Discovery Communications and its U.S. networks will “immediately” begin reporting results based on Live + 3 ratings and delivery data for most programming, Discovery said in a news release Wednesday. “As time-shifted viewership continues to increase, Live + Same-Day data no longer captures an accurate picture and value of our audience, and the lift from Live + 3 for many of our top programs is significant and growing,” said Chief Communications Officer David Leavy. In Q4, premieres on Discovery’s networks received a 23 percent ratings increase from Live + Same-Day to Live + 3, said the programmer. The company said it will continue to distribute Live + Same-Day data for live or special event programming.

Comcast added live streaming networks to the Xfinity TV Go app and website, including AMC, BBC America, Fox Deportes, MoviePlex, Showtime, Univision Deportes and The Weather Channel, it said in a news release Tuesday. The app now has more than 70 channels and 21,000 VOD options, it said.

The initial meeting of the Downloadable Security Technology Advisory Committee was rescheduled for 10 a.m. Monday at FCC headquarters, the agency said in a public notice Wednesday. The meeting had been set for Feb. 17, but was canceled after the federal government partly shut down in Washington for inclement weather.

Cablevision is "glad" to have finished “contentious negotiations” with the Communications Workers of America (see 1502130058), it said in a statement. Under the agreement with CWA, most Brooklyn, New York, employees will be kept at 96 percent of wage parity over the term of the contract, and Cablevision will be allowed to apply performance-based standards to its Brooklyn employees, the cable operator said.

Customer service in the cable industry is “completely unacceptable” and cable should make “a 10-year commitment” to fixing it, NCTA President Michael Powell said in an interview on C-SPAN’s The Communicators that was scheduled to air Saturday. Powell blamed cable's poor customer service record on the industry’s growth and focus on upgrading its networks, and said customer service has “suffered” as a consequence. The cable industry also needs to work to stay “a middle class industry,” he said. “We can’t survive selling to some elite,” he said. Cable needs to stay affordable, he said. Though new services like Dish’s Slingbox have been touted as being a cheaper alternative to cable, Powell said the price difference in reality is slight once subscription fees to services like Hulu and a broadband connection are factored in. The industry also should invest more in innovations for its product, such as better user interfaces, Powell said.

Oral argument in the court challenge of the FCC’s confidentiality rules for programming and retransmission consent contract information related to the Comcast/Time Warner Cable deal will be limited to 10 minutes for each side, said an order issued Wednesday. The FCC’s decision to put those contracts into the record but protected through confidentiality orders was challenged by a group of content companies that include Viacom, CBS and Univision. Oral argument is set for Feb. 20. The 10-minute time limit is not unusual and is unlikely to be strictly enforced, said Fletcher Heald appellate attorney Harry Cole. He’s seen oral argument in cases where each side had a 10-minute limit last as long as 40 minutes, he said.

Time Warner Cable expanded smart home offerings to its IntelligentHome customers. In a news release Wednesday, TWC said its menu now offers a connected door lock from Kwikset, smart light bulbs from LG and a General Electric ZigBee in-wall light switch. Citing the explosion of connected devices in the market, Adam Mayer, vice president-Time Warner Cable IntelligentHome, said the provider wants its smart home customers to be able to integrate “the devices they want the most.” The three new products are “just a sampling” of what’s possible in the smart home, he said. TWC customers can buy the products online from Best Buy. IntelligentHome is offered by package: Security -- touch screen, two door/window sensors and one motion or glass break sensor (or an additional door/window sensor) with one-time equipment charge of $99; Security & Energy -- all security package items plus one thermostat, $149; Security & Video View -- security package elements plus one indoor/outdoor camera, $149; and Security, Video View & Energy -- all security package elements plus one thermostat and one indoor/outdoor camera, $199. IntelligentHome service starts at $39 per month and requires TWC Internet service, it said. To connect the devices to a system, consumers follow pairing instructions included with the add-on devices to pair them wirelessly with the system, TWC said. A la carte add-ons include additional sensors, cameras and lights, said the cable operator, which has agreed to be bought by Comcast.

A June 1 trial has been set for Game Show Network’s program carriage complaint against Cablevision, an order from FCC Chief Administrative Law Judge Richard Sippel said Tuesday. Testimony is expected to be completed by June 12, the order said.

Comcast's highly confidential documents refute its claims that it and Time Warner Cable wouldn't be in competition if the companies don't merge, Dish Network said in a heavily redacted filing in docket 14-57 posted Wednesday. The evidence in the documents establishes “unequivocally” that the deal is “a horizontal merger,” Dish said, by showing that Comcast was considering creating an out-of-footprint online video offering. Dish’s filing is so heavily redacted under confidentiality orders that the evidence it refers to is largely incomprehensible. “Such a service would benefit consumers in TWC territories and in areas served by other cable operators,” Dish said. “If the merger is consummated, the competitive benefits of Comcast’s potential entry will be lost." Comcast’s documents also show that NBCUniversal programming creates "a further incentive towards” foreclosure against other online video distributor offerings, Dish said. Comcast didn’t comment.

Reclassifying small- and medium-sized cable companies under Title II in the FCC’s draft net neutrality order (see 1502040055) will “cause significant harm” to the broadband providers, ACA President Matthew Polka wrote in a blog post Monday. The organization continued to ask the agency to exclude smaller providers from the order. Reclassification would “impose unwarranted and onerous burdens on smaller ISPs, increasing their costs of doing business, increasing their customers' cost of receiving service, and inhibiting their ability to finance and deploy broadband,” Polka wrote. The agency told us it “carefully considered the needs of small business,” and it’s “another good reason that we’re applying a light-touch, Title II approach.”