Claire Atkinson

Some people who just lost their jobs because of the coronavirus pandemic are finding that they have lost something else — phone and internet access.

With Democrats taking control of the House when the new session starts Jan 3, lawmakers and media players are re-adjusting their strategies and preparing for a slew of new hearings and investigations. Democrats have already started to circle their wagons around Nexstar’s proposed purchase of Tribune Media, with House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee Ranking Member David Cicilline (D-RI) saying that the merger “would undoubtedly lead to mass layoffs in newsrooms at a time when our free and diverse press is already under assault.”

Facing an onslaught of competition from internet companies like Netflix and YouTube, the big media companies are conducting a radical self-examination and deciding they need a makeover.  A few weeks ago, Disney began expressing interest in buying 21st Century Fox, looking for new content from the company's movie studios and cable operations. A few days later, Comcast, the parent company of NBCUniversal, also expressed interest, and now Sony and Verizon are taking a look. At the same time, AT&T, the phone giant, is trying to acquire Time Warner, which owns Warner Brothers. Their goals?

How do you solve a problem like CNN? Top executives at AT&T, in the midst of acquiring Time Warner, are scratching their heads trying to figure out how to curry favor with the White House at the same time CNN’s journalists are putting the president under the Klieg lights. Indeed, Time Warner-owned CNN’s tense relationship with the Trump administration worsened earlier this week with a high-profile dispute between adviser Kellyanne Conway over whether she was being banned from the cable news channel. Then on Tuesday, “The Lead” anchor Jake Tapper conducted a tough interview with Conway over claims that the media underreported terror attacks. While AT&T boss Randall Stephenson has not tried to tone down CNN’s reporting, according to sources, the tension between the news channel and the White House concerns him.

Beltway buzz is now centered on who will replace Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler, the former cable lobbyist who has been in the job for three years.

On Dec 1, Chairman Wheeler will be feted in Washington, DC, by the Federal Communications Commission Bar Association as communications professionals and lobbyists will be dissecting his tenure and gossiping about his successor. Among the names being floated are Ajit Pai, the current Republican FCC commissioner; David Fellows, a former CTO at Comcast and AT&T and a co-founder of Layer 3 TV, a cable company in Denver (CO); and Jeffrey Eisenach, the Trump-appointed consultant named to the transition team, according to several FCC watchers. When asked for comment about the possible contenders, including the possibility that he might lead the federal body, Eisenach told The Post, “No comment. It wouldn’t be productive.”

Haim Saban’s efforts to sell Univision Communications included talks with billionaire investor Carlos Slim Helú, The Post has learned. Mexico-based Slim, one of the wealthiest persons in the world, whose holdings include media assets, is said to be weighing a bid for the large Spanish-language TV network, according to sources.

“Carlos Slim could just come in and buy the whole thing,” said one source close to the owners, although foreign nationals are limited to holding 25 percent of US media companies.

Slim, worth $68 billion, couldn’t be reached for comment. Comcast and Netflix were also approached about buying the property, according to the source. Both parties declined comment, but insiders at both companies suggested there was no interest. Univision has been a big beneficiary of retransmission dollars paid by distributors to carry broadcast networks.

In 2007, Univision’s network earned just $37.5 million; it is projected to net $249.5 million in 2014, according to SNL Kagan. Univision ranked third in the 18- to 49-year-old demographic among all broadcast networks in the week of June 10, but as more Americans identify as Hispanic, media companies have been ramping up their own offerings.

Apparently, Gov Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) and other New York state leaders are planning to tie Comcast’s $45 billion acquisition of Time Warner Cable up in knots. Changes to state rules that would give cable regulators more power were put on the table during closed-door budget talks two days ago, sources said. In addition to giving New York State’s Public Service Commission (PSC) added bite, the rule change would put the onus on Comcast to prove that its mega-merger with TWC is in the public interest, the sources said. This guilty-until-proven-innocent new rule is quite a change from the current rule, which requires the PSC to show why any acquisition fails the public interest test. Gov Cuomo is discussing giving the PSC much greater oversight of the proposed cable combo, making it almost impossible to finalize, the sources stated. “This could essentially kill the deal,” one source said. If the change is OK’d, it would be in line with similar rules gas and oil companies must follow, said a Cuomo administration official.

The future of TV viewing is coming into view -- and it’s all about streaming.

Less than 24 hours after Dish Network signed a groundbreaking deal with Disney that gave the satellite TV service the building blocks of an Internet TV operation, a second company waded into the sector. Verizon is looking to sign deals with content partners to bring a mobile Internet TV service to its FiOS customers, CEO Lowell McAdams said.

CBS, while happy with the current cable ecosystem, is also eyeing new and appropriate ways to add revenue, CEO Leslie Moonves said. “Everybody’s talking about over the top,” he said. “We’re talking about it with many of the [pay TV distributors] we’re in business with.” The race to own the entertainment space on the Web is being waged by a host of other players as well, including Sony, Microsoft and Amazon.

America is on the verge of getting a fourth premium TV channel. Epix has signed a carriage agreement with Time Warner Cable, making it available in 44 million homes -- with more deals in the works.

As it grows from being just a niche channel to being available in roughly 40 percent of US homes, it is more and more a rival to HBO, Showtime and Starz. The service on TWC kicks off March 18. Epix offers subscribers a host of fresh movies and specials, usually 10 months after their box office release. Epix is owned by three studios -- Viacom’s Paramount, MGM and Lionsgate.

Mark Greenberg, president and CEO of Epix, is expected to sign other new deals in the coming months, sources said. Epix has distribution agreements with Cox, Charter and Dish. Despite its growth, Epix is still a minnow next to the competition: HBO counts 29.2 million subscribers, Showtime 22.8 million and Starz 22 million, compared with 5.7 million for Epix as of last September, according to SNL Kagan. But Epix’ subscribers are actually closer to 10 million, according to sources close to the company, and the TWC agreement will had 12 million more households.