The National Association of Broadcasters is looking to get the FCC to classify over-the-top video services as multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) subject to carriage and program-negotiation obligations.

Under then-chairman Tom Wheeler, the Federal Communications Commission opened a proceeding in 2014 on whether video services should have to be facilities-based -- wires, satellites -- to be subject to the agency’s rules applying to MVPDs, or whether over-the-top services delivered by broadband providers but without their own physical facilities should qualify as well. That proceeding remains open, but dormant.

Wheeler was looking to promote over-the-top (OTT) video as a competitor to traditional cable and to anticipate traditional cable's move to internet protocol-based delivery of its multichannel services.

NCTA-The Internet & Television Association has long argued that a transmission path is necessary to be an MVPD.

In an interview with Politico Pro, NAB president and CEO Curtis LeGeyt said the NAB’s board has decided to ask the FCC to collect new feedback on the Wheeler proposal given “changes in the marketplace.” LeGeyt told Politico Pro that the association wanted to "re-engage with the FCC” on the issue.

Broadcasters, facing major competition for eyeballs from over-the-top video, have also been pushing the FCC to make streamers and other edge providers pay FCC user fees. The commission supports its ongoing operations on those fees, currently levied on broadcasters, cable operators and satellite operators, but not edge providers.

Broadcasters have argued that the FCC should not continue to burden broadcasters with helping subsidize their online competitors for eyeballs and ads by charging broadcasters a fee and not big tech. The FCC recently declined to add Big Tech to its fee schedule.

The FCC’s effort to bring over-the-top video under its program carriage and access rules dates back almost a decade.

In 2014, Wheeler proposed to reverse a tentative, bureau-level conclusion in the Sky Angel program-access complaint that having a facilities-based transmission path was necessary to be an MVPD. The FCC tentatively concluded that an MVPD has to have control of both the content and the transmission path — copper, fiber and satellite signals delivering a channel — and that an OTT distributor lacks that path since it does not control a facilities-based channel to deliver it.

The FCC signaled in the 2011 Comcast-NBCUniversal merger approval that it expected over-the-top video to become a competitor to traditional MVPDs going forward and, therefore, included conditions requiring the company to make its programming available to OTT providers on nondiscriminatory terms and conditions.

The American Television Alliance, whose members include cable and satellite operators, was not pleased with the signals out of NAB.

“The broadcast industry wants to take the current framework, which is already responsible for thousands of consumer blackouts and massive annual price increases, and expand it to streaming,” ATVA spokesperson Jessica Kendust said. “The FCC should focus on modernizing and fixing the broken system, not imposing new costs on streaming customers.”

An NAB spokesperson was not available for comment at press time. ■

Moving into the second week of Major League Baseball’s 2021 regular season, Bally Sports Networks still hasn’t reached a carriage deal with three top streaming services. 

YouTube TV, Hulu Live Plus TV and FuboTV still refuse to carry the channels, which were purchased by Sinclair Broadcast Group in 2019. The former Fox Sports channels were rebranded as Bally Sports Networks on March 31, part of the 10-year, $88 million agreement between Sinclair and the casino owner. 

While the streamers have been without the networks for months — Hulu and FuboTV dropped the 21 channels in January 2020, with YouTube TV shedding the networks in October — the hope was that they could reach a deal by Opening Day, April 1.

That was not to be. As of press time, the channels were still dark to the streamers. FuboTV did reach an agreement with Marquee Sports Network, in which Sinclair has a minority interest, on April 1. 

Rob Weisbord, president of broadcast and chief revenue officer at Sinclair, told B+C/Multichannel News on April 1 Sinclair’s distribution team is in talks with MVPDs “trying to figure out how to get to a deal.”

Bally Sports has carriage deals with most of the traditional MVPDs across the country, except for RSN-averse Dish Network, which dropped the channels in 2019. But the lack of carriage from the streaming services, which have more younger viewers coveted by advertisers, has cast a pall on the channels.

Sports consultant Lee Berke, president and CEO of LHB Media & Entertainment, said it is possible the streamers are “trying to see if they can get by without the RSNs,” but added that the standoff highlights the growing need for RSNs to have a direct-to-consumer component to their offerings. 

Jon Lafayette contributed to this report.

A federal judge in Colorado late last month said that an antitrust suit brought by regional sports network Altitude Sports against Comcast can move forward, a development that could have broader implications for future negotiations between sports channels and distributors. Or maybe not.

The rift between Altitude Sports and Comcast started more than a year ago. Back in November 2019, the RSN, owned by Colorado Avalanche, Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke’s Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, claimed that Comcast refused to extend its carriage deal and instead proposed putting the channel on a separate sports tier, a move that would drastically reduce its revenue. Altitude Sports claimed that Comcast was taking that stance in a move to take over the RSN’s  programming for its own sports channel -- NBC Sports Network -- and further exert its monopoly influence in the Denver market.

Comcast moved to have the case dismissed and in making his Nov. 25 decision to let the case go forward, U.S. District Court Judge William Martinez dismissed many of Altitude’s claims. For instance, he didn’t buy the idea that Comcast was trying to monopolize the Denver market because by dropping Altitude, it faces losing subscribers and diminishes its market power. But he cautiously accepted at least one of the programmer’s claims -- that Comcast’s hard line stance in the negotiations could be proof that it is refusing to deal with the channel. That is a fine line -- Comcast claims it wants to move the channel to keep costs down for its other customers -- but one the judge says he must consider fully, citing prior cases that have shown instances where “[a] refusal to deal may cross the line from permissible to predatory,” according to the suit. “... Although Comcast characterizes Altitude’s allegations that it will enter the market with its own RSN as baseless and speculative, viewing the allegations in the light most favorable to Altitude, and drawing all reasonable inferences in Altitude’s favor, as the Court must at the dismissal stage, the Court finds Altitude has alleged facts sufficient to show that its allegations of anticompetitive conduct are plausible.”

In a statement, Comcast said it is “encouraged that the Court dismissed most of Altitude’s frivolous claims at this early stage in the proceeding, and expressed skepticism about the one claim it did not reject outright. We agree with the Court’s skeptical view of the remaining allegations and look forward to getting the rest of the case dismissed promptly.” 

Altitude Sports is available in 10 states -- Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Northern New Mexico, Northeast Nevada and Southwest South Dakota. The RSN carries games and programming from the NHL Colorado Avalanche, the NBA Denver Nuggets, Major League Soccer’s Colorado Rapids, the National Lacrosse League Colorado Mammoth and college sports from the University of Denver.

Last year the RSN reached a deal with DirecTV in November after a two-month blackout. The network had previously gone dark to Dish Network in August 2019 and has yet to reach a deal. Dish has said it would return the channel to its subscribers if it was allowed to sell it directly to customers who want it, with all the proceeds going to the network. That is similar to putting the channel on a tier and Altitude has declined that offer.

Distributors have been trying for years to move sports channels to pricier tiers to offset their costs and to appease non-sports loving customers who complain about paying for channels they don’t watch, all to no avail. For the networks, being moved to a tier is basically a death sentence -- it drastically reduces the number of subscribers it is exposed to which severely lowers advertising rates. In the suit, Altitude said under its old deal with Comcast, it was available to about 70% to 85% of the distributor's customers in the Denver area. In a separate sports tier, that exposure would plummet to 15%-to-20% or less.

The Comcast dispute comes at a time when regional sport networks are coming under fire. Sinclair Broadcast Group, which paid about $10 billion for Disney’s former Fox Sports RSNs, has seen revenue plunge at those channels as the pandemic has shortened seasons for teams across the board. In Q3, Sinclair took a $4.2 billion charge related to its RSN assets when distribution revenue took a nosedive after the loss of two major virtual MVPDs (Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV) and increased traditional subscriber losses. 

So it’s pretty obvious that regional sports channels are looking for ways to make up the difference. And though it looks like Comcast could prevail, this is 2020, anything can happen. 

But I’m not sure much changes, no matter which side wins. 

If Comcast wins, they could technically put every sports network on a tier, but that doesn’t mean the networks have to accept that, so it’s likely the status quo would remain. And if Altitude does prevail in receiving broader carriage through the courts, they may get more than they bargained for, according to some analysts.  

“It’s the law of unintended consequences,” MoffettNathanson principal and senior analyst Craig Moffett said.  “If the Court decides that RSNs are within their rights to demand carriage on the basic tier, then it will only mean that more and more distributors will drop them entirely.”

One good thing that may come out of this is as the pandemic has bolloxed up the sports leagues, it has backed up the courts as well. Chances are it will take a while before a final decision comes. 

“These are the sorts of procedures that in regular times take multiple years and my understanding is that the courts are slowed up in general because of the pandemic, so this is a long process,” said sports analyst Lee Berke, president and CEO of LHB Media & Entertainment. “If there are any implications from any of this, it will be years out. I don’t think it is anything that impacts current activity.” 

So my guess is that everything remains relatively the same. Altitude is no pushover and Comcast has been known to play hardball with RSNs -- it didn’t carry the YES Network for the entire 2016 baseball season over a carriage dispute, but reached a deal in January 2017, with the network returning on March 31,just before Opening Day. But I think this time might be different.  

This is simple economics. Even in an era where more and more customers are dropping video for streaming services, sports draws viewers, and Comcast probably doesn’t want to lose any more video customers than it has to. And Altitude probably doesn’t want to give up the affiliate fees and ad revenue associated with cable carriage for the uncertainty of streaming-only just yet. So, it is likely that they reach a deal, probably around the start of the NBA regular season (Dec. 22) or the NHL regular season (Jan. 1) give or take a few days or weeks, with both sides getting a little of what they wanted and a little of what they didn’t. That way, everyone gets to say they won. 

North Carolina Attorney General Joshua Stein has asked Dish for info on its carriage dispute with Univision and its impact on North Carolina residents.

Dish has not been carrying Univision, UniMas and Galavision since the end of June.

Related: Univision Says Dish Is Dug In

The letter, to Dish EVP and general counsel Timothy Messner, was in response to a complaint the AG received from the Latinos in Information Sciences and Technology Association, which asked the AG to look into Dish's marketing and consumer practices, particularly as regards the Latino community.

Stein's letter simply asked for info and to make Dish aware it was tracking the contract dispute.

For one he wants to know if any North Carolina subs who tried to cancel Dish were subject to early termination fees and whether Dish has promoted the Univision channels as one prospective customers could get if they signed up.

He also wants to know if Dish has received any other complaints and how it responded to them.

“DISH is working to deliver a response to this inquiry. The disagreement with Univision is a business dispute, plain and simple," the company said in response. "We refuse to allow our customers to pay outrageous fee increases, especially for content that is available for free over the air, as well as available online for substantially less than Univision is trying to charge DISH customers.

"To support our DishLATINO customers during this time, DISH is offering a $5 per month credit, as well as over-the-air antennas in select markets. We remain committed to serving the Hispanic community in the U.S. with great content at a great value.”

Dish Network on Saturday (March 31) dropped Univision’s digital lifestyle channels, including Telehit and Bandamax, from its lineup of Spanish-language programming.

Univision currently has a deal for Dish to carry its bigger networks including Univision, UniMas and Galavision. Those channels remain on the satellite distributor's service.

The programmer says it offered Dish an extension to continue carriage of the channels, but the satellite company turned it down.

“We are very disappointed that Dish has decided to drop our lifestyle channels,” Univision said in a statement. “Together, Telehit and Bandamax serve an often-ignored audience that looks to consume culturally-relevant content that represents their world in ways other channels do not: by providing the music, lifestyle and celebrity entertainment geared toward a young Latino audience. Despite our disappointment, we are actively negotiating to restore the music and movie programming audiences love to their lineup.”

Related: Multicultural TV Summit Tackles Business Issues of Diversity

Dish said the channels have grown less popular with subscribers.

“Viewership for these channels has declined nearly 40% over the past five years,” the satellite distributor said.

“Dish constantly evaluates the content we carry, and we work to provide channels that our customers desire at the best value," the company added. "Unfortunately, Univision has yet to even send us a proposal to begin negotiations. We are providing very similar channels (Azteca Cinema, Estudio 5, Videorola and Azteca Clic) in their place at no extra cost so that our customers don’t miss out on culturally-relevant entertainment they enjoy."

As Viacom readies for the possibility that it will be dropped by the second largest satellite TV service provider in the country – Dish Network – Sanford Bernstein media analyst Todd Juenger said in a note to clients that failing to reach a deal could be a major blow for the programmer.

In an e-mail message Tuesday after news broke that Viacom was preparing itself for the worst as the midnight deadline for its Dish deal approached, Juenger steered clients to his August research report where he mapped out what could happen if Dish ultimately decided to drop the networks.

In that August report, Juenger estimated that Viacom’s stock would fall to about $28 per share in the wake of Dish dropping its channels. But Jeunger added that he hasn’t updated the model since August and that the price could change.

“…since we published it, things have gotten materially worse for Viacom, including a significant guide down in affiliate fees as well as under-performance at Paramount,” Juenger wrote in the e-mail message. “Needless to say, the model and expected share price would look worse today.”

Viacom shares were pounded on Tuesday, falling as much as 9.2% ($3.59 each) to $35.28 in earlier trading. The stock was priced at $35.82, down 8% or $3.06 each, at about 2 p.m.

The news that talks have apparently broken down come as a bit of a surprise, given that Viacom and Dish have gone through several extensions and negotiations appeared cordial at least at the beginning.

While a deal could still be reached at the last minute, there is the potential for any blackout to be a prolonged one.

Dish chairman and CEO Charlie Ergen, who has taken a hard line in carriage negotiations in the past, called it a “positive” sign when Viacom granted the satellite company a brief extension in February. But he was also quick to say that if he were to drop that networks, he would be ready to do without the channels for a long time.

“I always tell my people if you take something down, be prepared to live without it forever,” Ergen said during an earnings conference call in May. “Otherwise don’t take it down.”

Losing Dish would mean an immediate 8% drop in affiliate fees and a 10% decline in advertising revenue for Viacom, Juenger estimated. It also would affect future carriage negotiations with other distributors. Juenger estimated that 11% of Viacom’s carriage deals come up for renewal between now and FY2018 and that half of those deals wouldn’t be renewed in the wake of a Dish drop.

If it decides to do without the channels, Dish would be the third MVPD that has dropped Viacom in the past two years. Cable One dropped the channels in April 2014 and has done without its MTV ever since, losing about 20% of its video customer base as a result. Suddenlink Communications dropped the Viacom channels in September 2015 and its losses have been minimal, according to the company. But Suddenlink was purchased by Altice NV in December. Altice is also in the middle of the approval process of its purchase of Cablevision Systems, which carries the Viacom channels. Whether Altice will restore the Viacom networks to Suddenlink after the Cablevsion deal closes – anticipated in June – is anybody’s guess.

Dish, which has lost about 160,000 video customers in two years, ending 2015 with 13.897 million customers compared to 14.057 million in 2013, and surely doesn’t want to lose more. But it may be of the belief that the costs savings in not carrying the Viacom networks is worth it. In a statement, Dish claimed that Viacom was seeking “hundreds of millions of dollars” in fee increases. At average monthly revenue per subscriber (ARPU) of $86.79, Dish could lose 200,000 customers for a full year and still only be out a little more the $200 million in revenue.

The subscriber toll could be much heavier – Juenger conservatively estimated that one-third of Dish customers (about 4 million) could switch providers to keep the networks, although he believed losses would probably be far less than that. 

Viacom has been on a rocky path for the past few years, with declining ratings, a plunging stock price and fears that the touchstone for the younger generation was losing its mojo. Lately, the company has been under intense scrutiny after a lawsuit emerged questioning the mental capacity of its largest shareholder, former executive chairman Sumner Redstone.          

Back in May, Ergen also noted that networks that ask for big increases yet deliver anemic ratings and are available on other platforms, are making less and less sense.

“When somebody comes in and says, ‘I want a double-digit rate increase,’ and they’ve had double-digit viewership declines, we don’t think that math works for us,” Ergen said in May.

For Viacom’s sake, let’s hope both sides find a new calculus to make a deal work.

The optimism surrounding a February carriage extension with No. 2 satellite TV service provider Dish Network has apparently worn off for Viacom, which said it has started to inform the satellite TV service's customers that they could lose access to its networks, including MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon.

“We are extremely disappointed that Dish has not engaged in a serious way to reach an agreement for Viacom’s number one family of cable networks, including Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, VH1, MTV, BET, Spike, TV Land and CMT,” Viacom said in a statement. “This is par for the course for Dish, which has deliberately derailed ten renewal negotiations since last year by engaging in unproductive discussions and contentious public battles.”

In a statement, Dish said it was disappointed that its previously private Viacom negotiations are now being conducted  in public.

"We regret that Viacom has chosen to involve customers in a business negotiation when time remains to reach an agreement," Dish said in the statement. "Viacom unilaterally elected to terminate an indefinite contract extension tomorrow night despite meaningful progress on a new agreement that confronts a rapidly evolving pay-TV environment. Viacom is asking hundreds of millions of dollars in increases, despite the changing landscape  that includes drastically reduced viewership of Viacom channels and wide availability of their content across multiple platforms, frustrating consumers who don't want to pay twice for the same content. Dish will continue to negotiate in good faith to reach an agreement that works for both sides."

Wall Street has been watching the Dish/Viacom negotiations closely. The programmer has already been dropped by two smaller cable operators – Cable One and Suddenlink Communications – and many believed that losing Dish’s 14 million subscribers could be a blow that would be tough to recover from.

Viacom shares plunged 8.3% ($3.24 per share) to $35.63 each on the news.

Viacom said in February that they had granted Dish a brief extension to their existing carriage deal, a move that Dish chairman Charlie Ergen called “positive.”

According to Viacom, the February extension wasn’t the last reprieve the programmer granted to Dish.

“Viacom has made every effort to negotiate a renewal for Dish subscribers, including granting multiple extensions,” Viacom said in a statement. “We have offered Dish a best-in-class deal at rates and terms as good as larger distributors, with additional services and features for their customers.  In turn, Dish has made demands that are designed to be impossible to meet in order to take our negotiations public and likely force our programming off the air.  This is a clear example of Dish’s disregard for their customers, who will be subjected to another unnecessary disruption in service.  In addition to depriving our fans of our networks and programming, Dish is further undermining their fundamentally disadvantaged business by driving their subscribers to switch to a different provider.”

In a sign that its retransmission talks with Comcast's NBCUniversal networks aren’t going as smoothly it would like, Dish Network said it has filed a lawsuit against the programmer, alleging breach of contract.

In a statement, Dish said NBC’s public statements over the past 24 hours are in violation of its agreement with the programmer, prompting the suit.

"Dish has successfully negotiated agreements representing numerous networks in recent months that benefit all parties, including our viewers,” Dish said in a statement. “Dish’s goal is to reach a mutually beneficial deal with NBC.”

Dish said it is also seeking arbitration, which it says would prevent NBC from pulling its signal while negotiations were ongoing.

"Under the conditions imposed by the FCC and Department of Justice in approving the Comcast-NBCUniversal merger, NBC is forbidden from blacking out its networks if a pay-TV provider chooses, in its sole discretion, to exercise its right for binding arbitration,” Dish said in a statement. “Regulators implemented these conditions to prevent Comcast and NBC from harming consumers and competition.”

"In the event of arbitration, affected programming would remain available during that process, and for the foreseeable future," Dish continued.

NBC has been running ads telling Dish customers that they could lose access to NBC programming if a carriage deal isn’t reached by the contract deadline of March 20. The negotiations involve 10 NBC and 16 Telemundo owned and operated stations as well as cable networks including USA, Syfy, Bravo, CNBC and MSNBC. 

 “Should Dish proceed with arbitration we will of course participate in the process, and look forward to receiving the fair market value for our portfolio of network,” NBCUniversal said through a spokesperson.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission has launched an inquiry into the current state of programming diversity and the principal obstacles that independent and diverse programmers face in obtaining carriage on video distribution platforms, including, potentially, contractual issues, program bundling and access to over-the-top platforms.

That launch of a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) came at the FCC's public meeting Thursday (Feb. 18). The vote was unanimous, but with some reservations.

In outlining the inquiry, Media Bureau chief Bill Lake called it a fact-finding enterprise on program diversity and possible ways to address complaints that cable operators and other multichannel video-programming distributors (MVPDs) might be stifling competition.

The FCC is inviting comment on the state of the marketplace and the challenges to entry. It’s also seeking comment on most favored nation and alternative distribution method provisions in contracts, which independent networks have said can hinder their access. It is also seeking comments on OTT distribution, program bundling, and issues affecting public, education and government (PEG) channels.

The FCC is also seeking comment on its legal authority to address any hindrances to distribution.

FCC commissioner Mignon Clyburn had sought the inquiry, and signaled last month that it was being teed up for a vote.

Clyburn, a Democrat, has concerns about independent programmers getting projects their projects green-lighted, and about access to distribution channels. She said she did not know whether it was an issue the FCC could solve, but it would be a platform for discussion and put attention on the issue.

An NOI is an investigation and might or might not result in any regulation.

Clyburn said she was not sure the FCC was the best place to solve the issues raised by independent and diverse programmers, but said it was appropriate to launch and inquiry and start a conversation about the best solution.

Democratic commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said it was an important inquiry.

"[W]hat we see on the screen says so much about who we are as individuals, as communities, and as a Nation," she said. "In this season of #OscarsSoWhite and female directors so few, starting a conversation about programming diversity and independent voices might be hard — but it is the right thing to do.  Kudos to my colleague Commissioner Clyburn for encouraging us to get this discussion started."

Republican commissioner Ajit Pai said when he grew up there were few people who looked like him (a United States-born son of immigrants from India), most notably Haji from the cartoon series Jonny Quest. He said today, things are different, which shaped his view on the item.  He cited Netflix's Master of None, a series starring and created by comedian Aziz Ansari, about the American-born son of Indian immigrants.

He said there is already a wealth of content available at the push of a button, but did say there "still may be some challenges in the brave new world of video."

He said that included the fact that, as the NOI said, "[s]ome independent programmers have expressed concern that certain carriage practices of cable operators and other [multichannel video programming distributors] may limit their ability to reach viewers."

Pai said he had heard those concerns in his own meetings with programmers, and was glad stakeholders would have a chance to weigh in.

Republican FCC commissioner Michael O'Rielly said he feared the NOI was the beginning of a regulatory push, but said he could concur with the item after edits that tempered some of the language that made it seem so.

FCC chairman Tom Wheeler said it was a simple item that went hand to hand with the set-top box proposal also being considered at the meeting.

"The FCC has shown tremendous leadership with today's vote for the Notice Of Inquiry (NOI),” said Patrick Gottsch, founder and president of RFD-TV.  “Independent programmers are under attack, and are now experiencing a tremendous disadvantage to gain and even maintain carriage in this deteriorating marketplace. The NOI will give all independent programmers and consumers the opportunity to share their frustration and experiences in a public forum. RFD-TV looks forward to participating in every way possible".

To paraphrase Yogi Berra, it seems to be getting late early out there for Los Angeles Dodgers fans who are not subscribers to Time Warner Cable.

With 12 days to go before the club’s 2015 opener against the San Diego Padres, the MSO, which is handling the distribution for and operating SportsNet LA, the regional sports network home to the Dodgers, said negotiations have stalled.

“We want all Dodger fans to have access to SportsNet LA. Despite our repeated attempts, other providers are unwilling to engage in any discussions,” said the MSO. “If Dodger fans want to enjoy SportsNet LA this season, we encourage them to switch to a provider that carries the network.”

In addition to Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks, which benefits from the nation’s No. 2 MSO’s programming leverage and negotiations, and Champion Broadband are the only other distributors in SportNet LA’s TV territory to ink affiliate pacts.

Last season, DirecTV, Dish Network, Charter Communications, AT&T U-Verse and Cox Communications all balked at a monthly license fee that exceeded $4 per subscriber.  The same shuttout scenario evidently could unfold, particularly with the price to play this season increasing to a reported $4.90 per subscriber.

Time Warner Cable, meanwhile, is left footing a very expensive bill. The MSO is now in the second of a 25-year deal under which it is paying Guggenheim Partners, the Dodgers owners, some $8.35 billion over its term. Aiming for a long-term cost-certainty hedge against the rising cost of sports rights, Time Warner Cable assumed the full risk, assuming it would offset those outlays by collecting the license fees from other distribution players in the Dodgers TV territory.

The absence of contractual movement prompted the New York Post to pen a story on March 23, indicating that Time Warner Cable was preparing to take a $1 billion writedown on the value of the impaired asset.

The MSO yesterday afternoon brush-backed the story thusly:  “In response to a March 23rd New York Post article about SportsNet LA, Time Warner Cable has no plans to take a write down in connection with its Dodgers contract. In fact, TWC does not carry an asset on its balance sheet related to the Dodgers and, therefore, there is no asset for it to write down now or in the future. We continue to believe in the long term value of the network and remain eager to make it available to all Dodgers’ fans."

Price considerations aside, some market watchers believe the pending approvals or disapprovals of the proposed Comcast-Time Warner Cable and DirecTV-AT&T mergers are also serving to hold up negotiations for the Dodgers RSN.

With conversations currently struck out, it appears that 70% of television households in the L.A. region won’t be able to watch SportsNet LA’s coverage of opening day and again face the prospect of another entire season without the Dodgers -- one of the favorites to reach the World Series -- on local television.

Continuing its international expansion, Pac-12 Networks has inked a multiyear agreement with Metta Sport to bring content into Latin America.

Metta Sport, an international sports marketing and distribution agency, will represent Pac-12 Networks in the distribution of live, near-live and video on demand games across nearly 30 sports throughout Latin America, including Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean.

According to the parties, Metta Sport has already secured agreements to distribute a selection of Pac-12 Networks events beginning in March through the Claro Sports network in several Latin American countries, and through Antel’s mobile platform in Uruguay.

Deal terms were not disclosed.

The deal with Metta Sport follows the Pac-12’s agreement with Chinese interactive video platform LeTV to stream 27 Pac-12 men’s basketball games in China during the 2014-15 season, including the recently concluded Pac-12 Men’s Basketball tournament, won by Arizona (pictured), now the No. 2 seed in the West region of the the 2015 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship.

Last August the Pac-12 Networks also launched the first-ever live streaming subscription sports channel on YouTube that is now accessible in 34 countries outside of the United States.  

“International distribution has been a high priority for us as we look to deliver our world class Pac-12 sports content to our growing fan base living outside of the United States,” Pac-12 Networks Vice President of Programming Dustin Rocke said. “Our agreement with Metta Sport will allow us to expand our reach even further and expose our teams and universities to new audiences in Latin America.” 

Noted Metta Sports managing director Dave Smith: “Sports fans in Latin America and all over the world have a great appreciation for the passion, intensity and competition of high quality sports. The Pac-12 has proven to be one of the premier collegiate athletic conferences in the world and we are thrilled to partner with them to deliver the highest quality sports content to fans throughout Latin America.”

Stateside, Pac-12 Networks, which proffers a central feed, as well as six sub-regionals reflecting content pairings from the six pairings of conference members, has been stymied to some extent on the distribution front, notably with DirecTV.

(Updated at 1 p.m. (ET) on Feb. 20)

In a carriage disagreement, Comcast says Spanish-language network Estrella TV has pulled its signals in three markets.

The disconnect came at midnight (CT) for KETD 46 in Denver, KZIZ 44 in Houston and KPNZ in Salt Lake City.

Liberman Broadcasting-owned Estrella TV, which said Comcast forcibly removed it, is trying to upgrade its carriage from must-carry to retransmission-consent status, which would result in license fees and full distribution in the DMAs.

Comcast, which proffers more than 60 Hispanic networks as part of its Latino package, noted that it remains Estrella’s largest distributor, carrying the channel in 13 other DMAs, including top Latino markets  Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Chicago and Fresno, Calif.

The top MSO, which is awaiting federal approvals of its proposed merger with Time Warner Cable, said the disconnect marked the first time a programmer pulled its signal in the MSO's history. Comcast said that it has been negotiating in good faith with Estrella for months.

Estrella TV maintains that it is making ratings gains against Telemundo, the Spanish-language broadcaster owned by NBCUniversal, Comcast's programming arm, which warrant an upgrade in its positioning. Comcast says Estrella’s claims of Nielsen advances are vastly overstated.  

“We are very disappointed that Liberman Broadcasting has decided to take away its Estrella broadcast stations from Comcast’s customers in Houston, Denver, and Salt Lake City.  Fortunately,  Liberman’s actions do not affect 80 percent of Comcast’s customers who will continue to receive Estrella in markets like Miami, Chicago, New York, and Fresno.  After more than 50 years of being in business and negotiating thousands of programming agreements, this is the first time a programmer has pulled its signal from our customers," said a Comcast spokesman. 

"Liberman’s precipitous action is particularly puzzling given that we are Estrella’s largest distributor and have been negotiating in good faith to reach a fair arrangement with Liberman," he continued.  "The bottom line is that we want to continue to carry the Estrella stations for our customers in these three markets and offered to do so under our existing arrangements with Liberman, which are the same arrangements we have with other, comparable stations.  Unfortunately, Liberman is insisting that we go far beyond the market and that our customers pay millions of dollars for Estrella programming, which is not widely viewed among Latino audiences, and also is insisting on significant additional distribution throughout our footprint.  We are the nation’s largest cable provider of Spanish-language network packages, so our Hispanic customers will continue to have many viewing choices.  We hope Liberman decides to return these stations to our customers.”

Estrella TV CEO Lenard Liberman offered a different view of the proceedings.

“It is a sad day for television viewers in Houston, Denver, and Salt Lake City with Estrella TV being taken off the air in those markets as Comcast places its own self-serving interests ahead of the requests of its customers,” according to Liberman's statement. “If this disregard and disrespect for its customers is an example of what consumers can expect from Comcast should its proposed merger with Time Warner Cable receives approval, it will be bad news for viewers across the country as it gives Comcast carte blanche to decide who does and does not receive fair distribution. Comcast’s continued false statements about Estrella TV’s performance and so-called low ratings are transparent efforts to misinform and confuse viewers, consumer advocates, politicians, and reporters.”

Estrella TV said Comcast’s most recent offer was without compensation and called for the network to cede the digital rights to all of its programming.

The network said it would continue to negotiate with Comcast.

Olympusat has secured a berth for faith and family-friendly service Upliftv on DirecTV.

Upliftv, which proffers Christian movies, documentaries, ministry fare and reality series, is currently available on channel 379 on the top DBS provider’s lineup.

Deal terms with Olympusat, which helps networks gain distribution via its “Faith & Family Suite,” were not disclosed.  

Upliftv’s lineup includes Left Behind, starring Kirk Cameron, Champions of Faith, with former Major League Baseball players Sandy Alomar Jr. and his father, and reality series, The Way of the Master.

“Olympusat is very pleased to launch the premier faith-‐based movie and series network, Upliftv on DirecTV.  Families, for the first time, can enjoy a network that focuses on Christian movies and

series,” said Olympusat CEO Tom Mohler. “We have long observed that Christian films over perform in ratings compared to other programs, so we want to give people a network with more of

what they want.” 

An independent,  Olympusat specializes in ownership, distribution, production and technical services for network. In addition to its Faith, Family and Specialty Suite offering, the company is a leader

in the Hispanic television and media space through its 70 television networks, 30 of which are available in the high-definition format.. Olympusat’s top networks include: Cine Mexicano, which earlier this month reached an agreement with 39 million DirecTV subscribers in the U.S. and Latin America,  FUNimation Channel, which recently launched with Cablevision Systems, and the newly introduced Ultra HD Plex.

Suddenlink Communications said it has launched filmmaker Robert Rodriguez’ El Rey Network in select markets across the country.

El Rey, one of four multi-cultural networks launched in 2012 as part of the conditions surrounding Comcast’s acquisition of a majority stake in NBC Universal, is a 24-hour English language network featuring original scripted and unscripted programming, movies, and cult-classic acquired series that aspire to awaken viewers' inner renegade. Current original series airing on El Rey Network include “From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series”, the Lucha Libre wrestling series, “Lucha Underground” and “El Rey Network Presents: The Director’s Chair," hosted by Rodriguez and featuring one on one interviews with some of Hollywood's leading filmmakers.

”El Rey Network provides unique programming that enhances the variety of entertainment choices we offer customers,” said Suddenlink senior vice president and chief programming officer Kathy Payne in a statement.  “We’re pleased to add it to our growing list of viewing options.”

Suddenlink is the seventh largest cable operator in the country and has about 1.4 million residential and commercial customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, West Virginia and elsewhere. The Suddenlink deal is the second in about a week for the network, which signed Dish Network as an affiliate on Jan. 29.

El Rey, which counts Spanish-language broadcaster Univision as an equity partner, has reached carriage deals in the past with DirecTV, Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks and Cox Communications.  

"We're excited that Suddenlink customers will now have access to El Rey Network's cutting edge programming," El Rey founder and chairman Rodriguez said in a statement. "Our content reflects the changing face of the American television viewer and we're proud that Suddenlink and other distributors support this new and growing audience.”

The official transition of mun2 to NBC Universo on Sunday will be a highly defining moment for the network in more ways than one.

The modern general-entertainment cable service for Latinos has inked a deal with DirecTV for high-definition carriage. Subscribers at the nation’s leading DBS providers will be able to watch all of NBC Universo’s programming in the high-definition format on Feb. 1, highlighted by the network’s exclusive Spanish-language telecast of Super Bowl XLIX.

Deal terms were not disclosed.

While the DirecTV pact marks NBC Universo’s initial HD carriage entry, officials at NBC Universo, which counts some 40 million subscribers, are continuing to engage all of its affiliates in those conversations.

In the meantime, NBC Universo will look to provide more exposure for its coming out party via a free preview for the day with DirecTV, AT&T U-verse, Cox, Verizon FiOS, Dish, Cablevision and corporate parent Comcast that will make it available to 74 million homes.

On Super Bowl Sunday, NBC Universo viewers will be greeted at 1 a.m. by Bienvenidos a NBC Universo, a half-hour show outlining what viewers can expect from the service. The program will also air after the conclusion of NBC Universo’s coverage of the Super Bowl, a presentation that will make it the second Spanish-language network to air the NFL championship in the States.

After the post-game airing of Bienvenidos a NBC Universo, the network will air a special preview of its first new acquired series. Crónica de Castas is a nine-episode fictional drama series that was filmed in the small, impoverished neighborhood of Tepito in Mexico City. The show follows the lives of polarizing characters with plenty of secrets whose stories revolve around the local Hotel Galicia. The Sunday night airing marks the pay TV debut of the series in the U.S., before it unfurls in full later this winter.

The network’s opening day lineup also features a host of Super Bowl-related specials sporting among other things, highlights from Media Day, an interview with halftime entertainer Katy Perry, a behind-the-scenes look at its production game plan and the best performers from Super Bowl halftimes past. The official pregame show starts at 5 p.m.

Content will be accessible to all users at nbcuniverso.com.

Pasadena, Calif. -- Netflix has no intentions of releasing viewing statistics for its original shows, which do not reflect the success or failure of its original programming, according to the OTT service’s chief content officer Ted Sarandos.

Sarandos, speaking at Netflix’s Television Critics Association press tour presentation here Wednesday morning, said that unlike cable and broadcast networks, Netflix has no business reasons to be measured or release audience numbers. The streaming service doesn’t have to rely on ratings to generate advertising or secure carriage deals with cable distributors, so Sarandos said there’s no need to provide audience information to justify its success.

He added that the television industry’s heavy emphasis on ratings has hurt the overall creative process.

“For us, primetime viewing is no more valuable than 3 a.m. viewing – we want our subscribers to watch on their time table,” he said. “While other network track live +3 or live +7, it has no impact on our business whatsoever. We’re going to stay away from it as long as we can.”

On Netflix’s decision not to stream The Interview: Sarandos would not directly comment on Netflix’s decision not to distribute Sony’s controversial movie The Interview, but noted that the movie’s digital performance – Sony has reported that the movie has drawn $31 million in digital sales  – bodes well for the future of digitally distributed movie programming.

“It’s been a great  example of what can happen with a big budget movie if you give people distribution choices,” Sarandos said. “You can create a lot of revenue.”

On the resurrection of canceled shows: Sarandos said the company will look at shows “opportunistically” adding that its decision to bring back A&E’s recently cancelled drama Longmire was based on adding new viewers to Netflix. Later this year, Netflix will stream the fourth season of the western drama, which A&E cancelled late last year after three seasons. 

“The show had a very loyal audience base … it will work great on Netflix,” he said.

Cable One and NBC Universal said they have reached a carriage deal covering the programmer's cable networks and TV stations, avoiding a New Year's Eve blackout.

"NBCUniversal and Cable One are pleased to have reached an agreement for carriage of USA, Syfy, Bravo, E!, Esquire Network, Oxygen, Sprout, Chiller, Cloo, CNBC, MSNBC, NBCSN, The Golf Channel, mun2, Telemundo and NBC, and Universal HD," NBCU said in a statement.  "This agreement confirms the value of the entire NBCUniversal portfolio.  NBCUniversal looks forward to continuing our longstanding relationship with Cable One and ensuring that our loyal viewers will always have access to our valuable programming.”

The agreement avoided what could have been the second blackout of a major network group by Cable One this year. In April Viacom networks like MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central went dark on Cable One, which counts about 475,000 video customers in 19 states. The new deal appears to include several NBCU channels that were not previously carried by the operator, such as  Cloo, Chiller, Esquire Network, and Universal HD.

Cable One has said publicly that it is downplaying video service in favor of broadband – its video customer rolls are down by about 15% since the third quarter of 2013. But it could have been encouraged to do a deal after its parent company Graham Holdings authorized its board of directors to spin off the Cable One assets into a separate publicly traded company, a deal that could be completed in 2015.

RLTV has signed a carriage pact with Buckeye CableSystem.

Under the deal, financial terms of which were not disclosed, the network aimed at those 50 and older will become available Dec. 15 to Buckeye digital basis subscribers on channel 160. At that point, RLTV will be accessible to the MSO's subscribers in Toledo, Sandusky and other areas of Ohio. Buckeye is a wholly owned subsidiary of Block Communications.

"We are honored to help deliver relevant programming to Buckeye's 50+ customers and are grateful for Buckeye's support and belief in our audience," said RLTV affiliate sales and corporate development Patrick Baldwin.

"Adding Buckeye as an affiliate partner is an opportunity to go beyond the television and serve Toledo and Sandusky's consumers with a grassroots approach," said Sara Timmins, RLTV director of distribution.

"RLTV offers unique and high-quality programming that is targeted to an audience that represents a significant segment of our country's population. We are excited to add RLTV to our programming lineup," said Jeff Abbas, Buckeye CableSystem president and general manager.

Dish Network’s retransmission-consent battle with CBS ended almost as soon as it began, with the parties reaching a comprehensive retransmission-consent and carriage accord early Saturday morning, mere hours after the networks went dark to select subscribers.

CBS owned-and-operated stations in 18 markets went dark to select Dish customers at 7 p.m. on Friday after months of negotiations. While CBS expressed extreme frustration in what it called Dish’s foot-dragging in reaching a deal, Dish had stressed that talks continued even as the blackout was implemented.

The standoff ended up lasting less than a day. In a joint statement Saturday morning, Dish and CBS said they had not only reached a retransmission-consent deal for the stations, but a carriage accord for CBS Sports Network, Smithsonian Channel, TVGN and Showtime Networks, including Showtime TV Everywhere and video-on-demand rights.

In addition, all pending litigation against the company has been dropped, and Dish has agreed to disable its Auto Hop ad-skipping functionality for CBS owned stations in the C7 window.

“We are very pleased with this deal, which meets all of our economic and strategic objectives,” CBS Television Networks Distribution president Ray Hopkins said in a statement. “We look forward to having Dish as a valued partner for many years to come.”

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“We are pleased to continue delivering CBS programming to our customers, while expanding their digital access to Showtime content through Showtime Anytime,” said Warren Schlichting, Dish senior vice president, programming in a statement.

The agreement includes retransmission consent for CBS owned stations on Dish in New York (WCBS and WLNY), Los Angeles (KCBS and KCAL), San Francisco (KPIX and KBCW), Dallas (KTVT and KTXA),  Denver (KCNC), Boston (WBZ and WSBK), Chicago (WBBM), Pittsburgh (KDKA and WPCW),  Atlanta (WUPA), Baltimore (WJZ), Detroit (WWJ and WKBD), Miami (WFOR and WBFS), Minneapolis (WCCO), Philadelphia (KYW and WPSG), Sacramento (KOVR and KMAX), Seattle (KSTW) and Tampa (WTOG).

The agreement also grants Dish rights to Showtime video-on-demand content and authentication rights for Showtime Anytime, and includes a path to over-the-top distribution of Showtime Networks.

Dish chairman Charlie Ergen has said the company is on track to launch an over-the-top service, including network content from channels owned by The Walt Disney Co., Scripps Interactive Networks and A&E Networks, by year-end.

With the deal, the parties avoid any consumer consternation that may have emanated from football fans missing the SEC Championship game between top-ranked Alabama and Missouri on Saturday on CBS, not to mention Black Rock's slate of NFL action on Sunday.

CBS said it is continuing to negotiate with Dish as it tries to reach a renewal accord for 14 of its owned-and-operated stations, plus premium programmer Showtime Networks Inc. and national cable channel CBS Sports Network.

CBS on Dec. 2 publicly set the disconnect deadline for 7 p.m. tonight. The discussions follow a pair of extensions that CBS had granted to the nation’s No. 2 DBS provider to keep the properties available to its subscriber base while negotiations continued.

Shortly after 7 p.m., the programmer issued the following statement: "CBS remains on the air with Dish while negotiations progress into the evening." Dish later confirmed that discussions were ongoing.

If a deal can't be reached, Dish subscribers could lose access to CBS-owned stations in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Baltimore, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Miami, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Sacramento. Seven CW stations could also go dark, as well as three independents in LA, New York, and Dallas, plus MyNetworkTV affiliates in Miami and Boston.

The talks, which undoubtedly also center on digitial rights, continue as Dish has -- at least for the interim -- also sidestepped disconnects with Turner Broadcasting System and Comcast SportsNet regionals.

Turner and Dish agreed to a short-term extension last month that restored CNN, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, truTV, TCM, HLN, CNN en Espanol and Boomerang to the DBS provider's 14 million subscribers across the nation.

That agreement also averted what could have been a drop of Turner’s top two channels, TNT and TBS, whose contracts were expected to expire on Dec. 5.

Sources said the interim pact spans into March, which would keep Turner’s coverage of “March Madness” in play to Dish subscribers.

Dish earlier this week also agreed to a short-term extension with NBC Sports Group for a quartet of CSN regionals. The contracts for CSN Chicago, Mid-Atlantic, California and Bay Area were set to expire on Dec. 2 , but the parties continue to talk. 

CSN New England has been dark to Dish subscribers since Aug. 1 in a separate license fee dispute.

Dish has never carried CSN Philadelphia or CSN Northwest and punted on SNY, operated by NBC Sports, which also has an equity position in the New York Mets' channel. It’s unclear if those RSNs and CSN New England are part of the negotiations.

The carriage contracts between Dish and four Comcast SportsNet regionals expire at midnight as the threat of darkness continues to loom for the DBS provider’s subscribers.

The deals for four Comcast SportsNet services – Bay Area, California, Mid-Atlantic and Chicago – conclude at the end of Dec. 1, with the RSNs potentially going black shortly thereafter.

NBC Sports Group, which operates the RSNs, on Nov. 20 launched multimedia campaigns – on the networks’ websites, plus on-air crawls and reads – warning Dish subscribers about possible drops and urged them to call  1-888-I-Want-CSN or Visit I Want CSN.com.

On Nov. 25, the programmer established dedicated microsites, where Dish subscribers can voice their support for the RSNs. Combined with the toll-free calls, the number of visits to the sites and tweets on the topic, NBCU said there has been plenty of support among the RSNs’ subscribers who want to continue to watch the networks and the attendant clubs and programming.  

"As the deadline with Dish approaches, we continue to negotiate as the tracked volume of calls, emails, tweets, website visits and petitions filed in support of CSN programming climbs into the hundreds of thousands,” said NBCUniversal. “Until an agreement is reached, we expect Dish customers who are growing tired of showdowns and blackouts to continue to voice their displeasure and consider other providers."  

Dish, which has been out of contract with CSN New England since Aug. 1 and is also engaged down-to-the-wire contract talks with CBS for its owned-and-operated stations and cable services, including premium programmer Showtime and CBS Sports Network, declined on Thursday afternoon.

Dish previously stated the Comcast RSNs were seeking a 20% increase in monthly license fees for 90% of its customers in the attendant markets, despite that only a “small fraction” of the sub bases watched the channels. The DBS company called this “heavy-handed tactic troubling” in light of Comcast's proposed merger with Time Warner Cable that would give it more power to leverage content in “anticompetitive ways.”

As mentioned, CSN New England, the home of the NBA Boston Celtics, has been off of Dish's air since for four months in a carriage dispute. Charlie Ergen's company has never carried CSN Philadelphia and CSN Northwest, or the recently shuttered CSN Houston.  It previously distributed New York Mets-centric SNY, which NBC Sports Group operates and holds a stake in.

Perhaps a cable operator’s greatest weapon in carriage disputes with major programmers is a simple one: perseverance.

Phoenix-based Cable One is more than seven months into a carriage fight with Viacom, a battle the small-market operator appeared to be losing in the early stages.

It lost about 34,500 basic-video customers in the second quarter, more than double its losses of the previous year.

But the declines seem to have leveled off to about 14,000 video customers in the third quarter, slightly better than the previous year.

More heartening, according to one prominent cable analyst, is that broadband subscribers — the most profitable customers for most cable companies — actually grew in the period.

Cable One parent Graham Holdings said high-speed data customers totaled 486,142, an increase of 3,417 subscribers for the period. That’s the first broadband increase for the company since the dispute with Viacom began on April 1. (Cable One lost about 1,443 broadband customers in the second quarter.)

Cable One now has more broadband customers (486,142) than video customers (476,233). It has packaged a tight 50-channel video lineup with high-speed Internet to draw new subscribers. But now new customers are increasingly ignoring video altogether.

“Nearly 60% of our new connects are Internet- only, at 50 Megabits per second [and] less than 10% are video only,” Cable One spokeswoman Patricia Niemann said.

The cable firm is in the market with a broadband offer of 50 Mbps download speeds for $35 a month, significantly less than what other larger cable operators charge.

Niemann said Cable One high-speed data customers are increasingly looking to over-the-top video solutions such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu, and with additional OTT video offerings expected from Dish Network, Sony and Verizon Communications, Cable One is embracing possible replacements for its video product.

“We have always viewed OTT as a big longterm plus for our Internet product,” Niemann said. “Our third-quarter and year-to-date increases in cash flow and cash-flow margins over last year, despite a 15% drop in video subscribers, strongly indicate that lack of importance in video cash flow today. The 4% growth in HSD subscribers, despite a 15% drop in video subscribers, also indicates the lack of importance of video as a gateway product.”

Losing the video offering could force small cable operators into pricing competition with deeper pocketed competitors. But for the moment, even analysts are beginning to see some advantages of minimizing video.

“Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the Cable One experience is the confirmation that you can, in fact, lose video subscribers without hurting your broadband business,” Craig Moffett, MoffettNathanson partner and senior analyst, said. “That had been theorized before, but it’s heartening to see the empirical evidence.”

That evidence also is emboldening some smaller operators, who are beginning to weigh the benefits of dropping or severely curtailing their video offerings.

At Buford Media, a Tyler, Texas-based cable operator with about 6,000 customers in Arkansas, Texas, Alabama, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Mississippi, CEO Ben Hooks said doing without video is becoming increasingly attractive.

“I am losing interest in providing video content,” Hooks said, adding that rising rates for content are making it more difficult to compete with satellite-TV providers, his main competition.

Hooks estimated he pays more than $50 per month for an average of 50 channels, or roughly twice the 55 cents per channel the Federal Communications Commission has estimated the average consumer pays for cable programming.

“The only reason to continue to provide video content at this time is that it still helps pay the bills, but without other broadband services it can’t support the expenses anymore to cover all the plant and programming costs to operate the system,” Hooks said.

Whether dropping video becomes the norm for smaller operators or just a negotiating tool for future carriage agreements, Moffett said operators must increasingly make hard choices about which programmers they will carry.

“But in a way, the realization that video is less important to the business is liberating,” Moffett said. “It allows for more serious negotiation with programmers, backed with the realization that if video subscribers leave it’s not the end of the world. And it encourages experimentation with new video models and packages.

“Cable One has realized that they have less at stake in these negotiations than they used to believe, so they can focus exclusively on striking whatever balance they think is best for the largest number of customers,” Moffett said.