Among U.S. broadband homes, 59 percent subscribe to Netflix, Amazon Prime or Hulu, 6 percent to some other over-the-top service without also subscribing to one of those three, Parks Associates said in news release Wednesday. Three percent of U.S. broadband households subscribe to one or more sports OTT services like MLB.TV, NFL Game Pass, NBA League Pass or WWE Network. Parks said 65 percent of U.S. broadband households subscribe to at least one OTT service, but household penetration is slowing and growth is higher among multi-subscription households and older consumers.

Cable operators didn’t keep their promises on the set-top box regime once the threat of regulation was removed and won’t do so on net neutrality, Public Knowledge Senior Vice President Harold Feld blogged Wednesday, as a net neutrality protest occurred (see 1707120017). “The cable industry has now ditched its #ditchthebox plan,” he said. Though some companies offer apps on third-party boxes, they charge access fees, Feld said. “Once the regulatory pressure came off, the cable industry suddenly was no longer honestly, sincerely and totally committed to getting rid of the set-top box, despite their honest, sincere and total commitment to doing so,” he said. “Their disgust with set-top boxes and desire to get out of the set-top box business ended when the incredibly credulous Chairman [Ajit] Pai made it clear enforceable regulation was off the table.” NCTA and the FCC both declined comment.

Few people considering a switch in their pay-TV provider actually follow through, likely because comparing services is difficult, nScreenMedia's Colin Dixon blogged Monday. Even assuming a consumer figures out what channels are must-have, determining which service provider carries them is daunting, he said, saying it's getting more challenging with entry of virtual MVPDs. The analyst said comparison shopping could get easier with Monday's launch of Suppose TV, which allows comparison of pricing, channels and options and services among pay-TV providers.

Netgear announced what it called the first DOCSIS 3.1 cable modem-router. The Nighthawk X4S supports the fastest internet speed tier offered by Comcast Xfinity and other ISPs, said the company. Its beamforming-plus technology is said to boost speed, reliability and range for Wi-Fi mobile devices operating in the 2.4-5GHz bands.

Q2 likely saw pay-TV subscriber losses of 1.28 million -- or 858,000 when streaming bundles are factored in -- Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker wrote investors. With Q1 already having a 748,000 loss -- or 328,000 including streaming subscribers -- she said Q2 is traditionally the weakest quarter of the year, and Hulu and YouTube have launched streaming bundles and there's increased incumbent MVPD competition with AT&T aggressively promoting DirecTV and DirecTV Now and no Verizon strike underway.

The majority of broadband-connected U.S. households now are watching online video on TV, Parks Associates said in a news release Tuesday. Parks said 88 percent of computer-based video watching comes from nonlinear sources, and 72 percent of cord-cutters and cord-nevers subscribe to an over-the-top video service that's their primary source of content. The researcher said 49 percent of broadband households in the U.S. subscribe to Netflix, making it the market leader, and well over 60 percent of broadband households subscribe to at least one OTT service; a third subscribe to two or more.

TDS Baja Broadband is now TDS Broadband Service, the Wisconsin company said in an FCC International Bureau filing Friday. TDS said the change was in name only and didn't reflect a change in ownership.

The Starz app has netted more than 1 million subscribers since its spring 2016 launch, and the amount of the company's over-the-top content has grown by more than 125 percent, to 5,500 titles, said a news release Monday. The programmer said the amount of kids' programming has grown to close to 1,250 series episodes and movies. Starz plans to expand OTT content 40 percent, to nearly 7,700 selections by year's end.

Atlantic Broadband is buying the rest of the MetroCast cable ISP systems it didn't buy in 2015 to broaden its footprint in the U.S., Atlantic parent Cogeco Communications said in a news release Monday announcing the $1.4 billion deal. Atlantic Broadband bought MetroCast's Connecticut operations in 2015 (see 1508210008). MetroCast has about 120,000 internet, 76,000 video and 37,000 voice customers in Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Virginia, said the release. Atlantic Broadband expects the deal to close in January, pending regulatory approvals.

Cox Communications hasn't brought a First Amendment challenge to contributory copyright liability, so the Supreme Court's First Amendment rationale in its Packingham v. North Carolina decision in June isn't pertinent, BMG Rights Management said in a filing (in Pacer) Thursday in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The filing was in response to Cox previously pointing to Packingham as part of its appeal of a U.S. District Court ruling in BMG Rights Management's torrent piracy lawsuit (see 1706270070). BMG said the First Amendment doesn't guarantee Cox subscribers the right to use Cox broadband service to commit piracy "any more than it prevents Cox from terminating subscribers who violate Cox’s policies or fail to pay their bills." It also said Packingham has no bearing on the issue of appropriate circumstances for ISPs terminating access of repeat infringers. Cox didn't comment Friday.