Cablevision is targeting cord cutters with new Internet-focused Optimum products that let consumers have more choices, the company said Thursday. The cord cutter package provides access to high-speed broadband that facilitates a high-quality over-the-top video experience, a digital antenna and the option to add new digital streaming service HBO Now, Cablevision said. There's also an Optimum Everyday Low Price package, which is designed for highly price-sensitive consumers, it said. That package includes Internet Basics 5 Mbps service, Freewheel phone and a digital antenna, Cablevision said.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit ruled against former wrestler Steve “Wild Thing” Ray's appeal of his lawsuit against ESPN, saying U.S. District Court Judge Scott Wright was correct in dismissing the lawsuit because the Copyright Act “preempts Ray's claims” that ESPN misappropriated his name, invaded his privacy and interfered with his prospective economic advantage by re-telecasting his Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) performances. Ray claimed that ESPN re-telecast his wrestling performances without his consent, saying the matches had been “filmed for future use to generate revenue.” Wright ruled in 2014 that the Copyright Act pre-empted Ray's claims because his performances were part of copyrighted material “and his likenesses couldn't be detached from the copyrighted performances that were contained in the films.” ESPN and Ray didn't comment. The appeals court is based in St. Louis.

Nickelodeon launched the Nick Jr. app for the Apple Watch, enabling better parental controls for the preschool app on the iPhone, the company said Tuesday. When the Apple Watch is used in tandem with the Nick Jr. app for iPhone, parents will be able to manage screen time via a timer, supervise their child’s activities on the phone and regulate the volume settings, it said. “These watch functions are extensions of the user’s iPhone experience and can be accessed by tapping on the Nick Jr. icon on the watch.” Additional features include the ability of parents to see at a glance what kids are watching in the app at any given moment, it said.

The FCC should extend an exemption for small cable systems from requirements to carry HD broadcast signals, said the American Cable Association, NCTA and WTA in comments in docket 98-120 on an ACA petition requesting the extension. “We agree with the Commission’s tentative conclusion that the public interest would be served” by extending the HD carriage exemption until June 12, 2018, NCTA said. The exemption is to expire June 12, 2015. If it isn't extended, “consumers in rural areas could experience service disruptions and discontinuations,” WTA said. NAB opposes a blanket extension. “Downconverting an HD broadcast signal to standard definition (SD) digital or to analog materially degrades that signal,” NAB said. “If a small cable system carries other signals in HD, then permitting it to carry HD broadcast signals in a lesser format pursuant to a continued exemption improperly discriminates against broadcast signals,” NAB said. If the extension is granted, the FCC shouldn't apply it to cable systems carrying other signals in HD, and should re-examine what it considers a small system, NAB said.

Time Warner Cable inadvertently submitted erroneous broadband speed data in several of its submissions to the FCC in connection with the Comcast/TWC transaction, TWC said in a letter posted online in docket 14-57 Thursday. The error affected data for some residential areas that were upgraded to TWC's higher-speed Maxx broadband offering in 2014, TWC said. “Legacy bandwidth tags in TWC’s billing database needed to be translated to accurately reflect upgraded speeds, but that translation inadvertently was not performed when TWC extracted data in preparing its responses,” TWC said. That caused the data submitted by TWC to understate the number of broadband connections “at certain speed thresholds,” TWC said. TWC submitted corrected data in a redacted attachment, the letter said.

California Public Utilities Commissioner Mike Florio filed an alternate decision Friday that calls for the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to reject the Comcast-Time Warner Cable deal. Florio noted in the filing that Comcast already has a history of not abiding by conditions attached to its previous merger with NBCUniversal and that the company is challenging all of the 25 conditions attached to a proposed CPUC decision approving the deal. The CPUC is set to hold an all-party public meeting Tuesday in Los Angeles on the proposed decision approving the deal. “We can’t afford to let one corporation have so much control over our choices and how much we’ll pay to connect and communicate,” a Consumers Union spokesman said in a statement. “We applaud Commissioner Florio for adding his voice to the hundreds of thousands of Americans who have already called for this merger to be rejected. The CPUC should stand with consumers and oppose this deal.”

HomeSeer users can create cloud-based IFTTT (If This Then That) recipes to control HomeSeer devices as part of a partnership the companies announced Wednesday. HomeSeer users can also launch events using triggers and actions from more than 170 IFTTT channel partners including ESPN, Foursquare, Nest, Philips Hue, Twitter and WeMo, they said. HomeSeer’s software and hardware controllers let users integrate and automate lights, appliances, thermostats, door locks, security systems, audio/video and media content.

Viacom plans to reorganize three of its domestic network groups into two new organizations as a result of a companywide review of its Media Networks, Filmed Entertainment operations and corporate functions, a news release said Monday. In connection with the realignment, Viacom will recognize a pre-tax charge in fiscal Q2 of about $785 million, reflecting the impact of write-downs of underperforming programming, Viacom said. The new structure realigns sales, marketing, creative and support functions, increases efficiencies in program and product development, enhances opportunities to share expertise, and promotes greater cross-marketing and cross channel programming activity, Viacom said. The company is also expanding its capabilities in business areas, including data analysis, technology development and consumer insights, reflecting the rapidly changing media market, shifting consumer behavior and evolving measurement practices, it said.

Roku began rolling out Roku Feed, a new search feature that allows consumers to see when streaming entertainment becomes available and at what price. Roku Feed initially will focus on “Movies Coming Soon,” which a Monday Roku blog post said ends the “guessing game around when a box office hit is available for streaming, which services offer the movie or how much it costs at a given time.” Consumers can search for movies, TV shows, actors and directors, and receive all available results listed by price from 17 top streaming channels, the company said. Roku also added the ability to search within the Roku Channel Store by channel name, allowing quicker searches by channels such as CBS News, HBO GO and Sling TV, it said. On the hardware side, Roku introduced a second-generation Roku 3 player ($99) with voice search and a new remote control incorporating a microphone, voice search button and headphone jack for private listening, a company spokesman told us. Current Roku 3 players will receive a software update including the Roku Feed feature and the ability to search within the Roku Channel Store, the spokesman said. Roku mobile apps are also being updated, and users will be able to search by voice using the iOS and Android apps on a smartphone or tablet, he said.

Cable companies offering broadband will remain strongly positioned over the next few years, despite the growing number of over-the-top options, said a new report, "High Yield Cable's Broadband Still Effective Defense Against Over-the-Top Siege," from Moody's Investor Service. Along with the strength of the broadband business, limited competition and customer inertia would give cable operations time to adapt to the rise of OTT devices, Moody's said. The report also found a shift in the type of content available from current OTT options, with the addition of live content and sports from Dish Network's Sling TV and Sony's Vue, plus Apple's reported pay-TV service.