U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson of Los Angeles crafted overly broad definitions of "war" and "warlike" that would exclude from coverage even acts of terrorism that defendant Atlantic Specialty Insurance acknowledged would otherwise be covered, appellants Universal Cable Productions and Northern Entertainment Productions said in a docket 17-56672 opening brief (in Pacer) Monday with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The video production companies sued in 2016 when denied coverage of expenses due to a TV production relocating in 2014 because of violence related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (see 1704260023). Atlantic didn't comment Tuesday.

Traditionally, consumers of pirated content sacrificed high quality and easy access at no charge, but illicit streaming services increasingly "look a lot like the legitimate ones," Digital Tech Consulting President Myra Moore blogged Sunday. Their increasing similarity to legit services, and opaqueness to how pirate services function, help users rationalize their behavior, she said: Pirate services' advantage is they provide abundant, high-quality programming and convenient access to content with no advertisements and at low cost.

Charter Communications' blackout of Northwest Broadcasting stations violates FCC rules requiring the cable company provide at least 30 days' notice about any deletion of programming service, Northwest CEO Brian Brady said in a letter to the operator's subscribers posted Friday on the websites of the broadcast group's stations (for example, here). He urged subscribers in the affected markets to seek refunds from Charter. The cable operator didn't comment Monday. The broadcast company said the blackout, which began Jan. 31, affected at least seven markets (see 1802060052).

Radio stations and small cable systems that hadn’t before been covered by all FCC online public file rules will have to begin complying starting March 1, the Media Bureau said in a reminder public notice in Monday’s Daily Digest. The deadline applies to all noncommercial radio stations, commercial radio stations in the top 50 markets with fewer than five employees, commercial radio stations outside the top 50, and cable systems with between 1,000 and 5,000 subscribers. Other radio stations and cable carriers with more subscribers already must comply. After March 1, the radio and cable systems affected must place new political file items in the online public file. “These entities are not required to upload political files placed in their public file prior to March 1, 2018; however, they are required to retain those documents until the end of the two-year retention period,” the reminder said.

Hulu losses likely amounted to $920 million last year, and could get close to $1.7 billion this year, BTIG Research analyst Rich Greenfield emailed investors Thursday. He said it's not clear why Disney's forecast of Hulu losses (see 1802070015) increased so quickly, jumping in three months from $100 million in FY 2018 to $250 million. Hulu, owned jointly by Disney, Comcast, Fox and Time Warner, didn't comment.

Sony announced pricing and availability Thursday for smart TVs it unveiled at CES, and the previous night responded to Consumer Reports finding flaws in such devices (see 1802070046). A Sony Android TV was the only model tested requiring users to agree to a privacy policy and terms of service to complete setup. Consumers have to click "yes" to Google agreements “even if they don’t plan to connect to the internet,” Sony said. The report quoted Sony saying customers concerned about sharing information with Google don’t have to connect their TV to the internet and can use cable or broadcast signals. The company is committed to privacy, security and transparency for collection, use and disclosure of customer data through smart TVs, it told us. “Our commitment is demonstrated by making consumers aware, during the set-up process, of the Terms and Conditions, and Privacy Policies for the Google/Android TV operating system and Samba TV services, as well as the Privacy Policy for Sony smart TVs.” Sony uses an optional opt-in process for acceptance of smart TV privacy policies, it said. The company “does not sell or share any personally identifiable information with third parties in order to allow them to target ads or otherwise market non-Sony products and services to Sony customers,” it said.

At least 4 million watched Sunday's Super Bowl via a streaming service, nScreenMedia estimates. Analyst Colin Dixon blogged Tuesday that the Yahoo Sports feed lagged behind the TV feed but never stuttered, stalled or pixelated, and the advertising load was frequently different from the TV ad lineup. He said reports indicated the Sling TV, DirecTV Now, Fubo TV and YouTube TV feeds had no reported problems, while Hulu Live's automatic program extension algorithm caused some customers to lose the feed with three minutes remaining and PlayStation Vue also reported problems.

DirecTV wasn't obligated to negotiate against itself when HITV, unhappy with an initial retransmission consent offer (see 1710230046), asked for but didn't get another proposal, the FCC Media Bureau said in a docket 17-292 order Monday dismissing the TV station owner's good-faith negotiation complaint. The bureau said there's no requirement DirecTV must pay for retrans. It said since HITV didn't make a counteroffer, there was no proposal for DirecTV to reject, so it didn't violate per se good-faith negotiation rules. The broadcaster didn't comment Tuesday.

If Charter Communications doesn't want to carry Northwest Broadcasting stations, it "should just be honest" and tell subscribers so they "can make the choice that best works for you," Northwest CEO Brian Brady said in a letter to the operator's subscribers that went up Tuesday on the websites of the broadcast group's stations (for example, here). He said the blackout after the end of Northwest's agreement with Charter on Jan. 31 was a surprise since the MVPD wanted an extension until Monday so subscribers could watch the Super Bowl, and when the TV station offered an extension just until Saturday afternoon, the cable company responded by taking down the stations within minutes. Northwest said the affected include WICZ-TV Binghamton and WSYT Syracuse, both in New York; KJRW Eureka, California; KYMA-DT and KSWT, Yuma, Arizona; KAYU-TV Spokane, Washington; KFFX-TV Pendleton, Oregon; and KPVI-DT Pocatello, Idaho. Charter didn't comment.

YouTube began attaching notices to videos uploaded by broadcasters getting government or public funding in an aim to give viewers better understanding of the sources of news, YouTube News Senior Product Manager Geoff Samek blogged Friday. He said the feature is starting in the U.S., with plans to expand. He said the notice will appear below the video but above the title and with a Wikipedia link so viewers can learn more about the broadcaster.