Broadcaster Cox Media Group (CMG) said it has “responded promptly” to outreach from Cincinnati Bell and rejects claims it has not been negotiating for retransmission consent in good faith or that it is demanding fees for the telco‘s broadband-only subscribers.

Cincinnati Bell had filed a formal retransmission consent complaint with the Federal Communications Commission against CMG-owned WHIO — the CBS affiliate in Dayton, Ohio, and the top station in the market — for allegedly failing to negotiate in good faith, as FCC rules require, by trying to charge a fee per over-the-top video streamer as well as per traditional cable subs.

CMG said it will respond to the complaint in an FCC filing, but wanted to make clear in the meantime that it rejected the complaint as “unequivocally false,” “calculated” and “suspect.”

Also: Telco Tells FCC CMG’s Retrans Fee is Bad Faith

For one thing, the broadcaster said, the complaint came less than three weeks after Cincinnati Bell responded to a December 2021 CMG document. In any event, “it is patently false that CMG is demanding that Cincinnati Bell pay for broadband-only subscribers,” CMG executive VP, television Paul Curran said. ”Indeed, CMG’s proposal specifically exempts broadband-only customers.“

“Curiously, Cincinnati Bell’s other complaint is that CMG’s proposal requests that Cincinnati Bell honestly portray its programming costs to subscribers rather than pretending that retransmission consent fees are a unique cost requiring a ‘surcharge,’ ” Curran said. “What they pretend is somehow ’bad faith’ is a good-faith belief in pro-consumer transparency and truth in cable billing. Cincinnati Bell can get a fair deal anytime it wants to actually engage in negotiations.”

Calling the move “blatant theatrics,” Curran said Cincinnati Bell “has concocted a frivolous set of claims into an FCC filing.” ■

Cincinnati Bell, doing business as Altafiber, has filed a retransmission consent complaint against Cox Media/Apollo's WHIO-TV, the CBS affiliate in Dayton, Ohio, and the top station in the market, for allegedly failing to negotiate in good faith, as FCC rules require, by trying to charge a fee for over-the-top video streamers as well as traditional cable subs.

Cincinnati Bell says that would constitute a "crippling" fee.

The telco, which is trying to launch a fiber to the premises (FTTP) video service combining cable and broadband, says its issue is that the station won't grant retrans rights unless it gets a per-sub fee from most non-cable as well as cable subs, even though the former are not getting retransmitted TV station signals. "Imposing retransmission consent fees on broadband subscribers, to whom no retransmission is made, would not only increase the cost of broadband service but it has the immediate impact of foreclosing competition," it says.

The telco says it has been trying to secure retrans rights since 2019.

According to Cincinnati Bell, "Cox confirmed that even if such a subscriber merely streamed YouTube videos or purchased a Netflix subscription, it demands payment of retransmission consent fees despite the absence of any retransmission by Altafiber."

The telco points out that WHIO has not asked for similar fees from other cable/broadband operators in the market, and while it concedes Cox could be testing the waters for doing so in the future, why it is doing so is not the point, but the effect of doing so, which is to hinder competition, is an exercise of market power that runs afoul of the good faith standard.

Cincinnati Bell says that without rights to the top station in the market, it will have to scale back or scrap construction of its planned FTTP system to 135,000 homes in the Dayton DMA. That means not offering choice in cable and high-speed broadband to a community with a median income of only $32,540, where 30% live in poverty and almost half the population are people of color, just the sort of community that needs choice. Charter is the cable/broadband provider the telco would be going up against in the market.

"Both Congress and the Commission have repeatedly asserted the need for ubiquitous availability of affordable ultra-high-speed broadband service," Cincinnati Bell says in its complaint. "This is exactly what Altafiber seeks to accomplish with its plan to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Dayton, only to be derailed by an extortion demand."

Cincinnati Bell has asked the FCC order that Cox:

1. "Cannot require, directly or indirectly, payment of retransmission consent fees related to subscribers who do not purchase cable television service from Altafiber;

2. "Cannot mandate or restrict Altafiber’s fee or billing structure or disclosures for cable service so long as Altafiber does not disclose to subscribers the amount paid toCox for retransmission consent;

c. "Engage in good faith negotiations with Altafiber to attempt to resolve remaining open issues; and

d. "Cox is prohibited from engaging in any effort to circumvent the effect of the order, including, but not limited to, engaging in retaliatory pricing of its retransmission consent fees."

A Cox Media spokesperson had not returned a request for comment at press time.

Retrans complaints have generally been dismissed for failing to show the negotiations were not in good faith, or dropped after the parties involved reach an agreement and publicly bury the hatchet.

But last July, the FCC upheld a record $10 million fine against Sinclair-managed stations. ■

Less than six months after it was acquired by private equity firm Macquarie Infrastructure Partners, regional phone company Cincinnati Bell said it would rebrand as “Altafiber,” a name it says reflects its continued commitment to build out its fiber network to connect customers in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.

Cincinnati Bell has a long history -- it was founded in 1873 as a telegraph service -- and will continue to keep that moniker as a corporate entity. But in a press release explaining the name change, CEO Leigh Fox said that the company believes that fiber is the future, and its new name proves that.

“The word ‘alta’ is rooted in a word that means elevated, and that’s what Altafiber is doing: We’re providing an elevated connection through fiber and raising the standard of service to our customers and the communities we serve as we continue to build out our fiber network and deliver broadband connectivity that is essential to accessing education, healthcare, and employment opportunities,” Fox said in a press release. 

The company will transition to the Altafiber brand over the next 6-9 months. The branding change does not impact Altafiber’s other units, Hawaiian Telcom and CBTS, its IT Services business.

The company said it has invested more than $1 billion in its fiber network, and offers Fiber-to-the-Premises (“FTTP”) connectivity to about 60% of the homes in Greater Cincinnati. Macquarie Infrastructure Partners, a unit of Macquarie Asset Management, took the company private in September in a deal valued at about $2.9 billion, and has put forth plans to accelerate its fiber buildout to cover 100% of homes and business in the Greater Cincinnati area in the next five years. The company recently announced partnerships with Greene County in Ohio, and Greendale, Indiana, to build fiber to homes in those areas. More recently, Altafiber announced that it has established a regional headquarters in the Dayton, Ohio market, including a retail store and business office in that city.

“The investment in fiber, our geographic expansion, and our partnership with Macquarie mark a clear inflection point for the company. And it’s all incredibly exciting and positive for our employees and for the communities and customers that we serve,” Fox said in the press release. 

He added that while the company’s name is changing, its commitment to the community, its customers and leadership will continue.

“We are proud of the Cincinnati Bell name, and it will always be a part of our history,” Fox said. “We are still the local hometown company, with 2,000 employees across Greater Cincinnati who are dedicated to connecting our customers with what matters most through technology for the next 150 years.”

The Law&Crime channel has reached a carriage deal with Blue Ridge Communications, the network said Wednesday.

The Dan Abrams-founded network, which offers live court trial coverage as well as true crime shows and documentaries, adds Blue Ridge to the list of recent carriage deals with Verizon FiOS, Cincinnati Bell, Hawaiian Telcom and Buckeye Broadband to make the network available to more than 23 million customers, according to network officials. 

“Law&Crime continues to diversify channel lineups in a legal and true crime programming genre that remains highly sought-after” said Alex Kopacz, Head of Content Distribution & Licensing at Law&Crime in a statement.. “Our unique content has helped the network stand out and we’re thrilled that Blue Ridge sees this value for their channel packages and subscribers.” 

Washington -- “Everyone seems hell-bent on making sure the bundle persists, [but] we cannot continue to raise prices. That is what will eventually break the bundle,” said Michael Morrison, director of Fioptics Service at Cincinnati Bell, which will launch its “Fioptics MyTV” skinny bundles of video service on Monday, March 7.

“We would rather go to broadband, a much higher-margin product,” he added. “We want to offer those choices.”

Speaking on a panel about “The New Age of Video Consumption” during the American Cable Association Summit in Washington, Morrison explained that the company’s biggest challenge was determining channels that viewers want to see, even if they are not the most popular channels nationwide. 

RELATED STORY: "Cincinnati Bell Rings Up Slimmed-Down TV Packages"

“Being able to let a customer slim down their entertainment options is very important. This is something they want. We’re taking our first step,” Morrison said.

MyTV will supplement Cincinnati Bell’s current video service, which serves 115,000 customers, overbuilding the Time Warner Cable system in the market. When queried by Multichannel News, Morrison declined to predict the take-up of the new service.

MyTV will offer viewer-selected tiers will start with a $35.99 per month Starter Package ($29.99 for the foundation subscription plus $6 for one genre bundle), which will include about 100 channels. This core package includes local channels, as well as cable channels including AMC, Discovery Channel and HGTV.

Morrison said that during consumer testing, 80% of potential subscribers liked the skinny bundle options and pricing, compared to about 25% who like current pricing and structural formats. “We have good options versus Time Warner,” Morrison said, noting that MyTV is carried on the 1 Gbps network that Cincinnati Bell has built during the past eight years. 

“We hope that with the MyTV launch, it will make the entertainment more valuable,” he added. “If you look at what we’re doing, we know that we’re paying more for the packages [than bigger MSOs]. It forces us to be more creative to find new ways to package [channels].”

Morrison’s enthusiastic outlook about MyTV and skinny bundles was part of ACA’s dialogue about the migration of cable operations away from traditional video delivery.

Gene Kimmelman, CEO of Public Knowledge, on the same panel, focused on the ability of new technologies to delivery new services.

“The danger is that the traditional players are continuing to duke it out under old rules and [hence] may be left behind,” he said.

Sandy Brown, CEO of ONE World Sports Network, predicted, “As we look at where this will head, there will always be a place for the bundle.” But he acknowledged that “the OTT market is not as it will be in a year or two.” 

Asked about the role of Comcast’s X1 platform and other access concepts, Morrison said that he expects future licensing deals will generate new kinds of program options.

“Whether it’s provided by X1, TiVo or the Roku box, if a customer has one platform, that’s the best experience for the customer.” He said that he expects “three to five years from now, most of our experiences will be through an app.”

And he emphasized that, “High quality content will continue, whether it’s over the top or [via] a traditional bundle.”

Arris said it’s playing a key technical role in the launch of Cincinnati Bell’s new Fioptics TV Everywhere app, powering it with its Whole Home Solutions Mobile platform and SecureMedia content protection system, which Motorola originally acquired in 2010.

The telco’s TVE offering, supported on Web browsers and iOS- and Android-powered tablets and smartphones, currently offers subs with in-home access to 50 live TV channels, and access to programmer-managed apps such as HBO GO and Fox NOW. Cincinnati Bell’s TVE offering lets customers stream to as many as five devices at the same time.

Arris said its Whole Home Solution Mobile platform integrates with Cincinnati Bell's existing back-office systems. 

Cincinnati Bell, which competes locally with Time Warner Cable, launched a 1-Gig broadband service in early September that carries the Fioptics brand.

Cincinnati Bell will apply more pressure on incumbent MSO Time Warner Cable on September 8 when the telco launches a 1 Gbps consumer broadband service under its “Fioptics” brand.

The telco noted that it began to offer gigabit service to small businesses earlier this summer and that Tuesday’s consumer-facing announcement ties into a broader program it calls “Light Up Cincinnati.”

As part of that initiative, the company said it will continue to rollout free WiFi hotspots at “key” Cincinnati locations and in conjunction with community events.

Cincinnati  Bell will offer its 1-Gig tier as a standalone, but will also look to bundle it with its Fioptics TV service.  It hasn’t announced pricing for the 1-Gig service, nor said where it will be available first. For now, customers are being asked to call 513-565-5100 to see if their neighborhood is eligible.

Cincinnati Bell didn’t provide any additional information on pricing and roll out locations for the 1-Gig offering.

“The company has a unique opportunity to give Cincinnati consumers the capability to upgrade speeds to meet their ever-changing technology needs and do so at competitive prices,” Cincinnati Bell president and CEO Ted Torbeck.

TWC, which is in the process of being acquired by Comcast, has been deploying “TWCMaxx,” an all-digital upgrade that is being paired with a faster speeds, including a new high-end tier that offers 300 Mbps in the downstream.

Following initial upgrades in Los Angeles and Austin, Texas, TWC announced recently that plans to give seven more markets the TWC Maxx treatment in 2015: Charlotte, N.C.; Dallas; Hawaii; Kansas City, Mo.;  Raleigh, N.C.; San Antonio, Texas, and San Diego. TWC has not announced when it expects to go all-digital in Cincinnati.

Update: A TWC spokesman reiterated that the operating plan is to bring TWC  Maxx to all of the MSO's markets within three years, noting that markets have been prioritized for the upgrades for a variety of reasons, including the competitive landscape in each as well as the expected consumer demand for the resulting upgraded and enhanced services. "We are still making significant enhancements in Cincinnati, such as swapping out older set-top boxes for newer ones, introducing our advanced cloud-based guide, offering one-hour appointment windows and making other consumer-focused changes," he added, in a statement.