Time Warner Cable will release an advanced set-top box with “dramatically improved” DVR capacity and features in New York City and Los Angeles by the end of the year, TWC said in a release Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1w4IjkJ) The box, called Enhanced DVR, will allow customers to “simultaneously record up to six different programs and enjoy up to six times more storage than their current DVR,” the release said. Enhanced DVR will have a 1-terabyte hard drive with the ability to save 150 hours of HD programming, and its functions can be used on “up to four other HD set-top boxes in the home,” the release said.

NCTA urged the FCC to seek comment on the full range of issues and potential consequences of expanding obligations of multichannel video programming distributors if it plans to explore the MVPD issue in a rulemaking proceeding. Expanding the MVPD definition to include online video distributors (OVDs) would misconstrue the provisions of the Communications Act “and raise a host of practical and regulatory concerns,” NCTA said in an ex parte filing posted Friday in docket 12-83 (http://bit.ly/1swUEdy). To the extent that the FCC finds that OVDs qualify as MVPDs, OVDs “must be subject to the obligations of MVPD status as well as its benefits,” like program carriage, closed captioning and emergency alerts, it said. Giving OVDs regulatory benefits that Congress provided to traditional facilities-based MVPDs without imposing their obligations “would dilute and undermine the policy goals underlying those obligations-including fair marketplace competition,” NCTA said. The filing pertained to a meeting with Chief Bill Lake and other staff from his Media Bureau, and staff from the Office of General Counsel.

Comcast released data on criminal and national security-related requests for information for the first six months of 2014, in a transparency report Thursday, it said in a blog post (http://bit.ly/ZGDQXo). “This information is designed to enhance the transparency of government surveillance programs as part of the ongoing conversation over how best to ensure that such programs appropriately reflect and balance the privacy interests of individuals,” Comcast said. Since requests for information under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) are under a six-month delay, the report covers July to December 2013, Comcast said. The company “carefully” reviews all such requests to make sure they comply with “applicable law,” Comcast said.

Turner Broadcasting's kids channel Boomerang is re-launching as a "global all-animation, youth-targeted network," Turner said in a news release Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1vrYlox). The relaunched Boomerang will draw on Turner's anaimation library to present "timeless" cartoons like Tom and Jerry, contemporary cartoons from international studios and original content, it said. The official rollout for the relaunched channel began in Latin America Sept. 29, will continue with Australia Nov. 3, and then continue elsewhere, including the U.S., in 2015.

Liberty Global got regulatory clearance from the European Commission for its public offer to shareholders of cable company Ziggo, Liberty said in a news release Friday (http://bit.ly/1sudnrJ). Liberty Global offered commitments to address the European Commission’s competition concerns, the release said. Those concessions included divestment of Liberty’s Film1 business in the Netherlands, minimum IP transit capacity and “behavioral commitments” connected to contracts with broadcasters, the release said. To comply with U.S. regulatory requirements, Liberty Global may reduce the minimum acceptance level condition of the offer to 65 percent of Ziggo’s “aggregate issued and outstanding ordinary share capital,” the release said. The deal “will benefit consumers and businesses across the Netherlands given our commitment to investment and innovation in the Dutch market,” said Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries in the release.

The FCC Media Bureau asked AT&T to provide responses, supporting documentation, and data on Internet speeds offered, network planning, subscriber behavior and other information, by Oct. 31. The information is needed for the FCC to complete its review of the transaction applications of Comcast and Time Warner Cable, the bureau said in a letter to AT&T (http://bit.ly/1yd6cYc). The FCC requires information and data from other commercial wireline carriers against which the applicants compete, it said. The information requested includes plan level subscriber data by ZIP Code for the period June 1, 2013, through June 30, 2014, and the company’s use of data caps, the bureau said (http://bit.ly/1CYRbsJ).

Herring Networks urged the FCC to consider conditions on Comcast’s planned buy of Time Warner Cable, including requiring Comcast divest some national cable holdings. The FCC should take a “strong look” at the ownership and workings of iN Demand, the pay-per-view and VOD service owned by Comcast, Cox Communications and TWC, Herring said in an ex parte filing posted Wednesday in dockets 14-90 and 14-57 (http://bit.ly/1sdtrit). Comcast “should divest of its ownership interest in and management of iN Demand post-merger,” it said. The commission needs to consider Bright House Networks’ subscriber numbers in its calculations “should Bright House rely upon Comcast to negotiate its programming agreements post-merger,” Herring said. Consumers would benefit with more diverse programming offering if Comcast doesn’t negotiate programming affiliation agreements on behalf of Bright House, Spinco or Charter Communications, post-deal, it said. Herring also continued to urge the FCC to act swiftly and favorably on AT&T/DirecTV. Herring has had positive experiences and fair consideration “extended by the telco video providers when seeking distribution, including from AT&T U-verse,” it said. Herring’s forerunner battled over the owners of iN Demand over their lack of carriage of WealthTV.

More than 99 percent of Comcast’s shareholders voted to support a proposed stock issuance in connection with the planned buy of Time Warner Cable, Comcast said in a news release Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1qj5xeF). Comcast will issue 2.875 shares of Comcast Class A common stock for every one share of Time Warner Cable common stock, the release said. TWC shareholders will vote on the merger Thursday, the release said.

Dish Network and Frontier Communications renewed a multiyear contract that gives the telco’s customers bundled technology solutions. The bundled offerings pair Frontier broadband and voice services with a suite of Dish products and services, said the DBS company in Tuesday in a news release (http://bit.ly/1saQmKi). It said Frontier is a single, local point of contact for service and billing.

Cox Communications said it will begin offering its “G1GABLAST” gigabit Internet service to its residential customers later this year. Cox will first offer the G1GABLAST service to customers in portions of the Phoenix metropolitan area, followed by offerings in Las Vegas and Omaha. The company said it plans to deploy the service nationwide by the end of 2016. “Cox will deliver the choice of gigabit speeds to all of our customers nationwide,” said President Pat Esser in a Monday news release. G1GABLAST will cost $69.99 per month for customers in Phoenix as part of a service bundle. Cox said it’s also doubling speeds for its High Speed Internet Preferred and High Speed Internet Premier services (http://bit.ly/Za4GGO).