Rovi and Verizon signed a multiyear patent license renewal for Verizon's pay-TV offerings, Rovi said in a news release Tuesday. It said the renewal means eight of the 10 largest pay-TV providers have signed license deals with it.

Arris and Comcast signed a warrant agreement that lets the cable operator buy ordinary shares of Arris based on specific sales targets in 2016 and 2017, Arris said in a news release Tuesday. It said it sells Comcast technologies for its video, broadband and voice services, plus wireless gateways and other networking equipment.

Comcast subscribers will be able to access Netflix via Xfinity's X1 navigation platform later this year, the companies said in a joint statement Tuesday. In a statement, Incompas -- whose members include Netflix, according to its website -- said it "advocated for a foundation that enables over-the-top content and traditional video to grow together, rather than apart. These smart policies, led and adopted by the FCC, have been hard fought victories that have knocked down many walls and are good for competition, consumers and free markets. Netflix is a trailblazer that has opened doors to other streamers, and we encourage and support policies that help make search, discovery and access to all over-the-top content easier.” And the Consumer Video Choice Coalition in a statement asked, "Now what’s wrong with unlocking the box and letting consumers watch the rest of the Internet as well? Comcast once again proves consumer advocates’ point; consumers are hungry for new Internet streaming content and don’t want a gatekeeper box or gatekeeper app telling them what they can and can’t watch. Blocking Internet streaming content is bad for consumers, content creators and innovation. It’s time for the FCC to unleash competition, and give consumers the power to watch, organize and discover the content they love on the device they choose.”

NCTA is asking the FCC to delay until Sept. 3, 2019, the deadline for complying with the carrier ID requirement of its automatic transmitter identification system (ATIS) rule. "Relief is appropriate" when complying with a rule that involves an equipment market that hasn't caught up, NCTA said in a filing posted Friday in docket 12-267. "The market cannot yet support a transition to uplink equipment capable of complying with the new rule." The FCC earlier this year extended ATIS rule implementation by a year to September 2017 (see 1603040054). Programmers are evaluating a next-generation transmission platform for satellite trucks, but "artificially forcing" retirement of existing equipment "would result in waste and stranded investment, when programmers will likely purchase new equipment that will support the new carrier identification requirement in just a few years," NCTA said, saying an extension wouldn't materially affect other spectrum users. Satellite news gathering truck operators also warned about carrier ID rules hurting them (see 1605090028).

Cable, telco and other companies ramping up smart-home security face challenges, analysts said this week. Some cited a limited market and more competition. Alarm.com last week agreed to buy the ADT Pulse business and Piper DIY system from Icontrol for $140 million, and Comcast said it's buying other Icontrol assets (see 1606230073). "There are still a lot of uncertainties” in the business, said Imperial Capital analyst Saliq Khan, citing nascent systems and apps. "There already is competition.” Some predicted telcos and cable companies would “disintermediate the entire security industry within several years,” said Khan, who doesn’t believe that. It's unknown what impact “strong, proprietary providers” such as AT&T, Verisure and Vivint, various cable companies and Google's and Apple's plans for premises control will have, he said. Reports showing security systems are driving the smart-home market may point to a short-term trend, ROC-Connect Senior Vice President-Business Development Kevin Meagher told us. A recurring revenue model appeals to companies like AT&T and Comcast, said Meagher. The reason U.S. monitored home security penetration hasn’t grown above 21 percent “is not for lack of trying,” said Meagher, but because there’s a limited number of people willing to spend $30-$50 per monthly for it.

Proponents of the FCC set-top proposal failed “to allay concerns” with their plan, said NCTA in an ex parte filing in docket 16-42 it characterized as a “rebuttal.” Supporters of the FCC plan “still seek an FCC-issued zero-cost compulsory copyright license -- entirely unauthorized by law -- to allow unlicensed tech companies to commercially exploit copyrighted works without permission from or compensation to the copyright owners,” NCTA said. The fixes offered for privacy and security in the agency plan are insufficient, NCTA said. “Sloganeering with false claims does nothing to make their proposal workable or lawful, or possible to implement as quickly as they predict.” The HTML5 compromise proposal would avoid those concerns, and the FCC should move forward with it, NCTA said.

Comcast "regularly engages in aggressive and reckless debt collection practices" in violation of federal law, some customers said in a lawsuit (in Pacer) filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. The suit, brought by eight plaintiffs in California, Colorado, Michigan and Washington states, claims Comcast violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) by repeatedly calling them about debts they allegedly owed, even after the plaintiffs asked to not be called again. The plaintiffs ask for $500 in statutory damages for each negligent violation of TCPA and $1,500 for each willful violation, plus $1,000 for each FDCPA violation and an injunction barring Comcast from "unlawful calls made with automated dialing systems to cellular phones." Comcast didn't comment.

Pay-TV providers and networks must abandon linear distribution and offer all programming on demand with full stacking rights, put in place better search and recommendation interfaces and start real-time targeted advertising placement aimed at viewers instead of programs in order to compete with rapidly growing over-the-top services and digital ad platforms, Moody's said in a report Wednesday on OTT Invasion. Moody's said OTT and digital ad platforms are quickly eroding contractual aggregation and bundling of content through closed-system set-top boxes as consumers embrace time-shifted, digital, mobile and subscription VOD streaming platforms. Moody's said a shift to a fully on-demand world is unlikely without content producers and distributors "lead[ing] a total overhaul [of] how the industry distributes content and advertising." But that unified approach also is unlikely, Moody's said, "meaning change will be inconsistent, stability will erode as individual network churn rises, and operating performance will come under pressure for those that stumble."

Comcast and a Florida customer are close to settling the company's appeal of a decision by a U.S. District judge in Tampa not to compel arbitration in the lawsuit that the customer filed against the cable company, said a notice of settlement (in Pacer) filed Tuesday with 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Sue Causey sued Comcast after she signed up for service in 2015, and previous debts from 2009 -- which Causey said were discharged in a 2009 bankruptcy -- were added to her bill. Comcast said it moved to compel individual arbitration in that suit, which the Tampa court denied, ruling the arbitration clause in the 2009 subscriber agreement was discharged in bankruptcy and the 2015 subscriber agreement was unrelated to the operator's attempts to collect a debt under a contract discharged in 2009. Court paperwork shows the Tampa court action is on stay pending the outcome of the appeal.

Comcast will pay $450,000 to settle a 2012 complaint by a group of cable line technicians, under a settlement approved Monday in U.S. District Court in Chicago, said a docket entry (in Pacer). Under the terms worked out with a mediator, the seven plaintiffs will receive a gross settlement of $450,000, with $250,000 going for attorneys' fees and costs. A jury trial had been scheduled to start Nov. 1, according to court records, but the parties indicated in May they were close to a settlement (see 1605310033). The hourly workers sued, claiming they were owed overtime pay for work they did before and after their scheduled shifts in excess of 40 hours a week.