An additional 72 Pluto TV channels are available on the TiVo+ network, said TiVo Thursday, bringing the number of channels to 144. TiVo+ is also adding 13 Spanish-language channels, said the company. TiVo+ unique viewership has grown 90% from March to September, and viewer engagement rose 165%, said the Xperi subsidiary. Pluto TV channels are available now on TiVo Stream 4K boxes and rolling out to select TiVo DVR customers.

Subscription VOD penetration of U.S. households hit new highs in Q1 at around 75%, but the penetration rate has seemingly flattened out, MoffettNathanson's Michael Nathanson wrote investors Wednesday. He said price continues to be a key reason viewers substitute subscription VOD for pay-TV subscriptions, and that trend should continue during the difficult economy.

Comcast's Xfinity Mobile wireless service is offering nationwide 5G coverage, it said Tuesday.

Comments are due Oct. 21, replies Oct. 28, on requested transfer of control of licenses for Blue Rooster Telecom, Digital West Networks and Norcast Communications from Digital West to TPG Global's Radiate, per an FCC public notice in Thursday's Daily Digest. The deal would create the No. 6 U.S. cable company (see 2010060001).

Disney should reject the suggestions of “activist investor” Dan Loeb with Third Point Management to redirect the company's $3 billion dividend toward over-the-top content production, Cowen wrote investors Thursday. “While we do expect Disney to announce increased investment in OTT products at its next investor day, we caution that drastically scaling content spend effectively would likely be difficult.” The analyst firm has been “bullish” on Disney+ because it thinks the service can reach “significant scale without overwhelmingly high content spend, due to the quality of Disney's evergreen library.” This "suggests the service could operate at significantly higher margins than competing services that rely on heavy ongoing investment in average quality content to combat churn.” Loeb appears to be under the “implicit assumption” OTT streaming will “devolve” to the model in which one or two dominant players “squeeze out everybody else,” said Cowen. “The history of content doesn't suggest that is likely, because it is far more difficult to monopolize content creativity than technological standards.” A Third Point spokesperson declined comment. Disney didn’t respond to questions. It hasn't announced a date for the next investor day.

Rolling out the 10G broadband platform will cost U.S. cable operators $81.4 billion, but it should have an economic impact of $330 billion and create more than 676,000 jobs over seven years, said a Telecom Advisory Services report Wednesday. The NCTA-funded report said cable industry investment could be incentivized by policy steps such as a sales tax cut on broadband equipment or a reduction in in-kind demands on cable operators.

Universal Electronics (UEI) will supply a voice-enabled remote control for Liberty Global’s 4K Mini TV set-top box, said the control company Wednesday. The Bluetooth Low Energy remote has automated setup and control through UEI’s cloud-based QuickSet platform. Customers can search by voice for content on Liberty’s Reference Design Kit-based Horizon 4 platform. The box is made from 35% recycled material and said to cut energy consumption by 77% versus previous set-tops.

Radiate plans to buy California voice and data services companies Digital West Networks, Norcast Communications and Blue Rooster Telecom, it said in FCC International Bureau applications posted Tuesday asking approval for transfer of those Digital West licensees to Radiate, which is owned by private investment firm TPG Global. It said the deal, adding those companies to Radiate's RCN Telecom, Grande Communications Networks, WaveDivision and En-Touch Systems, will create the No. 6 U.S. cable operator.

Cable operators filing FCC Form 1240 can adjust the non-external portion of their rates by -1.82% in Q2 to account for inflation, while those using Form 1210 can make an annual adjustment of 1.0060 for the year ending June 30, the Media Bureau said in a public notice in Monday's Daily Digest.

The FCC, in denying a policy shift in making local governments pay cable operators the fair market value for institutional network and public, educational and government channel obligations that had been free for decades, ignores sizable evidence of long-standing franchise fee practices that conflict with last year's local franchise authority order. That's according to NATOA, New York City, the Florida League of Cities and individual Florida municipalities in a reply brief Thursday (in Pacer, docket 19-4161) to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. NATOA and the others are interveners in a consolidated challenge of the FCC's 2019 LFA order (see 2005150019). They said the LFA order will "eat away" at franchise fees and further the injury by requiring local governments to pay what likely will be sizable fair market value amounts, and the FCC's not acknowledging or addressing the implications of that policy shift makes the order arbitrary and capricious. The FCC didn't comment.