HSN subsidiary NLG Merger wants to transfer a pair of earth station licenses to Liberty Interactive as part of that company's purchase of HSN, said an FCC International Bureau filing Tuesday. Liberty announced the $2.1 billion deal earlier this month (see 1707060020).

Cable One Business may launch a 2 Gbps broadband service next in Mississippi. Piranha Fiber is currently available in markets including Fargo, North Dakota, and Norfolk, Nebraska, and the cable ISP said in a news release that Mississippi would make sense for the next launch given the company's $75 million in network upgrades and enhancements over five years. It said the fiber service is delivered over a passive optical network.

WatchTVEverywhere (WTVE) supports Apple's single sign-on feature due to an update to the TV Everywhere authorization platform, cable ISP MCTV -- which created WTVE -- said in a news release Wednesday. MCTV said that opens the door for hundreds of small- and mid-sized MVPDs using WTVE to use the single sign-on capability. It said prior to the platform update, only the largest pay-TV operators supported the Apple feature.

Schurz Communications finished its acquisition of Vast Broadband's network in northwest Iowa and southeast South Dakota, it said in a news release Wednesday: That complements the Long Lines Broadband network it bought in 2015. It said once integration is done this summer, Schurz will bring Vast customers all-digital video, HD channels and more broadband choices.

Analysts are split on the likelihood of Discovery Communications joining with Scripps Networks. Credit Suisse analyst Omar Sheikh in a note to investors Wednesday called the reported deal talks unlikely to come to fruition since previous such talks probably died due to disagreements over price and structure, and those hurdles seemingly haven't changed. A combination would have more negotiating leverage with MVPDs and advertising agencies, he said. Citi's Jason Bazinet said the idea of Discovery/Scripps talks is "credible," adding the two likely will come to an agreement due to the pressures on the cable industry and to low valuations. He said a combined entity would have more leverage with emerging digital distribution platforms like Hulu, Sling, Vue and YouTube, and also make the launch of a non-sports bundle easier. Neither Scripps nor Discovery commented Wednesday. Scripps stock closed at $76.89, up 14.7 percent, while Discovery closed at $27.18, up 4.3 percent. Scripps also reportedly has held merger talks with Viacom. Viacom didn't comment.

A plaintiff in a putative class-action complaint saying Comcast violates the false pretenses provision of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) hasn't shown what false pretense Comcast supposedly gave to get his credit information, the company said in a motion (in Pacer) to dismiss filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Chicago. Plaintiff Mounang Patel sued in April, claiming Comcast's unauthorized credit check when he signed up for broadband service affected his mortgage loan (see 1704050022). Comcast said a false pretense report under FCRA would have to be about what the company said to the consumer reporting agency, not what it said to the consumer. It said Patel's breach of contract claim under Illinois state law ignores the written Comcast service agreement that authorized the company to get his consumer credit report. In a separate motion (in Pacer) Monday to partially strike Patel's class allegations, Comcast said his proposed class includes groups of subscribers who couldn't pursue their claims in court, such as those who agreed to individually arbitrate disputes. Counsel for Patel didn't comment Tuesday.

Traditional MVPDs likely will end 2017 with just shy of 1.1 million video subscriber losses, with almost half of those in traditionally weak Q2, Macquarie's Amy Yong wrote investors Thursday. She said 2018 losses, at 773,000, and 2019 losses, at 644,000, should be less pronounced. The analyst said Charter Communications, Comcast and WideOpenWest are likely well positioned to handle video pressures due to their broadband infrastructures and over-the-top experimentation. In a companion note, Macquarie analyst Tim Nollen said despite those subscriber trends, network affiliate revenue will be affected by pricing built into long-term contracts, further penetration of younger networks in some bundles and subscriber contributions from virtual bundles. Nollen said some networks should start seeing bigger results from growing virtual MVPD offerings.

Liberty Interactive and General Communication Inc.'s joint opposition to petitions to deny (see 1707060045) sidestepped serious questions about how Liberty/GCI deal would affect Alaskans, Quintillion Networks said in an FCC docket 17-114 filing posted Thursday. It said the companies didn't address such issues as GCI receiving substantial public funding for building networks in remote Alaska but operating them in a manner that doesn't allow meaningful competition or "exorbitant" end-user pricing for broadband access or throttling practices. Quintillion said the now-completed FTC review -- with the agency having cleared the deal on Tuesday, according to an early termination notice -- doesn't obviate the need for an FCC public interest review. Quintillion said, given the increased risks of Liberty/GCI using its market pricing to foreclose against competition, the agency should pay attention to its and Alaska Communications System's calls for conditions. Asked to comment, GCI referred us to the joint opposition.

The record in Game Show Network's discrimination complaint against Cablevision shows the MVPD's 2011 retiering of GSN was based on business reasons and the independent programmer hasn't proven Cablevision’s action was based on its nonaffiliation with the operator, said the memorandum opinion and order released Friday. FCC members voted 2-1 to adopt the order, reversing its administrative law judge's 2016 advisory ruling (see 1707070065). The order said the GSN evidence doesn't establish on its face that Cablevision took the adverse carriage action because GSN wasn't affiliated and instead leaves open the question of why GSN was retiered. It said the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit's Tennis Channel decision rejected the approach that any time an MVPD looked favorably on its affiliates is direct evidence without having to show such a policy was the reason for a particular adverse carriage action.

Arris launched a cable modem gateway with McAfee internet security protection exclusively through Best Buy, it said Wednesday. The device is designed to “move the security burden” off individual connected devices and onto the home gateway for “easier and better protection,” said Arris.