Broadcasting&Cable

Comcast confirmed that it is considering an offer for assets of 21 Century Fox that would top the amount Disney has already agreed to pay. Comcast said it is “in advanced stages” of preparing an offer and that any offer for Fox would be all-cash and at a premium to Disney’s $52.4 billion bid, which is based on stock. “While no final decision has been made, at this point the work to finance the all-cash offer and make the key regulatory filings is well advanced,” Comcast said.

The House Commerce Committee's Digital Subcommittee held a hearing on a bipartisan bill, the State of Modern Application, Research and Trends (SMART) IoT Act, which charges the Commerce Department with studying the Internet of Things (IoT) from various angles with an eye toward what the government needs to do to promote adoption while protecting the security of the nation's networks. On hand to talk about the kind of information the government needs were Tim Day, VP at the U.S.

The Federal Communications Commission will be restarting the informal 180-day shot clock on its review of the proposed Sinclair-Tribune merger after it reviews the latest and information from the most recent filing. It signaled it had been waiting to consolidate Sinclair's various re-filings and tweaks to the deal, and is doing that, but is also going to seek even more info on top-four market station ownership requests. That public notice signals the commission has what is expected to be essentially the final version of the deal, though still with questions about this latest iteration. 

Led by children's TV legislation author Sen Ed Markey (D-MA) a group of Democratic senators  have called on the Federal Communications Commission to leave its kids TV mandates in place. "Kid Vid’ rules remain important today, especially for the many underserved families who rely on free broadcast stations for educational content,” they wrote. “Many families cannot access or afford the broadband speeds necessary for streaming online video and have trouble paying for monthly pay-TV subscription services," the senators wrote.

Debate over the so-called Fairness Doctrine was renewed at a Senate Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee hearing May 17 when Sen Joe Manchin (D-WV) quizzed Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai on the issue. The hearing was wrapping up when Sen Manchin interrupted the closing comments of subcommittee chairman Sen James Lankford (R-OK) to ask if he could say something more. That something was suggesting that the current "toxicity" in the political arena could be traced to the doctrine's demise.

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Joseph Simons told Congress that his agency has the "resources and capability" to enforce network neutrality and under "the right circumstances" paid prioritization, blocking and throttling of internet content by Internet service providers that might advantage or disadvantage particular parts of the Internet could all be seen as unfair practices." His remarks came at a Senate Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee hearing on the FTC's and Federal Communications Commission's budget requests. 

Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA) has filed a discharge petition, which would force a vote on the House resolution to restore net neutrality rules. The petition needs 218 votes -- which means a couple dozen Republican will need to support it. There are currently  235 Republicans and 193 Democrats in the House, with seven vacancies. Republicans say that they support net neutrality, but not under the Title II regime used for the Federal Communications Commission's 2015 rules. Republicans continue to try to get Democrats to drop the resolution and work on bipartisan net neutrality legislation.