20 million subscribers, making it the nation’s largest pay-TV service after Comcast, which has just over 13 million as of the end of June. DirecTV has about 11.3 million subscribers and Dish has approximately 8.07 million subscribers.

DirecTV CEO Bill Morrow and CFO Ray Carpenter are expected to stay on after the merger with the company’s HQ in El Segundo, Calif., current home to DirecTV.

Morrow said of the deal, “With greater scale, we expect a combined DirecTV and Dish will be better able to work with programmers to realize our vision for the future of TV, which is to aggregate, curate, and distribute content tailored to customers’ interests, and to be better positioned to realize operating efficiencies while creating value for customers through additional investment.”

Hamid Akhavan, President and Chief Executive Officer, EchoStar, called the deal “in the best interests of EchoStar’s customers, shareholders, bondholders, employees, and partners,” adding that “with an improved financial profile, we will be better positioned to continue enhancing and deploying our nationwide 5G Open RAN wireless network. This will provide U.S. wireless consumers with more choices and help to drive innovation at a faster pace. We expect Dish and EchoStar bondholders to benefit from two companies with stronger financial profiles and more sustainable capital structures.”

DirecTV launched 30 years ago in June 1994 and Dish debuted in 1996. After some consolidation in the late ‘90’s, the satellite TV market reached its peak during the first decade of the 21st century. However increased competition from pay-TV providers such as Comcast and Charter—which upped its broadband speeds, which, in turn helped birth the streaming phenomenon—took its toll on the industry by the 'teens.

Recent dust-ups, such as DIrecTV’s carriage dispute with Disney as well as the loss of exclusive NFL-wide coverage with its Sunday NFL Ticket package to YouTube TV two years ago, further illustrated the industry’s decline in recent years.

Cox Communications said this week that it would modify its “powered by fiber” marketing campaign to make plain that the company’s internet division does not actually offer fiber to the home. The company’s about face comes after the National Advertising Division agreed with a challenge brought by AT&T 

Cox offers two different fixed broadband internet services: Cox Fiber, a residential internet service that is 100% fiber, including fiber to the home. The other, Cox Internet, is almost entirely fiber to the node close to residences, but the “last mile” uses coaxial cable instead of fiber. These services do not overlap. The customer’s location determines which service they can purchase. 

NAD determined that “powered by fiber” reasonably conveys the messages that Cox Internet is comparable to fiber internet, offers customers fiber optic internet connections to their homes, and offers an advanced fiber optic network. But since a coaxial and a fiber network are equivalent in performance to all consumer-relevant metrics, NAD recommended that Cox modify its “powered by fiber” claims. 

Cox responded that it would comply with NAD’s recommendation, adding that it “appreciates NAD’s recognition that Cox may continue to advertise that Cox Internet is Powered by Fiber,” and while it “disagrees with certain aspects of NAD’s decision, it is a strong supporter of advertising self-regulation.” 

The news comes exactly a year after AT&T lost another challenge over Cox’s marketing practices, when the NAD agreed that Cox’s “gig-speeds everywhere” did not violate its guidelines.

86 Years Ago - Nov. 2, 1936: Following 18 months of breakneck construction, testing and hiring, the British Broadcasting Corp. launched the world’s first regularly scheduled “high-definition” television service. (Germany started TV broadcasts a year earlier, but with 180 lines.) 

The BBC startup was complicated slightly by a government requirement to give two competing television companies (and standards) an equal opportunity to prove themselves worthy of adoption. An agreement was struck in which the competitors would take turns in providing TV service during an initial trial period. 

Television pioneer John Logie Baird won the toss of a coin, and precisely at 3:00 p.m. the station’s “Vision On” and “Sound On” signs were illuminated, and his 240-line mechanically-scanned signals left the 200-foot “mast” at the Alexandra Palace event venue on its way to the small number of television “aerials” erected by early TV adopters in the greater London area. 

Baird’s competitor, EMI, with its higher-resolution all-electronic television system was ultimately declared the winner. The 405-line/50-field/AM sound standard developed by EMI remained in use—with an interruption caused by WWII—until 1985.  A special “Television Song” was commissioned in connection with the startup of the BBC’s service, with British vocalist Adele Dixon performing the composition in the inaugural broadcast. 

A film of her performance about “the magic rays of light that bring television to you” is available at   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Rpfek-F8Rw. In addition to capturing Dixon’s performance, the film also provides a look at the 1936 television facility’s technical operations. 

OTHER NEWS FROM TV’S PAST:

75 Years Ago – November 1947: Just a few weeks after General Electric switched on its private microwave link to connect its WRGB Schenectady television station with the new AT&T Long Lines video switching center in Manhattan, AT&T inaugurated its own eight-hop microwave radio linkage constructed between New York City and Boston. (AT&T deemed their microwave video carriage “experiment” successful and started redrawing plans to augment its planned intercity video coaxial cable linkage with microwave repeaters.) 

In other news, in addition to the postwar interest in television station construction, the FCC has been receiving an increasingly large number of applications for new AM and FM stations. The Commission, concerned that there will not be enough commercial call signs to go around, issued a news release encouraging “economy” in requests for new station call signs, existing AM licensees asked to append their main AM call signs with an “FM” or “TV” suffix instead of requesting totally separate calls. Such suffixes would also be applicable for new “standalone” FM or TV stations, resulting in six-letter calls; i.e., WXXX-TV.

50 Years Ago – November 1972 : A next-gen videotape “format war” is underway, with IVC joining Sony in exhibiting a self-threading videocassette machine at the National Association of Educational Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas. IVC’s new VCR-100 series utilizes 1-inch tape, as opposed to the 3/4-inch used by Sony in their U-Matic cassette machines. According to IVC, their machines are intended for “the top end of the closed-circuit television market,” but would also be at home in broadcast and cable TV applications. 

The company stressed that the tapes are backward-compatible with all previous IVC machines as the format is the same—just packaged differently. Meanwhile, Sony announced that it expected to produce at least 100,000 U-Matic machines before year’s end, and had broken ground on a new plant to keep up with the demand. (Sony’s U-Matics cost about half of the $2,700 introductory price announced by IVC for the color version of their VCR-100.)

25 Years Ago – November 1997: Although transitioning to a digital television platform is now “the law of the land,” there is still a lot of uncertainty as to exactly how this will be done and what form it will take. The initial goal was to bring high-definition video to consumers’ homes, but this has morphed a bit as some broadcasters are considering going with a 480-line SD “main” signal and equally standard-definition ancillary programming streams. 

Others are considering going on the air with a “fake” HD signal generated by upconverter devices now reaching the market. Even the networks are in a quandary as to what to do. This “HD uncertainty” is reflected in a recent study from the Cambridge, Mass.-based Forrester Research organization, which found that even though most broadcasters were willing to spend sizeable sums to upgrade to digital and/or HD, they could expect to lose viewers to cable once they commenced transmitting digital signals. According to the study’s 10-year consumer viewing habit projection:

"Local stations will find their antenna and transmitter adjustments go for naught as 71 percent of households in 2007 eschew rabbit ears in favor of cable's broad offerings." 

75 Years Ago – October 1947 – Enabled by AT&T Long Lines connectivity, network radio has flourished since the 1920s, with new affiliates being easily tied in to New York City net facilities via the phone company’s vast long distance telephone infrastructure. However, such video universal connectivity does not exist, and in the fall of 1947 the inability of this common carrier to deliver network video to stations presents a major roadblock for the rapidly growing television industry.

In Q4 1947, AT&T was only able to provide video service between New York City and Washington, D.C. and the three stations now on the air in Philadelphia and Baltimore. Although the company had committed to extending video service beyond these initial four east coast cities, it informed the FCC that widespread TV network linkage was still “years away.” (AT&T had apparently woefully underestimated postwar TV growth and networking demands, planning in 1944 to lay only 600 route miles of coax, a number that was later revised to 12,000 miles.)

AT&T initially planned to utilize “tried and true” coaxial cable for its video network, but now was also experimenting with microwave radio as a faster deployment option. While some stations are content to receive network programming on film (kinescope recordings), others want live feds and are moving ahead with construction of their own intercity microwave systems.

OTHER NEWS FROM TV’S PAST:

94 Years Ago, October 1928 – “The problem of color television has at last been solved,” according to a report in Radio News magazine from Ronald F. Tilman, who witnessed a recent demonstration of TV pioneer John Logie Baird’s latest breakthrough. 

As Tilman reported: “…the vivid reality of the colorings was most remarkable, and adds very greatly to the effect. A bunch of flowers, blue delphiniums, was placed in front of the transmitter (camera) and appeared on the receiving screen in a most vivid blue. A human face was then transmitted, and when the tongue was put out, the pink color showed clearly, the face appearing in a different shade of pink…. [But] by far the most impressive part of the demonstration was a basket of ripe strawberries, the red fruit showing in an amazingly vivid fashion against the white basket.”

Baird’s camera used a scanning disc equipped with three rows of holes and with filters corresponding to each of the primary colors. A similar disc was used in the receiver, with red video obtained from a neon lamp and specially constructed helium/mercury vapor tubes providing green and blue fields. Complete technical parameters were not stated, but the scanning disc depicted in the report showed 20 holes (scanning lines) for each of the colors.

50 Years Ago, October 1972 – High marks are being given to the new CMX 600 videotape editing system, which allows instant adjustment to edit points and even the replacement of a single video frame. Broadcasting (now Broadcasting & Cable) magazine reported the use of the new technology in production of both a half-hour pilot and a 90-minute “made for television” movie. The pilot’s director estimated that with the use of videotape for capture and the CMX 600 for editing, delivery time for a half-hour show could be cut from the usual two weeks with film to 10 hours. The new technology could also cut production costs by as much as 25 percent.

Ampex reported the first international delivery of its new ACR-25 self-loading videocassette machine to a customer in England, with shipment of the $195,000 machine (about $1.4 million in today’s money) to 18 other offshore customers to follow. (The ACR-25 had premiered two years earlier at the 1970 NAB Show, with the first production model going to a Tulsa, Okla. station three months prior to the U.K. delivery.) 

25 Years Ago , October 1997 – As stations begin their digital transition, high-definition television’s future remains a bit murky, with some broadcasters considering delaying or forgoing HD altogether in favor of multicasting standard-definition program streams. Some in the industry worry that HD may never get off the ground if there is foot-dragging or digital multicasting becomes the norm.

In an exclusive interview with TV Technology, outgoing FCC chairman Reed Hunt shared his thoughts about the high definition vs. multicasting schism, as well as Internet streaming, which was also just beginning to leave the gate: 

“If [broadcasters] are willing to actually explore multiple channel broadcasting…and if they are willing to explore sending out data and changing the nature of the medium so that it’s extremely interesting…if they are willing to explore a fusion of broadcast digital TV with the Internet, then all of that is good for the economy and for the American people. It will provide more vehicles for public interest programming. Let it happen. Don’t tax it, try to regulate or micro-manage it. Applaud it.”

DALLAS—AT&T has announced that they’ve successfully tested the delivery of a 5G signal in a remote rural area in Missouri. 

The April 2022 test, which AT&T is billing as an industry first, could have important implications for first responders and emergency services workers, providing them with better communications in areas where mobile signals are not currently available. 

The test used AT&T’s Flying COW (Cell on Wings) drone to provide the 5G signal.

“We had intermittent, weak LTE signal at the flight location before we launched the 5G Flying COW,” said Ethan Hunt, Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Principal Program Manager, AT&T. “We flew the drone up to about 300 feet, turned on the signal and it began transmitting strong 5G coverage to approximately 10 square miles.”

That means, customers with a capable 5G phone in the area could have gone from no service to super-fast wireless connections in seconds. In the future, this could help first responders in a search and rescue mission, the company said. 

“Drones may use 5G for command and control or to stream video, but the AT&T 5G Flying COW is the only drone that provides a 5G network,” Ethan said.

A COW serves as a cell site on a drone. AT&T has been using this technology to beam LTE coverage to customers during big events and disasters for years and it believes that using the technology to supply 5G signals could be a game changer.

“Our focus within the drone world is connectivity. All of our drone solutions have that focus,” said Art Pregler, Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Program Director, AT&T. “5G brings a lot of new capability to the table. We can connect a lot larger number of devices with 5G. When we put that up, we can share with a larger population.”

That, in turn, can lead to a more seamless experience, better network performance and an overall better experience, AT&T said. 

While AT&T emphasized the impact the test could have on first responders, the better communication features could also be useful for news organizations in rural areas when covering events where cell coverage is spotty. 

“It’s enabling a lot more solutions, including human-to-machine interface that are now capable that wasn’t previously possible,” said Pregler.

“We are currently working through many exciting technical challenges to expand the capabilities of our Flying COWs,” added Pregler. “We’re working to autonomously fly without tethers for months without landing, using solar power to provide secure, reliable, and fast 5G connectivity to large numbers of users over wide geographic areas.  This solution may one day help bring broadband connectivity to rural and other underserved communities across the U.S. and elsewhere.”

This launch is just one of several AT&T drone projects in the works right now, the company said. 

These include Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) flight operations and GEOCAST air operations. Currently AT&T’s Drone team is testing BVLOS – which would allow the pilot to operate a drone from a completely different location. It currently has an AT&T-patented flight control system that allows operators and tethered Flying COWs to be separated by thousands of miles. 

AT&T also said it is working on a next phase to launch untethered Flying COWs from the operator’s location to fly many miles away to provide 5G connectivity at BVLOS locations.

More information is available here and here. 

NEW YORK—The proposed merger between Discovery and WarnerMedia has passed an important hurdle, with Discovery reporting that the proposed merger has passed U.S. regulatory review for possible antitrust violations. 

Discovery made the disclosure in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

The deal has already been approved by European regulators and only needs to be approved by shareholders to be finalized. Discovery and AT&T have said the $43 billion deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021. 

In the 425 Filing, Discovery told the SEC that: “As of February 9, 2022, Discovery, Inc. (“Discovery”) and AT&T Inc. (“AT&T”) have satisfied the closing condition in Section 9.1(d)(i)of the Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”), dated as of May 17, 2021, by and among Discovery, AT&T, DrakeSubsidiary, Inc. and Magallanes, Inc. (“Spinco”) relating to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended(“HSR Act”). The HSR Act statutory waiting period has expired or otherwise been terminated, and any agreement not to consummate the transaction between the parties and the Federal Trade Commission or the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice or any other applicable governmental entity, has also expired or otherwise been terminated.”

DALLAS—AT&T has agreed to sell its Xandr global programmatic advertising marketplace to Microsoft. Financial terms of the deal, which is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory reviews, were not disclosed. The companies said that the agreement “builds on a decade-long relationship between Xandr, including its predecessor companies, and Microsoft for delivering global digital media solutions for advertisers.”

AT&T had been looking for a buyer for Xandr for more than a year, according to the Wall St. Journal. When the telco spun off its WarnerMedia Division in a $43B merger with Discovery Inc. earlier this year, AT&T elected to hold onto Xandr (formerly AppNexus), which it had acquired for $1.6B in 2018 as part of its $85B acquisition of TimeWarner.  

Microsoft said Xandr “can shape the digital ad marketplace of the future,” and that Xandr's technology “strategically complements Microsoft's current advertising offerings and will help accelerate delivery of digital advertising and retail media solutions for the open web by combining Microsoft's audience intelligence, technology and global advertising customer-base with Xandr's scaled, data-driven platform.”

"Microsoft's shared vision of empowering a free and open web and championing an open industry alternative via a global advertising marketplace makes it a great fit for Xandr. We look forward to using our innovative platform to help accelerate Microsoft's digital advertising and retail media capabilities," said Xandr's EVP and GM Mike Welch.

"With Xandr's talent and technology, Microsoft can accelerate the delivery of its digital advertising and retail media solutions, shaping tomorrow's digital ad marketplace into one that respects consumer privacy preferences, understands publishers' relationships with consumers and helps advertisers meet their goals," said Mikhail Parakhin, President of Web Experiences at Microsoft.

DALLAS & NEW YORK—AT&T and the private equity firm TPG Capital have completed their deal to spin off DirecTV from AT&T, creating a new company, DirecTV that will own and operate DirecTV, AT&T TV and U-verse video services. 

It will also unify its streaming services under one brand, DirecTV Stream. 

At the end of Q2 2021, DirecTV had approximately 15.4 million premium video subscribers.

Under AT&T’s ownership, the pay TV units suffered large subscriber losses and the new spinoff quickly moved to reassure consumers that they were committed to providing better services. 

"This is a watershed moment for DirecTV as we return to a singular focus on providing a stellar video experience," said Bill Morrow, CEO, DirecTV. "Building on our recent momentum, we are well-positioned to bring unparalleled choice and value to all of our customers under one iconic brand, whether they beam it or stream it."

The company said that the newly branded DirecTV Stream will become the single brand for video streaming services previously launched by AT&T, excluding HBO Max. 

The transition will happen later in August and the service will continue to be available with no term commitment or hidden fees.

DirecTV also stressed that as a part of the deal, AT&T satellite, streaming or IP video customers will automatically keep their video service, any bundled wireless, internet or HBO Max services, and associated discounts with no action needed. 

Over the next few months DirecTV said it will also be updating its look across its video services. 

As part of the spinoff, AT&T contributed its U.S. video business unit to the new entity in exchange for preferred units as well as a 70% interest in the common units of DirecTV. 

TPG contributed approximately $1.8 billion in cash to DirecTV in exchange for preferred units and a 30% interest in common units of the new company. 

The DirecTV board will include Bill Morrow, CEO of DIRECTV, and the following additional voting board members: Steve McGaw and Thaddeus Arroyo, appointed by AT&T; and David Trujillo and John Flynn, appointed by TPG.

At close, AT&T received $7.1 billion in cash ($7.6 billion net of approximately $470 million cash on hand) and transferred approximately $195 million of video business debt. AT&T expects this transaction will help support its debt reduction efforts, with plans to reach a net debt-to-adjusted EBITDA of below 2.5x by year-end 2023.

AT&T had racked up large debts in its foray into the media business with the acquisition of DirecTV and Time Warner and the telco is now refocusing its capital on investing in 5G. 

Not included in this transaction are WarnerMedia’s HBO Max streaming platform and regional sports networks, both of which are part of the pending WarnerMedia-Discovery transaction; Vrio (AT&T’s Latin American video operations, which are being sold to Grupo Werthein); U-verse network assets; and AT&T’s Sky Mexico investment. DirecTV will continue to offer HBO Max to subscribers along with any bundled wireless or broadband services and associated customer discounts, the company said. 

DALLAS & NEW YORK—AT&T and private equity platform TPG Capital have agreed to a deal that will establish a new, standalone DirecTV company that will own and operate AT&T’s U.S. video business unit, which consists of DirecTV, AT&T TV and U-verse video services.

AT&T had long been reported as looking to sell a stake in DirecTV, which it acquired back in 2015. Under the terms of this agreement, AT&T will own 70% of the new DirecTV and TPG will own 30%.

“As the pay-TV industry continues to evolve, forming a new entity with TPG to operate the U.S. video business separately provides the flexibility and dedicated management focus needed to continue meeting the needs of a high-quality customer base and managing the business for profitability,” said John Stankey, AT&T CEO. “TPG is the right partner for this transaction and creating a new entity is the right way to structure and manage the video business for optimum value creation.”

Bill Morrow, CEO of AT&T’s U.S. video unit, will take on the role of CEO for the new DirecTV. Two representatives from both AT&T and TPG will help govern the board.

Under the terms of the transaction, AT&T expects to receive $7.8 billion ($7.6 billion in cash and an assumption of $200 million of AT&T’s debt) from DirecTV. TPG will contribute $1.8 billion to DirecTV in exchange for its 30% interest in the company.

“We look forward to working with AT&T, Bill and the entire talented team at the new DirecTV to create a seamless customer experience through the separation of the company,” John Flynn, principal at TPG, said. “We are particularly excited by the opportunity to grow new DIRECTV’s streaming video service, leveraging the company’s leading pay-TV platform, talented labor force and large subscriber base to transition it into a leading next-generation video provider with best-in-class content and customer experience.”

When the deal closes, for those who are current AT&T video subscribers, they will simply transition to being DirecTV customers, maintaining their video service, any bundled wireless or broadband services, HBO Max subscriptions, as well as any associated discounts, AT&T says. In addition, existing content deals, including NFL Sunday Ticket, will be a part of the new DirecTV.

No close date was hinted at by AT&T. The deal will be subject to customary closing conditions and to regulatory reviews.

Cord-cutting for bundled pay-TV services in the U.S. is now a widely accepted fact, with cable companies largely emphasizing broadband connectivity, and media companies having mostly moved onto emphasizing direct-to-consumer streaming. 

But the pace of change has to be concerning.

With Dish Network’s reporting of fourth-quarter earnings Feb. 22, we can tally the trajectory of the four biggest providers of pay TV service in the U.S. and say decisively that the velocity of the erosion is increasing ... at a rate that was 92% faster in 2020 than it was in 2019.

While Charter’s Spectrum TV service actually gained 56,000 subscribers in 2020 amid a massive expansion of the cable company’s high-speed internet customer base, Comcast, AT&T and Dish Network each experienced accelerated pay-TV customer losses.

Combined, the Big Four operators lost 2.63 million customers in 2019. In 2020, they lost 5.06 million subscribers.

Including its DirecTV satellite platform, its sunsetting U-verse service, it’s IP-based AT&T TV product and its discontinued AT&T TV Now virtual MVPD, AT&T lost nearly 3.2 million pay-TV customers in 2020.

Comcast, meanwhile, shed nearly 1.4 million TV customers. 

And Dish Network lost a combined 508,000 subscribers across its satellite and Sling TV vMVPD platforms. In fact, Sling TV lost 118,00 customers in 2020. 

DALLAS—AT&T's federal relations staff was making its case on Capitol Hill Friday, Feb. 5, for why the company, and its video viewers, were the aggrieved parties in its retransmission consent dispute with Cox Media Group and parent Apollo Global Management.

According to a source, the two sides continued to negotiate as AT&T reached out to legislators and Hill staffers, specifically staffers in offices of legislators whose constituents were affected by the blackouts, as well as the appropriate members of the Senate Commerce and House Energy & Commerce Committees that oversee communications issues. 

According to a copy of an e-mail to those legislators and Hill staffers providing an "Update on Negotiations with Cox Media Group" obtained by TV Tech's sister publications Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, AT&T said that DirecTV customers in five Cox markets would lose their "preferred access" to the Super Bowl Feb. 7. (AT&T conceded that CBS and the NFL would both be live streaming it.)

AT&T said that did not have to be the case. "We are committed to continuing to negotiate with CMG to come to a resolution that is good for our customers," it said, but urged CMG in the meantime "to immediately return its local stations to our customers while we negotiate." 

Broadcasters argue that the rise in retransmission consent fees is because their high-value content is finally getting a market rate after years of being undervalued. They also argue that blackouts, or as they see them, the removal of a signal when the contract for its carriage expires without a new contract at a fair price, is a negotiating tool it would be unfair for the government to deny them.

"[I]n the midst of an ongoing pandemic and just before Super Bowl LV, CMG pulled its stations from our DirecTV, U-verse, and AT&T TV customers," AT&T told Congress.

The company said it had agreed to pay retroactively whatever rate they eventually agreed on in continuing negotiations (called a "true up") if CMG had continued to provide them the signal during those negotiations, but that, instead, "CMG put our shared customers into the middle of a private business matter by intentionally blacking out local stations in 20 markets," and "in the midst of an ongoing pandemic" as well as on the eve of the Big Game.

Given that legislators hear it from their constituents when there are blackouts that affect their districts, then let the companies hear it, AT&T wanted to make it clear that "without CMG’s consent, AT&T cannot retransmit its stations to our customers. ... We share our customers’ frustration and recognize it’s time to end this cycle of increasing fees and ongoing blackouts."

The letter cites National Association of Broadcasters President Gordon Smith, himself a former member of Congress, and assurances he gave during a C-SPAN interview that broadcasters “recognize the public responsibility to not have service interruptions during this time.” But Smith also said in that interview that it takes two and he hoped "the MVPDs share that same public spiritedness and give broadcasters fair value." 

"Stations owned by CMG and their parent company, Wall Street mammoth Apollo Global Management, have previously staged blackouts at the most inconvenient times for customers," AT&T told legislators. "But their decision to do so now – in the middle of a pandemic and just prior to the Super Bowl—represents a new low in the never-ending cycle of higher fees and blackouts."

DALLAS—With the current Cox Media Group and AT&T/DirecTV blackout removing CBS affiliates in five markets ahead of Super Bowl LV on Feb. 7, AT&T is letting its customers impacted know that there are other ways that they can watch Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs take on Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Among the possibilities for watching the game are using Locast, the nonprofit streamer that provides local stations over the internet; using a TV antenna; or live streaming at CBSSports.com or through the CBS Sports mobile app.

AT&T says that these services are available to their impacted customers at no additional cost.

“In what’s become an unfortunate near-annual rite to the NFL Playoffs, Cox Media Group is once again holding this year’s most-watched event of the year—the Super Bowl—hostage from NFL fans in Seattle and four smaller cities the broadcaster remains licensed to serve,” AT&T said in a press release.

Including Seattle, the markets where CBS has been pulled include Dayton, Ohio; Eureka, Calif.; Greenwood-Greenville, Miss.; and Yuma, Ariz.

The blackout of CMG stations for AT&T/DirecTV customers in 20 markets began on Feb. 2. AT&T said that it had offered to extend its current contract with CMG to keep stations on-air, paying a potential higher fee retroactively.

CMG has thus far laid the blame for the blackout on AT&T.

ATLANTA—After giving a warning to its customers late last week, Cox Media Group has announced that stations in 20 markets went dark to AT&T/DirecTV customers in the early hours of Feb. 2 as a result of the two sides failing to reach a retransmission deal.

The stations (confirmed on their websites) and markets impacted by the black out are:

• KLAX-TV (ABC), Alexandria, La. 
• WSB-TV (ABC), Atlanta 
• WICZ-TV (Fox), Binghamton, N.Y.
• WFXT-TV (Fox), Boston
• WOSC-TV (ABC) & WAXN-TV (Ind.), Charlotte, N.C.
• WHIO-TV (CBS), Dayton, Ohio
• KIEM-TV (NBC), Eureka, Calif.
• WABG-TV (ABC), Greenville-Greenwood, Miss. 
• Idaho Falls-Pocatello, Idaho 
• WFOX-TV (Fox) & WFOX2-TV (MNT), Jacksonville, Fla.
• KMVU-TV (Fox), Medford, Ore.
• WHBQ-TV (Fox), Memphis, Tenn.
• WFTV-TV (ABC) & WRDQ-TV (Ind), Orlando, Fla.
• WPXI-TV (NBC), Pittsburgh
• KIRO-TV (CBS), Seattle
• KAYU-TV (Fox), Spokane, Wash.
• WSYT-TV (Fox), Syracuse, N.Y.
• KOKI-TV (Fox) & KMYT-TV (MNT), Tulsa, Okla.
• KFFX-TV (Fox), Yakima-Tri Cities, Wash.
• KYMA-TV (CBS, NBC), Yuma, Ariz.

CMG says AT&T/DirecTV was the one to pull the stations, describing AT&T as unwilling to make a deal and “sacrificing” critical news and entertainment sources for their customers.

“CMG viewers know our trusted local stations are there to deliver the news and information they need to make decisions for their families. It’s disappointing that AT&T/DirecTV has decided to deprive them of that access. We take pride in serving our communities and we will fight to continue to fulfill this responsibility,” said says Paul Curran, CMG’s executive vice president of Television.

AT&T gave the following statement to TV Tech regarding the blackout:

"We’re disappointed Cox Media Group and Wall Street financier Apollo Global Management have intentionally put our customers into the middle of a private business matter. We want to get the Cox stations back into their local lineups, but Cox and Apollo alone have exclusive control over which homes are allowed to receive ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and CW in certain cities. And even though broadcasters like Cox keep losing viewers and sponsors, by commanding that exclusivity, they can demand take-it-or-leave-it ultimatums, leaving consumers a more than $12 billion-and-rising bill just to keep their ‘free TV.’ Apollo-owned stations have an extremely long and disreputable history of either threatening or pulling the Super Bowl and other important events from Buckland Telephone Co., CableOne, Charter Spectrum, DISH Network, Frontier Communications, Suddenlink, Verizon Fios and our own customers. Broadcasters like Cox gin up these contrived blackouts at the precise time it hurts their viewers the most, extract higher fees, and then use their own news outlets to try to intentionally mislead people and skirt any accountability for their relentless and unwarranted price-gouging. That’s a shameless violation of the public trust—especially from a local news provider during a global pandemic. Now that there’s a new administration, it’s high time the FCC takes a fresh look at this broken retransmission consent system that encourages blackouts and skyrocketing rate increases at consumers’ expense. We continue to work with Apollo and Cox to get to these stations back and appreciate our customers’ patience while we do."

If a deal is not reached quickly, viewers whose impacted are CBS affiliates could not have access to Super Bowl LV, which airs on CBS on Feb. 7.

ATLANTA—Cox Media Group is warning DirecTV customers for 14 stations that they could lose access to their local station in the early hours of Feb. 2 if the two sides are unable to reach a retransmission deal. CMG shared the news on the websites of the potentially impacted stations.

CMG said in these announcements that AT&T/DirecTV “has refused to negotiate a fair deal that recognizes the value customers place” on their local stations. While CMG says that is continuing to negotiate with AT&T, if no deal is reached the channels will blackout for DirecTV customers, losing their local news, sports and entertainment programming.

AT&T issued a statement via the TV Answer Man blog, saying:

“We’re disappointed to see Cox Media Group put our customers into the middle of a private business matter. We want to keep the Cox stations in their local lineups, but Cox alone has exclusive control over which homes are allowed to receive ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and CW in certain cities. Cox-owned stations have a long history of either threatening or pulling the Super Bowl and other important events from our customers and other providers. We continue to work with Cox to try to avoid any unnecessary disruption and appreciate our customers’ patience while we do.”

Cox just recently settled an 18-day blackout with Altice USA/SuddenLink.

As for the current negotiations with AT&T/DirecTV, should negotiations fail, these are the 14 stations that would be impacted:

• WSB-TV (ABC), Atlanta 
• WFXT-TV (Fox), Boston 
• WSOC-TV (ABC), Charlotte, N.C. 
• WAXN-TV (IND), Charlotte 
• WHIO-TV (CBS), Dayton, Ohio 
• WFOX-TV (Fox), Jacksonville, Fla. 
• WFOX2-TV (MNT), Jacksonville 
• WHBQ-TV (Fox), Memphis, Tenn. 
• WFTV-TV (ABC), Orlando, Fla. 
• WRDQ-TV (IND), Orlando 
• WPXI-TV (NBC), Pittsburgh 
• KIRO-TV (CBS), Seattle 
• KOKI-TV (Fox), Tulsa, Okla. 
• KMYT-TV (MNT), Tulsa 

TYSONS, Va. & DALLAS—After a nearly three-week blackout, Tegna and AT&T have agreed to a new multi-year consent agreement that will bring Tegna-owned local broadcast stations to AT&T customers of DirecTV and U-Verse.

The agreement covers 64 stations in 51 markets, which had been dark for AT&T customers since Dec. 1. The markets impacted included Atlanta, Charlotte, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Phoenix, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa and Washington, among others. The stations impacted by this blackout cover a reported 41.7 million TV households, representing 39% of the country.

The official agreement was announced on Sunday, Dec. 20. Stations were returned immediately to service, per the companies’ joint statement, in time for viewers to watch Sunday NFL football. 

No terms of the deal were disclosed.

“AT&T and Tegna regret any inconvenience to their customers and viewers and thank them for their patience,” the statement said.

TYSONS CORNER, Va.—Tegna says that it is continuing to work to return its stations to AT&T’s DirecTV and U-Verse services, saying that a deal would come if AT&T would negotiate in good faith.

“We are continuing to work hard to reach a fair, market-based agreement with AT&T,” Tegna said in a statement on Friday, Dec. 18. “We are committed to getting our stations back on AT&T’s systems as soon as possible. Our viewers shouldn’t miss another weekend of NCAA and NFL football, not to mention their local news, weather and sports updates and their favorite network programming. The solution to this situation is a fair deal based on the market. If AT&T is willing to negotiate in good faith, we are confident we can get a deal done quickly.”

Sixty-four Tegna stations across 51 markets, reaching 41.7 million households, were impacted by this blackout that began on Dec. 1, resulting from Tegna and AT&T not being able to reach a retransmission agreement. Both sides have pointed the finger at the other, with AT&T claiming that Tegna is asking for “unwarranted increases” to their fees.

The American Television Alliance also laid the blame at Tegna’s feet.

Tegna, however, says that it has been able to reach retransmission deals with other cable and satellite providers without disruption of services.

DALLAS—The Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act Reauthorization—better known as STELAR—is poised to expire at the end of the year and Congress is readying its final approval of the bill that will permanently let it expire, save in a few instances. AT&T’s Senior Executive Vice President of External & Legal Affairs Jim Cicconi expressed why he felt this was a mistake on AT&T’s blog.

Cicconi writes that the removal of STELAR will also remove access to broadcast channels for hundreds of thousands of consumers. “Make no mistake, when the screens of those consumers go dark, the sole reason will be that Congress did not act to protect them,” he wrote.

STELAR is the primary compulsory license that allows satellite operators to import distant network TV station signals to markets. Broadcasters have argued that the license is no longer relevant and have been pushing for it to expire at the end of its most recent five-year renewal cycle this year. Congress seems to have agreed. The House officially passed the appropriations bill that includes the sunsetting of STELAR, and the Senate is expected to do the same by Friday, Dec. 20.

In addition to the sunset of STELAR, the appropriations bill also makes permanent the requirement that retransmission disputes are conducted in “good faith” and it will maintain compulsory licenses for RVs, truckers and “short” markets, which are markets without one or more local network affiliates available.

However, Cicconi does not think these measures will prevent the loss of access to some channels for consumers, but instead there is a need for reform regarding the issue of retransmission fees.

Cicconi presents that retransmission fees for local broadcast stations have grown from $200 million in 2006 to $11.7 billion in 2019—an increase of 5,000%. He says that these increase in fees have trickled down to higher bills for consumers. Rather than address this, Cicconi writes that Congress has “bowed to further demands from broadcasters.”

“If the broadcasters truly want to debate, and to justify such predation based on the principle of free market economics, we are prepared,” writes Cicconi. “But all issues should be on the table. That includes the grant of free spectrum from the public given to local broadcasters for one purpose and now used for another. It should also include the grant of monopoly rights for local broadcasters in specific geographic areas—hardly consistent with any concept of a free market.”

Read the full version of Cicconi’s blog on AT&T’s website.

UPDATE: The NAB responded to Cicconi's blog post with a statement from Dennis Wharton, NAB executive vice president of communications:

“AT&T is being remarkably disingenuous in suggesting that broadcasters are responsible for rising pay-TV prices. Pay-TV prices have increased independent of programming costs for decades. Further, as the attached chart from S&P Global notes, cable network fees are the primary driver of high programming costs. AT&T's own CNN, TBS and TNT networks are among the cable networks charging the highest fees, despite rating that are paltry in comparison to eyeballs delivered by local TV stations.

“There is no reason for 'screens to g dark' as a result of the STELAR bill, as claimed by AT&T. Instead, AT&T's DirecTV has the opportunity as a result of STELAR to fulfill its decade-long pledge to deliver local TV to tens of thousands of viewers in 12 'unserved rural markets. We are hopeful that AT&T delivers on that promise and supports the wishes of Congress in delivering local television signals to rural viewers.”