Four distinct virtual MVPD business models are emerging, and the growing industry could put significant pressure on pay-TV providers' monthly subscription fees, Strategy Analytics (SA) said in a report Tuesday. The four models are defenders, typically traditional pay-TV providers offering over-the-top services that closely resemble traditional service but at low price; flankers, traditional pay-TV providers opting for skinny bundles; agitators, made up of programmers and studios that also favor fatter bundles; and disrupters, generally digital pure-plays with no ties to the legacy pay-TV business, SA said. As of January, 3.5 million to 4 million households are virtual MVPD subscribers, but that slow adoption could change with increasing numbers of offerings, SA said. Large-scale adoption of online pay-TV services "will overwhelm existing Internet infrastructure" without improvements being made, SA said. It said addressing technical challenges such as ensuring quality and consistency in the service needs to be the top priority of virtual MVPDs.

Toy company MGA Entertainment agreed to buy advertising on the CMT and VH1 networks but never paid the $206,230 owed after the ads aired, Viacom said in a motion (in PACER) for summary judgment filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. Viacom previously sued MGA over other allegations of an unfulfilled ad agreement (see 1608120051) and sued again in December (see 1612300008) over the Little Tikes toy ads on CMT and VH1. Counsel for MGA didn't comment Tuesday.

Rather than letting Fox News Network drop six of seven claims against Charter Communications, as FNN asked (see 1704140012), the court should dismiss with prejudice the claims and give Charter 20 days to answer the rest of the complaint or let Charter file a motion for costs, Charter said in a letter Monday in New York Supreme Court. Charter's letter said FNN's proposed stipulated dismissal of the six claims -- all involving a fight over which FNN legacy contract, with Charter or Time Warner Cable, survived 2016's Charter/TWC deal -- would bar Charter from pursuing counterclaims in favor of FNN seeking judgment on its remaining claim. Charter said it would suffer prejudice if its counterclaim -- that FNN breached the Charter/FNN contract by now offering lower per-subscriber fees as required by most-favored nation terms -- was delayed by the determination of liability FNN is seeking. Charter also said there's no support in New York law for its being barred from asserting and pursuing counterclaims. FNN didn't comment Tuesday. Charter is facing similar litigation from Univision and Showtime over contract terms post-Charter/TWC.

Young TV viewers don't watch much live TV anymore and hardly use DVRs at all, said nScreenMedia analyst Colin Dixon in a blog post Sunday. Pointing to Nielsen data, nScreenMedia said live TV viewing "seems to be holding up well against mobile and broadband video competition," but that picture changes when looking at younger viewers, with those age 12 to 24 watching a third less TV in Q4 2016 than they did in Q4 2013. It also said some of the decline in live TV watching is due to increased time-shifted viewing, but DVR use is growing only for those 35 and older, and time-shifted content viewing is declining for age groups younger than that. "Is it any wonder that youth oriented live television is struggling," nScreenMedia said.

The FCC Media Bureau approved Meredith's purchase of WPCH-TV Atlanta from Turner Broadcasting, said an agency notice Friday. The WPCH sale had been expected by some as a path to clear AT&T's buy of Turner parent Time Warner without any license transfers (see 1610240046), thus avoiding any FCC review of the deal (see 1701060057). The bureau said the actual consummation of the WPCH transaction is to be done within 90 days.

A U.S. District judge's dismissal of a complaint alleging racism in Comcast's carriage decisions (see 1610060002) "erroneously imposed a heightened pleading standard" and wrongly drew inferences favoring Comcast's alternative explanations. That was the major thrust of the Entertainment Studios Networks (ESN) and the National Association of African American Owned Media (NAAAOM) opening brief (in Pacer) filed Friday with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. ESN/NAAAOM said their allegations showed plenty of evidence that undermined Comcast explanations, such as the numerous, obscure white-owned networks Comcast added to its lineup since 2010 while claiming bandwidth restrictions kept it from adding popular ESN networks. ESN/NAAAOM also said Comcast's claim of benign motive isn't presumed true at the pleading stage, meaning the plaintiff isn't required to present compelling evidence to rebut it. And ESN/NAAAOM also said Comcast violated Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act, which governs equality in contractual relationships, if it was motivated by race as well as by business when not contracting for ESN content, and its racial discrimination claim and Comcast's arguments about viewer demand and bandwidth restrictions "do not present mutually exclusive explanations." Comcast didn't comment Monday.

Fox News Network is dropping some of its complaints in its affiliation lawsuit against Charter Communications, FNN said in a letter posted Thursday in New York Supreme Court. FNN said the move to discontinue the six claims subject to a Charter motion to dismiss is aimed at "streamlin[ing] this proceeding and in contemplation of promptly filing a motion for summary judgment on the core contract issue in dispute -- the question of which agreement governs Defendants' distribution of FNN programming following Charter's acquisition" of Time Warner Cable. While dropping the declaratory judgment, breach of obligation of good faith and fair dealing, unjust enrichment, indemnity, estoppel and fraud claims, the programmer said "the language is plain and unambiguous" on the remaining breach of contract claim. FNN also said Charter indicated it plans to bring a counterclaim arguing the programmer breached its agreement with the MVPD "by failing, in some unspecified way, to comply with its obligations under a most favored nation provision ... of the contract." FNN said the court should settle the issue of which contract -- Charter or TWC -- governs before any counterclaim proceedings in order to avoid wasting time and resources. Charter didn't comment Friday.

Being a Cablevision subscriber doesn't warrant U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen Tomlinson of Central Islip, New York, recusing herself from Cablevision litigation, said counsel for defendants Cablevision and owner Altice and for plaintiff Paul Jensen of Brooklyn in a letter (in Pacer) Wednesday to the judge. Jensen -- who alleges Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and New York state law violations by Cablevision in its public Wi-Fi hot spot business practices (see 1704070024) -- said in the letter he "wishes to waive any conflict and to continue to have the Court preside over this matter."

Charter Communications and NCTA are pushing the FCC to seek comment on right-of-way fees charged by local governments on cable ISPs. In an ex parte filing Wednesday in docket 17-84, Charter and NCTA recapped a meeting with aides to Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioner Mignon Clyburn to ask the agency to get input on the broadband infrastructure NPRM on the agenda for the April 20 meeting on the lawfulness of such fees. The cable parties said the FCC needs to ensure the NPRM doesn't create confusion about the agency's pole attachment rate regulations. The agency has tried to harmonize rates through the cable rate formula and telecom rate formula, but a third, "commingled" services formula "could introduce uncertainty," they said. Attendees were NCTA Associate General Counsel Steve Morris and Charter Vice President-Regulatory Affairs Christianna Barnhart. Charter also met with Pai aide Nick Degani to discuss municipal fees on broadband operations and how they affect broadband deployment, said a separate ex parte filing Wednesday.

Hyperlocal content could be the competitive offering that helps bolster small MVPDs caught between escalating TV channel licensing expenses and increased competition from online services, said nScreenMedia analyst Colin Dixon in a blog post Tuesday. It said one panel at this week's IP Vision Conference & Expo discussed the strong desirability local content still has, with such ideas being suggested as video from local events or trying to better partner with local broadcasters largely ignored by the major MVPDs. "Bundling these channels inside a video service could be a win for everyone concerned," nScreenMedia said.