New broadband subscriber data reinforces the danger Charter Communications' buying Bright House Networks and Time Warner Cable poses to the growing online video distribution marketplace, Dish Network said in an FCC filing posted Monday in docket 15-149. Pointing to Media Bureau-released broadband subscriber data made available earlier this month to signers of the confidential information protective order, Dish said the combined Charter/TWC/BHN subscribers to its 25-plus Mbps downstream services, alongside Comcast's similar subscribers, would give Comcast and New Charter combined a sizable -- though redacted -- portion of the high-speed Internet market. "The Department of Justice has disapproved of mergers that would have resulted in the duopolists' combined market share below the figure at issue here," Dish said, pointing to DOJ's 2013 antitrust lawsuit aimed at blocking Anheuser-Busch InBev's proposed acquisition of Mexican beer company Grupo Modelo. "Such market concentration between two firms would allow for coordinated action even without active collusion between the players." Dish also renewed its call for the FCC to deny the transactions (see 1511130021). In a statement Monday, Charter said it "would only have 23 percent of broadband subscribers receiving 25 Mbps and above. There is no more OVD friendly provider ... [we] have a minimum broadband speed of 60 Mbps with no data caps, no usage based billing and a generous interconnection policy.” Earlier this month in reply to opposition comments regarding the possible Comcast duopoly, Charter said its business approach in such areas as OVD and broadband are markedly different and that it is no significant programming interests to protect.

Baby boomers watch close to 2.5 hours more TV a week than younger post-boomers, and have a stronger first preference for live TV than post-boomers (68 percent versus 45 percent) and less of an inclination to go to over-the-top (OTT) streaming services first, The Diffusion Group said in a report. TDG said 44 percent of boomers stream OTT video to their TVs weekly and average more than four hours a week of streaming content viewing, while 67 percent of post-boomers do streaming, and watch roughly 10 hours a week. While both boomers and post-boomers favor subscription services for their streaming content, boomers tend to use TV network and service provider sources while post-boomers tend to watch free content, TDG said Thursday. Boomers’ use of devices that allow streaming to the TV is growing rapidly, but they tend to connect via smart TVs while post-boomers tend to use game consoles, the firm said. About 35 percent of boomers use their smartphones for streaming and watch 2.4 hours a week via those devices, while 62 percent of post-boomers watch video on their phones and watch nearly twice as much video, TDG said. Boomers also are more likely to subscribe to traditional pay TV than post-boomers (91 percent versus 83 percent), it said. The data came from a survey of 3,428 people done in 2015.

NCTA's Onward Internet project has garnered more than 113,000 responses since 2014 as it tries to gauge Internet users' "more esoteric ideas" about it, NCTA said in a blog post Thursday. Onward Internet was launched in 2014 and relaunched weeks ago. Its centerpiece is a nine-question online survey asking such questions as "How provocative do you find the Internet?" on a scale from "blah" to "worked up" and "When it’s time for answers you can trust, how reliable do you think the Internet really is?" on a scale from "a flake" to "my rock." NCTA said it sees its role "in the future of the Internet as more than just advocating for better technology and better devices ... [but also] advocating for a better Internet -- a better relationship, a better experience, and a better vision for the future." The association also said it's making the data set of responses available in hopes of spurring "more advanced Internet technologies that reflect the real needs of American Internet users."

Video-on-demand platform maker Vonetize signed a deal with Samsung for its over-the-top SmartVOD service to be added to Samsung devices throughout Latin America, it said in a news release Wednesday. The Latin America launch will be in coming months, and will focus on on-demand rental and purchase, Vonetize said. Vonetize already has a similar agreement for SmartVOD to be preloaded on Samsung smart TVs in Israel.

Univision Communications launched Univision Now, a streaming video service available via iOS and Android products and the Web with a $5.99/month or $59.99/year subscription fee, the cable network said in a news release Wednesday. Through Univision Now, viewers can watch a live stream of the Univision and UniMas networks, it said, and it comes with a three-day DVR functionality for live streams and prime-time content available for up to seven days after its live streaming. Univision Now is in addition to TV Everywhere service for pay-TV subscribers, it said.

Netflix continues to top the rankings of the most-subscribed over-the-top (OTT) video services in the U.S., with Amazon Video coming in second and Hulu third, Parks Associates said in a news release Tuesday. Fourth in the subscription rankings was MLB.TV, followed by WWE Network, HBO Now, Crunchyroll, NFL Game Pass, The Blaze and Sling TV, Parks said. The rankings are based on reported figures and estimates using multiple consumer surveys, network traffic data and service provider information, Parks said. It said more than 25 percent of OTT services in the U.S. debuted in 2015, such as Sling TV and HBO Now, with 40 percent of the services launching within the past two years.

Mark Cuban endorsed Charter Communications buying Bright House Networks and Time Warner Cable. The Dallas Mavericks owner/AXS TV network chairman said in a filing posted Tuesday in docket 15-149 that, based on Charter's history dealing with minority and independent networks, including AXS TV predecessor HDNet, "the new entity would treat independent and minority networks with fairness and in the public's best interest."

AMC Networks is "trying to incite panic" with commercials and message crawls on programming carried by MCTV indicating AMC shows might not be carried much longer, the cable company said Monday. MCTV said the crawls and commercials come as it and hundreds of other small and mid-sized cable operators are in negotiations with AMC through the National Cable Television Cooperative about a new carriage agreement to replace the one expiring Dec. 31. MCTV said that AMC is seeking "a significant cost increase" plus tying provisions that would see the cable operators carrying low-rated channels such as BBC World News. In a statement Tuesday, AMC said it "has been a long-time partner of NCTC, and has created enormous value for NCTC members and their customers who enjoy our popular shows. While we are committed to continuing to negotiate with NCTC, we are informing our loyal viewers who are NCTC customers that they are at risk of losing access to their favorite AMC shows.”

A Justice Department probe into media companies possibly coordinating their efforts on over-the-top (OTT) arrangements wouldn't be surprising, given Time Warner's move to increasingly eschew licensing its content for OTT consumption, Guggenheim Partners analyst Paul Gallant said in a note to subscribers Monday. Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes recently indicated the company is considering forgoing or delaying such content licensing, and that, coupled with the DOJ's investigation into airline collusion, means the agency could easily at least investigate for signs of media company collusion regarding OTT, Gallant said. "It may well be the case that media company executives have not privately discussed restricting the sale of content to OTTs," he said, saying a DOJ investigation would mean it could order the companies to turn over internal documents, meeting calendars and emails that might contain any evidence of collusion.

Liberty Global plans to buy Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) in a $5.3 billion stock swap, Liberty said in a news release Monday. Liberty Global will issue up to 121 million shares and assume CWC's $2.7 billion in net debt, it said. Acquiring CWC would give Liberty Global "significant scale and management depth to our fast-growing operations in Latin America and the Caribbean," said Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries in a statement. Liberty Global said it hopes to close on CWC in Q2.