Oral argument in the legal challenge before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to the FCC 2015 effective competition order (see 1603300016) is 9:30 a.m. Nov. 10, according to a clerk's order this month.

Under a multiyear deal with Netflix, the streaming service will be part of Liberty Global's TV platforms in parts of Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, Liberty said in a news release Wednesday. The Netflix app will be integrated into Liberty Global set-top boxes, starting with the Netherlands and spreading to other countries as part of technology upgrades across Liberty Global's operations through 2017, the company said. Some pay-TV experts see such partnerships becoming the norm (see 1607220044).

The Copyright Royalty Board updated terminology in the regulations for royalty rates and terms for distant retransmission of stations by cable TV systems. The changes took effect Tuesday, according to a Federal Register, which said the rates, terms and gross receipts limitations for retransmission royalties remain unchanged through 2019. Copyright royalty judges also approved relocating the extant regulations to the section of Code of Federal Regulations that includes other applicable rules of the CRB. The changes apply to the period from Jan. 1, 2015, through Dec. 31, 2019.

Two cable companies objected to possible FCC regulation of their business data services. Cox Communications said direct or indirect regulation of its BDS offerings would "significantly impact" its investment decisions. Ethernet prices are falling sharply and developments such as consumer use of over-the-top BDS were pressing its business plans, said Cox filing posted Tuesday covering a meeting with senior FCC officials, including General Counsel Howard Symons, Wireline Bureau Chief Matt DelNero and Stephanie Weiner, an aide to Chairman Tom Wheeler. "Reject competitive market tests based on overly granular areas such [as] census blocks or specific locations and that required multiple competitors before finding a market competitive." When asked about a possible delay in directly price regulating new BDS entrants, Cox said such regulation should be tied to market power, with "new entrants" defined as providers starting BDS after 1996. Incompas and Verizon had suggested a three-year delay. Mediacom met separately with Symons, commissioner aides, and other staffers to oppose new regulation of competitive BDS offerings, including its "nascent" service. "Mediacom’s BDS prices have been subject to competitive pressure that has forced prices to decline markedly since 2011," said a filing, also in docket 16-143. "There is no record evidence that Mediacom’s rates are unreasonable, or that the company possesses market power. We also argued that adoption of a competitive test that defines a competitive market as those with at least four facilities-based providers is not reasonably tailored to address isolated allegations of excessive rates because it would treat nearly all markets as non-competitive."

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia entered final judgment in a civil antitrust proceeding against Charter Communications over its purchases of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks, in a final judgment released Tuesday. DOJ requested the final judgment last week (see 1609060046), and told the court the parties have all complied with the Antitrust Procedures and Penalties Act. DOJ's antitrust proceeding was filed alongside a proposed settlement limiting Charter's use of most-favored-nation provisions and preventing it from retaliating against programmers for licensing content to online video services.

The FCC should allow market forces to ensure navigation device competition, not a government-supervised industry committee, Amazon officials said in a call with aides to Chairman Tom Wheeler Thursday, according to an ex parte filing posted Tuesday in docket 16-42. “There is no need for app licensing terms to be determined by an industry group subject to Commission oversight. The process to create such a license and oversight body will delay competition and delay customers from receiving the [multichannel video programming distributor] services they already pay for on the device of their choice." Instead, the FCC should require large MVPDs to provide a “consumption-only application to widely distributed systems within one year of the final Order, under the common, transparent, and well-understood practices of appstores,” Amazon said. “If the Commission is concerned that existing app store processes may not work in the MVPD app context, then it could create a complaint process through which an aggrieved party could file a complaint about unfair terms and conditions.” The FCC “should resist action that would weaken the rights that consumers enjoy today or restrict the ability of third parties to develop new features that help consumers gain access to lawful content,” said Consumer Video Choice Coalition representatives including the Computer and Communications Industry Association, Incompas CEO Chip Pickering, Arent Fox Senior Policy Adviser Byron Dorgan and Public Knowledge CEO Gene Kimmelman in a meeting with Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel Thursday. “Assertions made in recent ex parte letters from content companies raise serious questions regarding antitrust and how oversight by the Commission is essential to preventing anticompetitive practices.” A set-top box order is on circulation for a likely vote at commissioners' next meeting (see 1609080085).

Cable ISP WideOpenWest completed its acquisition of NuLink in suburban Atlanta, said a WOW news release Monday. The deal adds 34,000 homes and businesses to WOW's footprint, it said. The company previously said the NuLink acquisition would cost $53 million.

TiVo, bought by Rovi last week and now under the TiVo name, said Monday it will unveil the Bolt+ DVR, a $499, six-tuner video recorder with 3 TB storage, at CEDIA Expo in Dallas this week. The 4K TiVo Bolt+ -- a streamer with cable box, DVR and Plex client in one box -- eliminates challenges dealers encounter in multiroom video installations, including the need for a video matrix switcher, said TiVo. The deal was worth about $1 billion (see 1609080007).

Fox News Network's affiliation complaint against Charter Communications (see 1607200065) is a grab at "tens of millions of dollars of subscription fees to which it is not entitled as a matter of contract, industry practice, or common sense," Charter said in a motion to dismiss two counts of the lawsuit. Charter's motion filed Friday in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan closely followed arguments it made earlier this month in asking the same court to reject a similar complaint brought by Univision (see 1609060069). In its Fox motion, Charter said it paid Fox all the required fees -- though at lower, Time Warner Cable rates, since Charter's May acquisition of TWC. Fox's argument is New Charter should pay the higher, legacy Charter rates, leading to higher aggregate fees than TWC and Charter paid individually in their respective agreements before the May takeover, Charter said: "Put differently, [Fox] maintains that the deal that should set the terms for the combined New Charter is the higher-rate deal that applied to a smaller operator, with fewer customers, rather than a lower-rate deal that applied to a bigger operator, with more customers. This is nonsensical and contrary to the fundamental economic logic of the cable industry." The motion focuses on Fox's dismissal of breach of implied covenant, unjust enrichment and fraud claims. Charter said it wasn't addressing other Fox claims: that its agreement with Charter applies to all New Charter cable systems, and that New Charter breached or will breach the Charter agreement by applying the TWC terms. Charter said full development of the record will disprove those assertions. Fox counsel didn't comment Monday.

Sky Angel is taking its legal battle with Discovery Communications to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In a notice (in Pacer) of appeal Monday in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Maryland, Sky Angel said it's appealing the court's Aug. 15 decision in favor of Discovery and denying Sky Angel's motions in limine, plus a 2015 order denying Sky Angel's motion for summary judgment and a 2014 order overruling Sky Angel's objections to a magistrate's order on discovery. "In limine" is a legal term meaning at the threshold or at the beginning. Sky Angel -- then an over-the-top multichannel video programming distributor that now distributes via Dish Network -- sued Discovery in 2013, alleging improper termination of an affiliation agreement (see 1303070045). Sky Angel also filed a still-open program access complaint against Discovery in 2010 (see 1207160065).