Goldman Sachs plans to close on buying Iowa's ImOn Communications in 2022's first half, said the companies Thursday. They said the deal will provide resources to accelerate ImOn's spending on fiber data, video and voice services in eastern Iowa. Goldman said ImOn fits as part of its focus on infrastructure investing. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
Xfinity's U.S. pay-TV customers can access 150 hours of Beijing Olympics coverage in 8K via an NBC Olympics VR by Xfinity virtual reality app, said Comcast Friday. Live and on-demand coverage of six popular sports will be available “in an immersive 180-degree environment,” it said. “Select events will offer viewers the option to switch between different cameras.” Coverage of the opening and closing ceremonies also will be available, as will features and highlights from 10 more sports, it said. Comcast previously used the Olympics as a platform for upscale video and audio experimentation, having announced plans last summer to deliver the Tokyo Olympics to X1, Flex and Stream customers in Dolby Vision HDR and Atmos surround audio (see 2107140035). The Olympics VR app is available for download at the Oculus Meta Quest 2 online store. It supports the Oculus Quest and Quest 2 VR headsets and the Oculus Touch controller, says the store. It lists the app as having been released July 9, which would have been two weeks before the opening of the Tokyo Olympics. Facebook parent Meta owns Oculus.
Comcast’s FreeWheel launched a partner program to certify TV and premium video buyers and sellers, plus data and technology companies, to create “a more efficient and effective media supply chain for the TV ecosystem,” it said Wednesday. The goal is to “provide another tool to make TV simpler and more efficient to plan and transact upon, while continuing our commitment to interoperability,” said FreeWheel General Manager Mark McKee. Partners will be listed on FreeWheel’s online portal.
SkyShowtime, the Comcast/ViacomCBS joint streaming venture, landed its European regulatory OK, said the venture partners Wednesday. SkyShowtime will launch later this year in more than 20 markets, including Denmark, Finland, Norway, Poland, Spain and Sweden, they said.
FuboTV subscribers can access Olympics programming, including 4K HDR coverage and Dolby Atmos sound provided by NBCUniversal to its customers, in select markets, said the virtual MVPD Tuesday. NBC prime-time 4K coverage will also be made available via a next day re-air. The Winter Olympics are Wednesday through Feb. 20.
Charter Communications will ramp up broadband speeds throughout its network this year with more high-split deployments, CEO Tom Rutledge said Friday as the company announced Q4 results. The high-split upgrades allow symmetrical gigabit speeds or multi Gbps downstream, and are cheaper than network capital spending such as new nodes, he said. Rutledge said Charter will expand its 800,000-mile network by 100,000 miles over the next five years through Rural Digital Opportunity Fund funding. He said beyond RDOF, the company is using broadband stimulus money and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funding to reach other rural areas, plus expanding into areas adjacent to subsidized builds. That rural spending, including RDOF and other subsidized rural projects, will be about $1 billion this year in capital expenditures, said Chief Financial Officer Jessica Fischer. Rutledge said Charter continues to work on DOCSIS 4.0 tech development, with recent tests delivering speeds of more than 8 GB downstream and more than 6 GB upstream. He said Charter is rolling out its 5G hybrid mobile network operation using citizens broadband radio service small cells in an unspecified market, letting people connect to CBRS small cells when they're not in Wi-Fi reach. Charter said it ended 2021 with 28.1 million residential broadband customers, up 1.1 million year over year and 15.2 million residential video subscribers, down 400,000. It reported 3.4 million residential mobile lines, up 1.1 million, and 8.6 million residential voice customers, down 600,000. Revenue was $13.2 billion, up $600 million. The stock closed up 5.3% at $590.47.
The FCC should "take a leadership role" in pole access, Charter asked Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and an aide during a meeting Thursday, per a filing Monday in docket 19-126. Charter has "experienced significant pole delays" as it deploys broadband through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction, it said, saying some pole owners are "delaying negotiating new agreements, refusing to process permits, and creating artificial limits."
Netflix forecasts a 37% year-over-year decline in net paid additions to 2.5 million for Q1, it said, reporting Q4 adds below its forecast (see 2201200069). COVID-19 “has introduced so much noise” to such predictions, co-CEO Reed Hastings told investors Thursday. The “ability” of streaming competitors “to grow even as we've been growing” is a “really strong endorsement for the core idea that consumers around the world are willing to pay for great entertainment,” said Chief Operating Officer Greg Peters. “It encourages us to continue that investment and to try and deliver more entertainment value and earn more of that share.” The stock closed down 22% Friday at $397.50.
Comcast Technology Solutions launched Video Artificial Intelligence, to help content providers, MVPDs and advertisers analyze live and on-demand video, audio and closed captions to improve advertising efficacy and manage content. VideoAI identifies and tags onscreen elements such as hard cuts, black frames and transitions, or specific sounds, to provide enhanced understanding of video content, Comcast said Thursday.
Eugene, Oregon's petition for writ of certiorari on the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision upholding part of the FCC's cable TV local franchise authority order (see 2111010048) was distributed for a Feb. 18 conference, said a notice Wednesday in Supreme Court docket 21-661.