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.

The FCC needs to take a closer look at Charter Communications' anticompetitive practices on over-the-top services (OTT), and consider conditions to protect against discriminatory behavior, Herring Networks said in an ex parte filing posted Monday in docket 15-149. In the filing on a meeting between Herring President Charles Herring and staff from the Office of the General Counsel and from Chairman Tom Wheeler's office, Herring said its AWE channel has run into problems with Charter because its affiliation agreement with the cable company included a prohibited alternative distribution method provision banning Herring from showing a linear feed of AW over any OTT device or service, leading to a slowed deployment of AWE via OTT. Charter declined to negotiate out that provision, Herring said. But after sending formal notice of termination of the existing affiliation agreement and pointing out concerns about the provision -- "especially while seeking merger approval from the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission" -- Charter modified the language, Herring said. Charter -- in the process of buying Bright House Networks and Time Warner Cable -- still refuses to review third-party set-top box numbers AWE provided or to review Herring's America News Network channel, Herring said, saying that is a lack of good faith negotiating. Charter has "a fundamental lack of respect for independent programmers, even with proven performance value in the marketplace," Herring said. "If this is suggestive of how Charter treats an independent network pre-merger, we are highly concerned about the treatment in store for independent networks post-merger." In a statement Monday, Charter said it's "committed to ensuring its customers have access to independent and diverse programming and we are gratified by the support we have received to date from independent programmers including TV One, BabyFirst, One World Sports, Crown Media, RFD-TV and The Blaze.” It also said of online video distributors, "there is no more friendly broadband provider ... than Charter. Charter’s slowest speed is 60 Mbps, we have no data caps, no contracts and no modem fees. Also, Netflix, which strongly opposed to the Comcast/TWC transaction, supports the Charter, TWC and Bright House transactions.”

An appeal is planned after a federal judge overturned a $6.31 million jury verdict against Cox Communications for its set-top box rental policies. "We feel confident that the Tenth Circuit will reverse the decision and reinstate the verdict," Todd Schneider of Schneider Wallace, lead plaintiff's attorney in the case, told us in an email Friday. U.S. District Judge Robin Cauthron of Oklahoma City ruled Thursday that despite the jury verdict to the contrary earlier this month (see 1511020048), the class-action complainants failed to offer evidence that would show that the tying of a Cox Premium Cable subscription to renting of a Cox set-top box "foreclosed a substantial volume of commerce in Oklahoma City to other sellers or potential sellers of set-top boxes in the market for set-top boxes." That was one of the five elements set out in the jury instructions in order for it to find against Cox, the judge's order said. It said class-action plaintiffs Richard Healy et al "failed to offer evidence from which a jury could determine that any other manufacturer wished to sell set-top boxes at retail or that Cox had acted in a manner to prevent any other manufacturer from selling set-top boxes at retail." The plaintiffs also failed to prove, as also set out in the jury instructions, that there was any loss or injury from that tying arrangement, the judge said. Cauthron's order followed a motion by Cox to have the jury verdict overturned. In a statement Friday, Cox said its "primary goal is to provide its customers with high value video services and this victory ensures that Cox will be free to continue to provide those services in the future. We are pleased that the Court has recognized that Cox’s conduct did not violate the antitrust laws."