Cox Communications said it plans to appeal the verdict and award in music labels' copyright infringement suit. "This lawsuit is a travesty, and the ruling remains unwarranted, unjust and beyond excessive," it emailed us Wednesday after U.S. District Judge Liam O'Grady of Alexandria, Virginia, rejected its challenge of 2019's $1billion jury verdict amount (see 2002030066). In an order Tuesday (docket 18-cv-00950, in Pacer), O'Grady said Cox was arguing some of the 10,017 music works allegedly pirated by Cox broadband subscribers were derivative of others and thus ineligible for statutory damage awards, but "the number of derivative works in play in this case was a question for the jury" and Cox should have presented to the jury the evidence it presented to the court in its post-trial brief. "We absolutely should not be held liable for bad actions that others may have taken using Cox’s High-Speed Internet service," Cox told us. "We’re prepared to fight as long as necessary to correct this decision."
FuboTV is an “interesting opportunity, but we’re not banking on it yet,” Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter wrote investors Tuesday after the streaming media service announced a second planned acquisition in sports wagering. FuboTV is buying sportsbook technology company Vigtory. The sports-focused TV service plans to complete the deal this quarter and make inroads in the sports betting business by year-end. Before integrating wagering, fuboTV plans to launch a stand-alone, free-to-play app from Balto Sports, which it bought in December, that will eventually be integrated into its platform. “We expect the introduction of sports wagering to drive engagement in sporting events, new subscriber growth, and the company’s monetization capabilities,” Pachter said, noting sports betting adds another layer of customer monetization beyond premium subscription plans and valuable advertising inventory. “For new and existing subscribers looking to wager, fuboTV’s platform will be a compelling choice as the company currently maintains over 6.3 million billing relationships with former, existing, and trial subscribers.” It has an active subscriber base of 455,000 as of Q3, he noted. “Leveraging these billing relationships means eliminating the dreaded pain for many customers of ‘pulling out the wallet,'" he said,
Roku bought distribution rights for Quibi's portfolio, the buyer announced Friday, as expected (see 2101040057). Founded by Jeffrey Katzenberg in 2018 and headed by former HP CEO Meg Whitman, Quibi shut in October (see report, Oct. 23 issue), six months after launching in the early days of the pandemic. Quibi subscriptions were $5 monthly with ads and $8 without. Roku will make the content available for free, with ads, within its Roku Channel.
Comscore is getting a $204 million cash infusion from Charter Communications, Qurate Retail and a Cerberus Capital Management affiliate in exchange for stock, it said Thursday evening. It said the funding will go in part to retiring debt. Charter will provide more access to consumer-level data sets.
Broadband and video subscribers of Charter Communications' Spectrum get an extended free trial of NBCUniversal's Peacock Premium streaming service, the companies said Thursday, announcing a multiyear distribution agreement. They said Charter is distributing the Peacock app via its Spectrum Guide platform.
Roku reached 51.2 million active accounts Dec. 31, up about 14 million for the year, it said Wednesday. Users streamed about 17 billion hours in Q4, bringing the total to 58.7 billion in 2020, a 55% year-on-year jump. The company said a third of U.S. households have left traditional pay-TV services.
ViacomCBS is adding 14 more networks to Hulu + Live TV in a multiyear deal, it said Monday, including BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon and TV Land. It includes continued carriage of CBS stations, CBS Sports Network, CW, Showtime and others.
Cable One is rolling out an IP-based TV service, Sparklight TV, with cloud-based video programming starting in select markets early this year and across its footprint by year-end, it said Tuesday. It said the move from linear video to IPTV will free up network capacity to expand beyond its current gigabit broadband offering and open the door to 10 Gbps. It said Sparklight TV will include VOD, program restart and DVR capabilities.
Quibi didn't comment Monday on a Sunday report that it's in talks to sell its catalog to Roku. The short-form video service shut down in October after six months (see report in this publication, Oct. 23). Roku has been pushing into content with its ad-supported Roku Channel that offers movies and TV shows from others. A deal with Quibi would give Roku exclusive programming. A spokesperson emailed that Roku doesn’t comment on market speculation.
Charter Communications President-Chief Operating Officer John Bickham will transition to vice chairman sometime in the second half of next year at the request of Charter CEO Tom Rutledge, the company said Monday, announcing an amended employment agreement with Bickham. It said his employment will terminate at the end of 2022 when the agreement expires.