DirecTV Asks FCC To Clarify What An 'MVPD' Is

DirecTV is wondering whether the Federal Communications Commission's video navigation rules -- which cover "multichannel video programming distributors," traditionally used to refer to cable, satellite and telco TV companies -- would apply to broadband-connected devices like Roku set-top boxes.

In an FCC filing, the satellite TV giant asked the agency to clarify "what type of entity qualifies as an MVPD whose services and equipment would be subject to the Commission's requirements." The FCC has proposed an AllVid regime that would require MVPDs to conform to an interoperable, nationwide standard for providing third-party consumer-electronics devices access to programming and related information. AllVid would supersede the FCC's current CableCard rules, which apply only to MSOs.

According to DirecTV, "the universe of those who qualify as an ‘MVPD' remains unknown," and may apply to online video distributors, such as Roku, which recently announced that it has delivered 1 billion streams of video programming from more than 135 sources such as Netflix, Hulu Plus and Amazon Video on Demand. This week Roku added the live stream of Al Jazeera English to its lineup, a network not carried by any major U.S. pay-TV provider. "If the Commission required MVPDs to make their content available to all AllVid devices on a disaggregated basis, would device manufacturers be given access to Roku's content from Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon to present any way those manufacturers saw fit?" DirecTV asked.