Xperi raised revenue guidance after its settlement with Comcast of long-standing litigation over its TiVo patent portfolio. The companies signed a 15-year licensing program for pay TV, dating to the expiration of their prior agreement, that supports Xperi’s core pay-TV licensing program revenue through early 2031, said CEO Jon Kirchner on a Q3 call Monday. Comcast didn't comment Tuesday. Xperi raised second-half guidance to $625 million-$645 million from $390 million-$410 million. Xperi Q3 revenue was $202.8 million. Though end markets are beginning to show signs of recovery, Xperi remains “cautious” about the pace of recovery in 2021, Kirchner said. Shares surged 24% Tuesday to close at $17.32. Revenue in the connected car category declined 5.8% to $18.5 million due to lower production during the pandemic. Kirchner referenced signs the automotive market is starting to recover and said a recovery in HD radio shipments will track market trends. He cited car sales projections indicating a 9% recovery next year.
Third-party device manufacturers have become "major players in today’s video marketplace," and the FCC's pending communications market report and its video regulation should reflect that, NCTA said in a docket 20-60 posting Monday. It cited Roku user growth from 9 million in 2015 to 46 million now, and said it has more active accounts than the largest cable TV services have subscribers combined.
NCTA expressed support for the FCC’s draft 5.9 GHz order (see 2010280064), in calls with aides to the commissioners, except Brendan Carr, and to Office of General Counsel staff. “Although NCTA supported designating the full 75 megahertz of the band for both indoor and outdoor operations, the band-split approach described in the draft Order represents a good compromise that is a win for American Wi-Fi and automotive consumers,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 19-138: “Unlicensed proponents such as NCTA’s members will have access to a contiguous 160-megahertz gigabit Wi-Fi channel … to bring indoor Wi-Fi online quickly to American homes and businesses, with a path to outdoor operations in the future.” Commissioners vote Nov. 18.
Walmart is “constantly having conversations with current and new suppliers about innovation and new products we can bring to our customers,” emailed Ryan Peterson, vice president-electronics. "We don’t share details." He responded to our questions about a report the retailer and Comcast are in talks to develop smart TVs (see 2011030059). The TVs, if produced, would likely run Comcast software with streaming apps on a platform similar to those offered by Amazon, Roku, Google and Apple.
A forthcoming Charter Communications broadband price hike, though it could lead to more churn, "suggests management is very confident" about the business and its "competitive position," New Street's Jonathan Chaplin emailed investors Tuesday. He said the move during the pandemic and down economy could draw political heat, but Charter's providing free service to households with students and teachers and its participation in the FCC Rural Digital Opportunities Fund Phase 1 auction would make it "tough to accuse the Company of unfair pricing policies." The cabler emailed that “Spectrum is committed to continuously enhancing our communication products, providing superior connectivity services with the best overall competitive value in the marketplace. We are delivering faster broadband speeds and improved performance -- all as the average price per megabit per second and per gig consumed declines dramatically.”
The accelerating shift of advertisers to digital likely bolsters Roku, Wedbush's Michael Pachter wrote investors Monday. COVID-19 conditions are increasing adoption, creating potential to grow revenue and profits significantly in the long run as incremental Roku device sales along with “substantial” active user growth likely drive higher ad spend, said the analyst. The accessibility of live sports over over-the-top platforms accelerated cord cutting, a trend seen continuing “in a recessionary environment as streaming has a more favorable and flexible price point than cable.” Despite uncertainty, Roku appears to be on “solid footing for future expansion as ad spend is diverted from TV to OTT and overall ad spend will certainly expand again in a post-recession environment,” Pachter said. The company reports Q3 earnings Thursday.
Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners will pay $8.1 billion for Astound Broadband, the parent of regional cable ISPs RCN, Grande, Wave and enTouch, it said Sunday. Stonepeak said the purchase from TPG Capital is expected to close in Q2. It said it will partner with Patriot Media, the management company operating the Astound companies, and Patriot will continue in that role.
Contrary to claims by challengers to the FCC's cable TV local franchise authority order (see 1909120028), local franchise authorities can still require I-nets and public, educational and government channel access, and they still have substantial authority to determine how to use franchise fees that remain after the value of those obligations is counted against the franchise fee cap. That's per an FCC response brief Wednesday (in Pacer, docket 19-4161) with the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The commission said it "reasonably" decided to count the fair-market value of those cable-related in-kind contributions instead of cable operators' actual costs.
LG smart TV owners can buy direct from QVC, HSN and several other home shopping channels through the free Shop Time app downloadable for all LG sets dating to the 2016 model year, said the company Monday. New HSN customers who download Shop Time, navigate to HSN.com and create an account through Nov. 30 can qualify for a $20 digital coupon redeemable toward a $40 or higher HSN.com purchase, said LG.
Even if the Cable Act is ambiguous about what's meant by franchise fees, the FCC's cable TV local franchise authority (LFA) order ignored the reliance interests of state and local governments and the investments made in communications networks, assuming traditional cable franchise fee practices would remain in place. That's according to New York City, NATOA and various Florida cities in an intervenor brief Monday (in Pacer, docket 19-4161) with the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. They're interveners in a consolidated challenge of the FCC's 2019 LFA order (see 2005150019). Important public safety infrastructure uses the public, educational and government channels and I-nets, and the order jeopardizes law enforcement and public safety functions, they said. If there must be some kind of compensation for franchise obligations, the FCC didn't explain why it should be set at market value or how to determine that amount, they said. The FCC didn't comment.