Viacom is in talks about creation of a skinny bundle package of content, and such offerings from programmers "will be a catalyst for more," CEO Bob Bakish said during an analyst call Thursday. "Everyone acknowledges there's a marketplace opportunity there." While licensing content to subscription VOD offerings, one big Viacom goal is ensuring it's not undercutting itself by creating inexpensive alternatives for consumers to access its content, he said. Pointing to Hulu carrying some Nickelodeon content, he said while Viacom builds out its own consumer products business, it makes sense to have some content available across multiple platforms. Bakish said the uneven subscriber results being reported by different MVPDs reflects differences in execution, and the industry overall needs to put more focus on the product and marketing. He said Charter Communications is retiering some of its channels for new subscribers -- an issue still the focus of talks between the two. Viacom said Q1 revenue was up 8 percent, to $3.26 billion, driven largely by filmed entertainment and more affiliate revenue. The CEO said as part of Viacom's announced turnaround plan (see 1702090029), Paramount has a new leadership team in place and MTV is installing a new team and pivoting to a new programming pipeline with a heavier focus on unscripted content. The programmer's stock closed down 7.7 percent to $37.85.

Hulu's live-streaming service launched at $40 a month for more than 50 channels, up to 50 hours of recording storage and two simultaneous streams per account, it said in a news release Wednesday. Hulu said an affiliate agreement with Scripps Networks Interactive means HGTV, Travel Channel and Food Network will be part of the new virtual MVPD service and Hulu's existing premium streaming service. The $40-a-month live-streaming service also includes Hulu's $8-a-month premium streaming service, it said. Hulu said its audience hit 47 million total unique viewers. It's launching a T-commerce advertising unit, which will allow for viewer purchase of movie tickets at theaters and showings of their choice through their connected TVs, with other brand categories such as retail and dining to follow in 2018.

Virtual MVPDs "are gaining traction" and offsetting some subscriber declines among traditional MVPDs, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes said in an analyst call Wednesday. He said they're demonstrating consumer demand for cheaper skinny bundle packages. He said AT&T's planned buy of TW is expected to close by year's end. Warner Bros. Entertainment CEO Kevin Tsujihara said TW continues to talk with motion picture exhibitors about "a premium video on-demand model" allowing for earlier home consumption of movie content. TW said Q1 sales rose about 6 percent to $7.74 billion from the year-ago quarter as operating income gained about 4 percent to $2.1 billion.

Liberty Interactive's proposed $1.12 billion buy of Alaska-based General Communication Inc. (GCI) "will promote stability and investment" in Alaska while creating no foreseeable harm to competition, the companies said in a consolidated application for consent to transfer control posted Tuesday. They said the transaction "will have limited practical effect on ... day-to-day operations" since GCI's communications subsidiaries will go unchanged, but provide GCI with "more stable access to financial markets" and more resources for executing its business plan. GCI's operating businesses also will be more insulated from Alaska-specific market fluctuations, they said. Pointing to GCI's nearly complete Terra "ring" of more than 2,000 miles of fiber and microwave links, they said the deal would put GCI on better footing "to execute on these projects in the future." They said there's no overlap of GCI and its subsidiaries with any Liberty Interactive entities, and the Liberty entities that will be part of GCI Liberty don't offer any FCC-regulated services. They said GCI Liberty will hold a noncontrolling interest in Charter Communications, but there's no overlap in any markets served. The deal is expected to face few regulatory headwinds (see 1704040048).

With cable network ratings down significantly in Q1, "the era of 'Peak TV' driven by an explosion of cable originals is coming to an end," MoffettNathanson analyst Michael Nathanson said in a note to investors Monday. MoffettNathanson downgraded Scripps Network Interactive, Discovery and AMC over recent months over concerns that viewers were increasingly focused on either live -- such as sports and big events -- or on-demand content, leaving cable networks in the lurch. Nathanson said cable network advertising will be under increased pressure this year due to the ratings declines.

Cable One finished its takeover of NewWave Communications, it said in a news release Monday. The $735 million deal was announced in January (see 1701180012), and the combined companies have a footprint of more than 1.2 million primary service units in 21 states, Cable One said.

Even if plaintiff Ryan Perry amended his claim to argue that his video history and media access control address are personally identifiable information under the Video Privacy Protection Act, that argument still doesn't make him a "subscriber" under VPPA, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in an order (in Pacer) Thursday denying Perry's appeal. Judges Jane Restani, Susan Black and Charles Wilson said Perry hasn't shown any new allegations that would differentiate his 2014 lawsuit -- alleging VPPA violations from the network sharing data of its mobile app user with its analytics provider, Bango -- from the court's 2015 Ellis v. Cartoon Network ruling that the plaintiff can't be considered a subscriber under VPPA. Counsel for the plaintiff didn't comment Monday. The court's reading of "subscriber" leaves a tension between protecting consumers and making it possible to dismiss privacy suits, Venkat Balasubramani of the Focal law firm wrote Monday in a Technology & Marketing Law Blog post. He said content today "often involves a non-monetary quid pro quo," meaning the issue of whether a consumer paid money "is a poor metric." And he said the CNN case shows the vagueness of the "ongoing relationship" test that Ellis laid out.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied a FilmOn X petition for rehearing en banc of its March decision saying streaming services aren't eligible for compulsory licenses for broadcast content (see 1704050016). The order (in Pacer) posted Friday said judges Diarmuid O'Scannlain, Johnnie Rawlinson and Consuelo Callahan denied the petition and no judge of the full court requested a vote to rehear the petition en banc. FilmOn also has appeals going in the 7th and D.C. Circuits regarding cases in which other lower courts ruled it wasn't eligible for a compulsory license (see 1703210023). FilmOn counsel Ryan Baker of Baker Marquart emailed us Monday that now FilmOn is waiting for the D.C. Circuit decision and an issuance of mandate in the 9th Circuit to send the case back to the district court.

Comcast is approaching 1 million customers for its Xfinity Home security monitoring and connected home service, said Daniel Herscovici, senior vice president and general manager, in a Friday blog post, calling Xfinity Home one of the fastest growing U.S. home security providers. Herscovici cited devices in the Xfinity Home portfolio in the consumer-facing post: the Zen thermostat, August door lock, Lutron Caseta wireless controller and dimmer, Chamberlain MyQ garage door controller, GE-branded smart switches by Jasco and Sengled connected LED bulbs.

Overall concerns about regulation and "the veiled threats" about Communications Act Title II and forbearance have been a drag on cable industry network investments for years, and this week's NPRM removing Title II classification (see 1704270044) could lead to Comcast increasing its network spending, Raymond James analyst Frank Louthan emailed investors Friday.