Cable One finished its takeover of NewWave Communications, it said in a news release Monday. The $735 million deal was announced in January (see 1701180012), and the combined companies have a footprint of more than 1.2 million primary service units in 21 states, Cable One said.

Even if plaintiff Ryan Perry amended his claim to argue that his video history and media access control address are personally identifiable information under the Video Privacy Protection Act, that argument still doesn't make him a "subscriber" under VPPA, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in an order (in Pacer) Thursday denying Perry's appeal. Judges Jane Restani, Susan Black and Charles Wilson said Perry hasn't shown any new allegations that would differentiate his 2014 lawsuit -- alleging VPPA violations from the network sharing data of its mobile app user with its analytics provider, Bango -- from the court's 2015 Ellis v. Cartoon Network ruling that the plaintiff can't be considered a subscriber under VPPA. Counsel for the plaintiff didn't comment Monday. The court's reading of "subscriber" leaves a tension between protecting consumers and making it possible to dismiss privacy suits, Venkat Balasubramani of the Focal law firm wrote Monday in a Technology & Marketing Law Blog post. He said content today "often involves a non-monetary quid pro quo," meaning the issue of whether a consumer paid money "is a poor metric." And he said the CNN case shows the vagueness of the "ongoing relationship" test that Ellis laid out.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied a FilmOn X petition for rehearing en banc of its March decision saying streaming services aren't eligible for compulsory licenses for broadcast content (see 1704050016). The order (in Pacer) posted Friday said judges Diarmuid O'Scannlain, Johnnie Rawlinson and Consuelo Callahan denied the petition and no judge of the full court requested a vote to rehear the petition en banc. FilmOn also has appeals going in the 7th and D.C. Circuits regarding cases in which other lower courts ruled it wasn't eligible for a compulsory license (see 1703210023). FilmOn counsel Ryan Baker of Baker Marquart emailed us Monday that now FilmOn is waiting for the D.C. Circuit decision and an issuance of mandate in the 9th Circuit to send the case back to the district court.

Comcast is approaching 1 million customers for its Xfinity Home security monitoring and connected home service, said Daniel Herscovici, senior vice president and general manager, in a Friday blog post, calling Xfinity Home one of the fastest growing U.S. home security providers. Herscovici cited devices in the Xfinity Home portfolio in the consumer-facing post: the Zen thermostat, August door lock, Lutron Caseta wireless controller and dimmer, Chamberlain MyQ garage door controller, GE-branded smart switches by Jasco and Sengled connected LED bulbs.

Overall concerns about regulation and "the veiled threats" about Communications Act Title II and forbearance have been a drag on cable industry network investments for years, and this week's NPRM removing Title II classification (see 1704270044) could lead to Comcast increasing its network spending, Raymond James analyst Frank Louthan emailed investors Friday.

Atlantic Specialty Insurance undeniably breached the insurance policy for the TV series Dig when it denied coverage for the additional expenses Universal Cable Productions incurred relocating production from Israel in 2014 due to violence related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Universal said in a motion (in Pacer) for partial summary judgment. In its filing Monday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, Universal said it sought an order dismissing Atlantic's affirmative defenses that cite coverage exclusions for war, war-like conditions, insurrections or use of weaponry. Universal said the war exclusion isn't applicable because the Palestinian organization Hamas can't be established as a sovereign or quasi-sovereign entity, and the insurrection assertion isn't applicable because it would require showing Hamas was specifically interested in overthrowing the Israeli government. In a dueling motion (in Pacer) for summary judgment or partial summary judgment filed Monday, Atlantic said that particular burst of violence killed thousands and was commonly called a war, including by NBC media outlets -- with Universal and those outlets being subsidiaries of NBCUniversal Media. It also said that though the U.S. lists Hamas as a terrorist organization, "that does not mean Hamas cannot be involved in a war." And it said it's entitled to summary judgment on Universal's claim of breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, saying it didn't breach the insurance contract and alternately, a bad faith claim can't stand under California law as long as Atlantic's position about the claim was reasonable.

AMC Networks will begin turning out original, co-branded content for Charter Communications' Spectrum platform under a deal between the two announced in a news release Wednesday. Charter said the first such co-produced, co-funded content should premiere on Charter Spectrum next year. It also said it would have an exclusive initial U.S. window for use of the content on its platform, with AMC retaining subsequent rights including international distribution.

Fox News Network (FNN) narrowed its affiliation agreement complaint against Charter Communications to one count, for breach of contract. FNN filed a second amended complaint Tuesday in New York Supreme Court that didn't include six other complaints, as FNN said it planned to (see 1704140012). Univision and Showtime are pursuing similar affiliation complaints against Charter over which contract -- with Charter or Time Warner Cable -- survived 2016's Charter/TWC deal. In the latest complaint, FNN said its Jan. 1, 2014, affiliation agreement with Charter included language that makes clear that after a Charter/TWC combination, the Charter agreement would cover FNN, but Charter said terms of applicable TWC agreements will still govern TWC systems. Counsel for Charter didn't comment Wednesday.

Viacom created a global product development group charged with creation of multiplatform products, with a particular focus on video content, it said in a news release Tuesday. Viacom said the group will come up with a strategy for digital applications and websites for various Viacom brands, with its first task being expansion of Play Plex mobile apps suite to various markets, creating a global VOD presence. Dan Reich, most recently senior vice president-multiplatform product strategy and development, will lead the group as senior vice president-global multiplatform products.

Cableview Communications never agreed to settlement terms with Time Warner Cable Southeast, and a U.S. Magistrate judge's finding otherwise avoided the question of whether TWC-SE engaged in tortious interference with Cableview's negotiated sale to FTS USA, Cableview said in an initial brief (in Pacer) Monday filed with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Cableview sued TWC-SE in 2013 -- adding defendant Time Warner Entertainment-Advance/Newhouse Partnership last year in an amended complaint -- alleging TWC-SE interfered in Cableview's deal with FTS in order to get Cableview to pay a disputed debt involving a worker injured while stringing cable wires for TWE-ANP. In the appeal of the January summary judgment (see 1702060057), Cableview said the totality of evidence shows that instead of a settlement, TWC-SE "was acting as an economic bully, asserting its demands unilaterally upon Cableview." Counsel for the appellees didn't comment Tuesday.