A judge's rejection of Charter Communications' bid to have a lawsuit alleging racially based discrimination in its program carriage decisions tossed out (see 1610260069) mischaracterizes the cable ISP's argument and doesn't reflect the arguments it actually put forth, Charter said in a motion (in Pacer) for reconsideration filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. Charter said the denial by Judge George Wu of Los Angeles acknowledged its argument about First Amendment protections for its programming but that it mistakenly suggests the company didn't argue that its contracting decisions also were protected by the First Amendment. The company also filed a motion (in Pacer) to stay proceedings pending its interlocutory appeal on the court's order on Charter's motion to dismiss the complaint brought by Entertainment Studios Networks and the National Association of African American Owned Media. Containing no new facts or law, the motion for reconsideration "is utterly without merit; and is derogation of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Rules of the Central District of California," plaintiffs' counsel Skip Miller of Miller Barondess emailed us Monday.

Eight Starz channels will be on AT&T's DirecTV Now streaming service when it launches later this month, the network said in a news release Thursday. More of its channels, including its VOD catalog of Starz series, will be added later. The DirecTV Now terms came as part of multiyear agreement between Starz and AT&T/DirecTV, it said.

Adobe will pay roughly $540 million to acquire video advertising firm TubeMogul, it announced Thursday. Adobe said that with video consumption exploding and video advertising growing rapidly, TubeMogul with its own Marketing Cloud digital video platform will create "the first end-to-end independent advertising and data management solution that spans TV and digital formats." The buyer said the takeover is expected to close by the end of February. It said TubeMogul CEO Brett Wilson will continue to head up the TubeMogul team as part of Adobe’s Digital Marketing business.

Charter Communications' upgrade to its voice service includes access to Nomorobo, the company's call-blocking app, the cable ISP said in a blog post Wednesday. Nomorobo incorporates the Do Not Call Registry and other known, unwanted phone numbers to block calls from telemarketers and robocallers after one ring, it said. Nomorobo lets customers continue to get calls from automated call lists they opt into, it said. Nomorobo is available now across the legacy Charter and Time Warner Cable footprints and should be available in legacy Bright House Networks territory next year, it said. The FCC has been focusing on unwanted calls (see 1610260053).

A huge fear of independent programmers is that launching a complaint against a multichannel video programming distributor will result in multichannel video programming distributor retaliation, which is why FCC rules to block such indie programmer retaliation are needed, Game Show Network CEO David Goldhill told an aide to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, according to a GSN ex parte filing posted Wednesday in docket 16-41. GSN said it suggested the FCC bring back its standstill rule, through which the FCC could temporarily freeze the price, terms and other conditions of an existing contract up for renewal; clarify the burden of proof questions in the program complaint process; set up stricter time limits on the process; cut the length of discovery and give the Media Bureau more power to resolve questions of fact. The programmer also suggested combining the docket with other open program carriage dockets -- 07-42 and 11-131 -- "to put parties on notice that the Commission might adopt procedural changes to help ameliorate the retaliation process."

Comcast pushed back against arguments of two parties contesting its waiver bid seeking limited relief from recordkeeping, retention and report rules under a 2013 rural call completion order. In a filing posted Tuesday in FCC docket 13-39, Comcast said the comments of Eastern Rural Telecom Association and Flowroute (see 1610060051) were "inapposite and should not delay" the agency from promptly granting its waiver petition (see 1609160017). A previous Comcast filing responded to NTCA opposition (see 1609260055).

Arguing that the meaning of an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) as used in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act is about to be clarified by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, Comcast is pushing for a stay in any action on a TCPA class-action complaint against it. In a memorandum (in Pacer) filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles in support of its motion to stay, the operator said holding off for that ATDS definition expected in ACA International v. FCC "is nothing short of critical" since the plaintiff in the TCPA complaint alleges the cable ISP used an ATDS to make calls. Comcast also said numerous other courts handling TCPA actions have issued stays pending the outcome of the D.C. Circuit appeal. In a separate answer (in Pacer) to the class-action complaint also filed Friday with the court, Comcast offered 24 separate affirmative defenses. It said the complaint is barred because the plaintiff was bound to arbitrate his claims and because the calls weren't placed using an ATDS or artificial or prerecorded voice. Comcast also said it didn't willfully or knowingly violate TCPA, that the plaintiff and putative class members didn't mitigate any alleged damages and they didn't suffer any actionable injuries or damages. Comcast asked for the complaint to be dismissed with prejudice and that the company be awarded costs. Counsel for plaintiff Malik Brown didn't comment Monday. The court last month rejected (in Pacer) a stay motion sought by Comcast as it appealed rejection of the company's motion to compel arbitration.

A U.S. District judge was right to deny enforcement of an arbitrator prohibition of future strikes by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL-CIO, Local Union No. 3, said the National Labor Relations Board in an intervenor brief (in Pacer) filed Thursday with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The Supreme Court has said a waiver of strike rights usually doesn't survive expiration of the contract that the waiver is in, NLRB said, saying if the court agrees with the agency's ruling that no valid contract between the union and Time Warner Cable contained a waiver of employees' right to strike, then the arbitrator had no legal basis for prohibiting future strikes. NLRB said it wasn't taking a position on the monetary part of the judgment that Local 3 is appealing or on whether Local 3 waived its right to contest the arbitrator's jurisdiction when it took part in the arbitration proceedings. Local 3 is appealing a U.S. District Court in Brooklyn ruling upholding those arbitrator awards, and the company is cross-appealing the portion of the Brooklyn court's judgment that denied confirmation of part of a 2015 final arbitration award ordering the union to refrain from further violations (see 1608300029). TWC, now owned by Charter Communications, didn't comment.

Netflix will be available via Comcast's X1 starting this week, the companies said in a news release Friday. Comcast announced plans in July to integrate the subscription VOD service into its navigation platform (see 1607050061).

The Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing and the Association of Cable Communicators are merging, with ACC membership, senior board members and key programs to be incorporated into CTAM, they said in a news release Thursday. CTAM will include communications and public relations for its member companies, which largely overlap with ACC's, they said. “This is an exciting step forward that recognizes and capitalizes on the current marketplace environment, building a collective to support the industry in even more comprehensive ways,” said ACC board President Catherine Frymark, Discovery Communications senior vice president-corporate communications. “While both organizations have been highly regarded for decades of individual accomplishments, we will be stronger together; providing greater member value, professional development resources and programs, and overall impact beyond what we’re able to achieve separately.” The consolidation, approved by the two boards, is expected to be finalized by year-end, subject to a definitive agreement and satisfaction of closing conditions, they said.