Rogers Communications will begin deploying Comcast's X1 platform in early 2018, it announced Friday. Before the X1 launch, Rogers said, it will make changes to its existing video platform, including additional 4K content and a 4K personal video recorder. The Canada cable company said it's moving to X1 "to ensure it has access to the scale and technical roadmap needed to meet the ongoing pace of IPTV innovation." Comcast previously licensed X1 to Cox Communications in the U.S. and Canada's Shaw (see 1507230038).
Most multichannel video programming distributor stocks outperformed the market in recent years, but there's still reason to believe they're undervalued and will continue to do well in 2017, given expectations of lower taxes, less regulation and lower capital intensity, MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett wrote investors Thursday. He said Communications Act Title II reclassification of broadband was, at its core, setting the stage for broadband price regulation eventually, and the reversal of reclassification under a GOP FCC and deregulatory White House "is a matter of when, not if." That reclassification reversal probably would preserve net neutrality principles while taking away Title II as the administrative means, he said. It also could open the door to bigger charges for interconnection and to usage-based pricing, he said. Moffett also said the rise of over-the-top video and app-centric video consumption will mean less capital spending on set-top boxes. Conversely, he said, the biggest MVPD challenge in 2017 is 5G, even though deployment will take years. OTT is a somewhat lesser concern, though Hulu and maybe Google likely will launch OTT offerings in 2017, Moffett said. Comcast is expected to launch its wireless service in mid-2017, but cable's entry "will be a slow gradual process," the analyst emailed investors.
Comcast Cable plans to add a pair of substantially African-American owned independent networks to cable lineups in some markets by January 2019. The company in a news release Thursday said the recruitment is part of the commitments it made in its 2011 acquisition of NBCUniversal. It also said since buying NBCU, it launched two African-American majority-owned networks, Aspire and Revolt, and two Hispanic-American operated networks, Baby First Americas and El Rey. It said two Hispanic-American-owned networks, Kids Central and Primo TV, will debut on Comcast Cable systems in January. Comcast said it's accepting proposals for the substantially African-American-owned indie networks through March 15. A U.S. District judge in October threw out a complaint against Comcast by Entertainment Studios Networks and the National Association of African American Owned Media alleging racism in Comcast's decision not to carry ESN networks (see 1610060002).
The FCC Media Bureau approved a Comcast request to avoid cable rate regulation in Boston. In an order Thursday, the bureau said it rejected arguments by the city and the Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Cable (MDTC) that Boston wasn't subject to effective competition. The bureau said there was no merit to the city's assertion that RCN subscribers should be excluded from a calculation of the number of households subscribing to a multichannel video programming distributor other than Comcast. It said even if it accepts Boston and MDTC arguments that Comcast overcounted subscribers to rival MVPD services by counting nonresidences such as summer homes and dormitories, the number of subscribing households still exceeds the level needed for effective competition.
Regional sports networks (RSNs) are the most-essential nonbroadcast channels for sports fan viewers, Fox Sports said in a news release Wednesday as it pointed to the results of a Nielsen Media Analytics Primary Research study on RSNs. Fox Sports said that according to the study it commissioned, looking at more than 1,500 pay-TV subscribers nationwide who described themselves as sports fans, those surveyed named RSNs as their fifth most-important channels behind the big four broadcasters. The unit of 21st Century Fox said that in St. Louis, the local RSN -- Fox Sports Midwest -- was named more essential than any other channel, while in Detroit, Fox Sports Detroit was ranked the second most-essential network.
Liberty Media is selling $1.55 billion worth of newly issued common stock at $25 a share to raise money toward its acquisition of motor sport federation Formula One (see 1609080031), the company said in a news release Wednesday. The buyers are Coatue Management, D.E. Shaw group, Jana Partners, Ruane Cunniff, Soroban Capital Partners, SPO Advisory and Viking Global Investors, it said. The shares will be issued with the completion of the Formula One takeover, it said, adding that the additional cash will reduce the number of Liberty Media shares to be paid to Formula One shareholders from 138 million to 7 million. It said the total number of shares to be issued by Liberty Media in connection with the Formula One deal will remain at about 138 million.
Dec. 27, the first business day after the Christmas holiday weekend, is a bad day to be the deadline for comments in the diverse and independent programming NPRM, Covington & Burling said on behalf of that law firm and some clients it didn't identify in a motion Tuesday in FCC docket 16-41 asking for a 30-day extension to Jan. 26. It asked for the replies deadline to be moved 30 days, from Jan. 23 to Feb. 22, because of the New Year's and Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekends that come shortly thereafter and the need for time to prep submissions and respond to comments. The firm said the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council backs the request.
A U.S. District judge has rejected Charter Communications' motion for reconsideration in a lawsuit alleging racial bias in the company's programing decisions but granted its motions for a stay and for certification. In an order (in Pacer) filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, Judge George Wu said the reconsideration motion asking for clarification of the record pending an appeal of an October ruling against Charter (see 1611140044) wasn't proper since the operator is trying to "shoehorn an overlooked argument in through the 'material facts' door" and was pointless given that however the court characterized Charter's arguments doesn't alter what the record reflects. "Any record on appeal will speak for itself," he said. On the Charter motion for certifying for appeal that October court order denying that company's motion to have the Entertainment Studios Networks/National Association of African American Owned Media suit tossed out (see 1610260069), Wu said Charter's First Amendment defense "is a novel (and important) one" and meets requirements for certification. While granting an interim appeal doesn't automatically stay litigation, Wu said, it wouldn't make sense to deny a motion for one pending an appeal since he just certified for interim appeal the October order.
Comcast says it is investigating employee actions during an Indiana outage that were the subject of a video that went viral this week. The video appears to show numerous vehicles sliding off an icy road trying to avoid a Comcast truck parked doing repairs and field techs being dismissive of the videographer's request for more traffic cones to be put on the road. In a statement, Comcast Cable Senior Vice President-Technical Operations Ed Marchetti said the company "will reach out to those who were impacted by this incident." He "was very concerned by what I saw," he said. "Our employees should always protect people and treat them with respect no matter what the situation. Safety matters most -- especially in dangerous weather conditions like this. Within the next 24-48 hours, my team leaders will meet with our technicians across our company to use this as an example of how important it is to make everyone’s safety a priority in everything we do. And just as important, there’s no place for disrespect."
Over-the-top network Haystack TV will carry Gray Television's local news content, Gray said in a news release Tuesday. Gray said the OTT deal is a way of reaching millennial viewers, and follows it making its CBS affiliates' content available via the CBS All Access platform (see 1504090026). “Upon accessing Haystack TV, local users will see a mix of the top news stories and other content tuned to their specific interests based on their viewing habits, preferred publishers and favorite topics,” said the broadcaster about the service focusing on millennials. Haystack “features content from traditional news broadcasters, as well as from newer niche publishers,” it said.