Netgear announced what it called the first DOCSIS 3.1 cable modem-router. The Nighthawk X4S supports the fastest internet speed tier offered by Comcast Xfinity and other ISPs, said the company. Its beamforming-plus technology is said to boost speed, reliability and range for Wi-Fi mobile devices operating in the 2.4-5GHz bands.
Q2 likely saw pay-TV subscriber losses of 1.28 million -- or 858,000 when streaming bundles are factored in -- Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker wrote investors. With Q1 already having a 748,000 loss -- or 328,000 including streaming subscribers -- she said Q2 is traditionally the weakest quarter of the year, and Hulu and YouTube have launched streaming bundles and there's increased incumbent MVPD competition with AT&T aggressively promoting DirecTV and DirecTV Now and no Verizon strike underway.
The majority of broadband-connected U.S. households now are watching online video on TV, Parks Associates said in a news release Tuesday. Parks said 88 percent of computer-based video watching comes from nonlinear sources, and 72 percent of cord-cutters and cord-nevers subscribe to an over-the-top video service that's their primary source of content. The researcher said 49 percent of broadband households in the U.S. subscribe to Netflix, making it the market leader, and well over 60 percent of broadband households subscribe to at least one OTT service; a third subscribe to two or more.
TDS Baja Broadband is now TDS Broadband Service, the Wisconsin company said in an FCC International Bureau filing Friday. TDS said the change was in name only and didn't reflect a change in ownership.
The Starz app has netted more than 1 million subscribers since its spring 2016 launch, and the amount of the company's over-the-top content has grown by more than 125 percent, to 5,500 titles, said a news release Monday. The programmer said the amount of kids' programming has grown to close to 1,250 series episodes and movies. Starz plans to expand OTT content 40 percent, to nearly 7,700 selections by year's end.
Atlantic Broadband is buying the rest of the MetroCast cable ISP systems it didn't buy in 2015 to broaden its footprint in the U.S., Atlantic parent Cogeco Communications said in a news release Monday announcing the $1.4 billion deal. Atlantic Broadband bought MetroCast's Connecticut operations in 2015 (see 1508210008). MetroCast has about 120,000 internet, 76,000 video and 37,000 voice customers in Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Virginia, said the release. Atlantic Broadband expects the deal to close in January, pending regulatory approvals.
Cox Communications hasn't brought a First Amendment challenge to contributory copyright liability, so the Supreme Court's First Amendment rationale in its Packingham v. North Carolina decision in June isn't pertinent, BMG Rights Management said in a filing (in Pacer) Thursday in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The filing was in response to Cox previously pointing to Packingham as part of its appeal of a U.S. District Court ruling in BMG Rights Management's torrent piracy lawsuit (see 1706270070). BMG said the First Amendment doesn't guarantee Cox subscribers the right to use Cox broadband service to commit piracy "any more than it prevents Cox from terminating subscribers who violate Cox’s policies or fail to pay their bills." It also said Packingham has no bearing on the issue of appropriate circumstances for ISPs terminating access of repeat infringers. Cox didn't comment Friday.
Cablevision's appeal of an administrative law judge finding it discriminated against Game Show Network (GSN) will be taken up by the commissioners at the July 13 meeting, as an item was added to the sunshine agenda released Thursday. According to the agenda and the FCC, the agency will consider a memorandum opinion and order on exceptions filed by the MVPD in January to the ALJ Richard Sippel's initial decision in 2016 that GSN's retiering by the MVPD was discrimination (see 1701050019). No draft of the memorandum opinion and order was released; it had been on circulation for several weeks. Cablevision, in its exceptions, argued that being forced to follow Sippel's initial decision would violate the Administrative Procedure Act and the company's due process rights. It also urged the commissioners to follow a 2015 Enforcement Bureau decision in its favor (see 1510150044).
Petitions to deny Liberty Interactive's buy of General Communications Inc. and calls for conditions (see 1706200044) are "tired complaints" about GCI's ongoing terrestrial middle-mile investments masquerading as transaction-specific harms, Liberty and GCI said in a joint opposition to petitions to deny and conditions posted Thursday in docket 17-114. Wednesday was the deadline for replies. Liberty and GCI said even if the complaints were true -- "which they are not" -- they existed before the transaction and the merger wouldn't alter market concentration or other market conditions, and the merger review isn't the right venue for addressing them. Liberty said Quintillion and Alaska Communications System complaints about GCI rates and practices ought to be addressed in a formal complaint under Section 208 of FCC rules. Citing the remote Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta's technology infrastructure woes, tribal consortium the Association of Village Council Presidents said the merger "can only be successful" if it creates accessible and affordable telco services for rural Alaska. Democratic State Rep. Zach Fansler in a letter sought more GCI transparency about how the post-merger entity will provide better and cheaper broadband service, including more community outreach to rural Alaska for purposes of getting input. Fansler said "costs have not yet gone down," despite FCC subsidies to GCI's Terra project. He said the FCC should consider changing federal funding of rural broadband in the state.
Dozens of ABC, NBC and Fox affiliates will join the DirecTV Now lineup starting this week, DirecTV said in a news release Friday. There was no mention of CBS in the announcement. AT&T said the added affiliates will more than double its number of supported local stations and will mean DirecTV now will have live local coverage for 70 percent of U.S. households. It said the additions include more than 30 ABC affiliates in markets such as Atlanta and Boston; four new NBC markets, including Salt Lake City and Milwaukee; and the Fox affiliate in Juneau, Alaska. AT&T said it expects to add further ABC, NBC and Fox channels through August.