While backing Entertainment Studios Network (ESN) in its racial discrimination claim against Comcast, Issues4Life Foundation in a Supreme Court docket 18-1171 amicus brief Friday largely focused on Planned Parenthood. The anti-abortion advocacy group said upholding a "but-for" causation standard would allow a continuation of discrimination against African Americans that begins at conception. SCOTUS said in taking up Comcast's appeal of a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversal of a lower court's dismissal of ESN litigation it was considering only whether a claim of race discrimination under federal law fails in the absence of but-for causation (see 1906100024). Comcast outside counsel didn't comment Monday.
Roku shares closed down 19 percent Friday at $108.05 after a Pivotal Research sell rating, citing competition emerging for over-the-top video devices that will likely drive their cost “to zero,” while squeezing ad revenue. Jeffrey Wlodarczak highlighted Comcast’s Wednesday announcement that it's providing its Xfinity Flex OTT device to customers for free, which is “likely to be copied by other distributors.” The analyst credited Roku for creating the streaming media player market but said “everyone has realized the living room is too important” and companies with “massive leverage,” such as Comcast, are likely to make Roku growth “much more difficult.” Altice, Charter Communications and others that “control the dominant data pipe into the household” are coming up with their own ways to deliver streaming content and integrating it with broadband service, he noted. Roku didn't immediately comment.
Roku rolled out seven new players for its holiday lineup Thursday, touting a downsized Roku Express ($29), said to be 10 percent smaller than the model it replaces, and the $99 Roku Ultra. Roku Express Plus, exclusive to Walmart, adds a voice remote, said Roku. The company also announced a new operating system: Roku OS 9.2. It adds Roku Zones for searching by genre or subject; search by movie quote function; and ability to control multiple Roku devices with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.
Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon, joined Eugene, Oregon, in legally challenging the FCC's cable TV local franchise authority order. In a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals petition to be posted Thursday, L.A. and Portland -- plus plaintiffs Kirkland, Washington; the Sacramento Metropolitical Cable TV Commission; and Porland's Mount Hood Cable Regulatory Commission -- ask for a court review. After last month's Eugene petition, more plaintiffs were expected (see 1909120028). Similar to the Eugene challenge, the latest petition said the order was arbitrary and capricious and in violation of the Communications Act, FCC regulations and the Constitution. Portland and the others also asked to have the petition consolidated with Eugene's. The FCC didn't comment.
Comcast and programmers will win their legal challenge of a Maine law requiring cable provide channels a la carte (see 1909100041), American Enterprise Institute's Daniel Lyons blogged Tuesday. The Communications Act pre-empts that, and the law raises problems such as that cable companies usually buy content in agreements that spell out how it will be marketed and few programmers make channels available individually, he said. It's problematic the law applies to cable TV but not other MVPDs, he said. Section 544(b)(1) of the Communications Act says franchise authorities can't "establish requirements for video programming," and federal courts have used that section to invalidate franchise authorities trying to dictate particular channels or programs be part of a cable company offering, he noted.
The FCC asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to transfer an appeal of its August cable-TV local franchise authority order to the 6th Circuit, as expected (see 1909120028). A motion Tuesday (in Pacer, docket 19-72219) said the order largely responded to the 6th Circuit remand of an earlier order, and transfer would "maintain continuity and consistency" in review of interrelated orders. It said the 6th's familiarity with case particulars "would serve the interests of judicial economy." The agency said the motion is opposed by petitioner Eugene, Oregon, and backed by NCTA, which has moved to intervene in the case (see 1909130059).
Optimum and Suddenlink customers will have access to the Amazon Prime Video catalog directly from their provider’s interface along with other streaming, on demand and live video services, said parent Altice Monday. Prime content also will be accessible by voice via the Altice One voice-activated remote control. Subscribers need an Amazon Prime account for access, emailed an Altice spokesperson Monday. It’s the second collaboration between the companies; they recently partnered on the Altice Amplify smart speaker with Alexa.
NCTA wants to intervene on the FCC's behalf in the Eugene, Oregon, lawsuit challenging the agency's August cable local franchise authority (LFA) order (see 1909120028), said a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals motion Friday (in Pacer, docket 19-72219). It said reversing the FCC order would open up cable operators again to LFAs demanding in-kind cable-related extractions that exceed the 5 percent cap on franchise fees. Vacating the order would free LFAs to putting regulations on non-cable services offered over cable systems, thus hurting competition, consumer choice and deployment, NCTA said.
Streaming service catalogs averaging 40,000 TV episodes and movies create “discoverability challenges,” said Gracenote, launching a video identification system Thursday to streamline the process for distributing content to over-the-top services, smart-device makers, and cable and satellite-TV providers. Citing the “massive growth cycle” of the entertainment industry as new services, platforms and devices look for additional content, more descriptive metadata and universal identifiers are needed so viewers can easily search, including via voice assistants, said the company. Studios and networks can register content with the Nielsen unit.
America’s Communications Association, the Competitive Carriers Association and Charter Communications met with aides to FCC Commissioners Brendan Carr, Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks about their proposal for the C band. The groups called mid-band spectrum “vital to unleashing the power and promise of 5G, and underscored that how this spectrum is reallocated will have significant impact on our nation’s wireless and broadband future,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 18-122.