America’s Communication Association seeks a clarifying footnote on an FCC draft order on direct dialing to 911 (see 1907250037). The draft would require fixed multi-line telephone services to be configured to provide dispatchable location information “automatically” when a user places a 911 call, ACA filed, posted Friday in docket 18-261. A footnote said “the dispatchable location information associated with a fixed MLTS device must be conveyed to the [public safety answering point] when a user places a 911 call, without further intervention by the user at the time it places the call.”
NBCUniversal's streaming service is aiming for April launch, with The Office -- which generates 5 percent of Netflix's traffic but that Netflix is losing -- a tentpole for the platform, NBCU CEO Stephen Burke said Thursday as Comcast announced Q2 results. He said the service will have some original programming, but NBCU expects the "vast majority" of its viewership to come for its acquired rather than original content. Comcast said it had revenue of $26.9 billion, up 24 percent over last year. It had 25.6 million residential broadband customers, up 1.2 million. CEO Brian Roberts said it's on pace for a 14th consecutive year of adding more than a million net broadband subscribers, while in Europe, Sky added 304,000. Comcast has 20.6 million residential video customers, down 432,000; 10 million residential voice customers, down 205,000; and 1.6 million wireless lines, up 805,000. Asked about possible deals, Roberts said the cable operator is focused on its current properties, with the Sky deal being opportunistic.
The streaming media player market has flattened, up a point from 2018, with penetration in 39 percent of U.S. broadband households, reported Parks Associates Wednesday. Purchase intentions are higher for 2019 than in previous years, Parks said. Connected device makers may need to shift focus from hardware sales to service and advertising revenue as ownership reaches saturation, said the researcher. “Streaming media has reshaped how US consumers interact with entertainment content and services, so as the market matures, sales increasingly come at another vendor’s expense,” said analyst Kristen Hanich. Roku (39 percent) and Amazon (30 percent) are “clear market leaders” of the installed base of streaming media players, benefiting from broad product portfolios with lower price points, she said. Roku and Fire TV adoption grows at the expense of Chromecast and Apple TV, said fellow analyst Craig Leslie.
The Montana Cable Telecommunications Association's shutting its doors effective Dec. 31 doesn't necessarily portend similar steps by cable groups in other states, but it's a reflection of the pressures on cable operators everywhere, American's Communications Association President Matt Polka told us Tuesday. MCTA, founded in 1959, said the move was due to members' declining video subscriber numbers from cord cutting and video programming cost pressures.
Amazon, AMC Networks, CBS, Comcast, Facebook and Sony potentially have interest in buying Starz, and such a deal with Starz parent Lionsgate is more than possible, FBN Securities analyst Robert Routh wrote investors Friday. He said Starz potentially could go for $6.5 billion. Lionsgate didn't comment. CBS reportedly has talked with Lionsgate about Starz (see here).
OMB signed off on information collection requirements part of the FCC's November order on cable operators emailing notices to subscribers (see 1811150028), said Thursday's Federal Register.
Comcast will give customers a $100 prepaid card through Aug. 4 when they bring in an eligible, unlocked Android phone, activate a new line and port their number to Xfinity Mobile, it said in a "BYOD" (bring-your-own-device) promotion. The offer applies initially to Samsung Galaxy S9, S9 Plus, S8, S8 Plus, Note 9 and Note 8 devices. The operator expects to be able to activate more Android devices on its mobile network later this year.
Over-the-top and pay-TV providers will lose $9.1 billion this year to piracy and account sharing, growing to $12.5 billion in 2024, blogged Parks Associates Tuesday. Currently, 27 percent of U.S. broadband households engage in some form of piracy or account sharing, it said. “Piracy is a complex issue that cannot be addressed with a single solution or by targeting a single use case,” said analyst Brett Sappington, noting that most video pirates subscribe to at least one OTT service. “They are not simply thieves looking to steal content but are video enthusiasts who engage with many different services,” Sappington said, suggesting OTT services could better reach those consumers through ad-based content, “which also aligns with these users’ general belief that ‘movies/music should be given away for free.’” Consumers who report viewing an OTT video service for free but without ads are 22 percent more likely than average broadband households to subscribe to OTT services, three times as likely to use ad-supported services, and twice as likely to use transactional online video services, said Parks. Growth in connected device ownership has shifted the focus of pirates toward the online video ecosystem; 20 percent of households are using a piracy app, website or jailbroken device, it said. “Growing subscriber numbers and an increased number of services signal a very healthy OTT market, but more services and aggressively promoted content could incite more piracy over time,” Sappington said, saying eventually consumers will hit an upper limit to spending. “When that happens, they will resort to pirate tactics to get the content that they want, particularly for sports and other content where trials are not available.” The demographic groups most often subscribing to OTT services -- men under 35 and households with low annual incomes -- pirate content at a disproportionate rate, he said.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision that interconnected IP-based voice is an information service exempt from state regulation has national implications, and Charter Communications' opposition to a petition for writ of certiorari (see 1907050030) doesn't point to a better vehicle for bringing the issues to the Supreme Court. That according to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission in a docket 18-1386 reply brief Monday. It called 'balderdash" the assertion it was raising issues in its cert petition that hadn't been raised before the 8th Circuit. Charter outside counsel didn't comment.
The American Council of the Blind backs the NBCUniversal limited waiver of video description requirements for its USA Network and other top-five nonbroadcast networks (see 1906140054). ACB opposes creation of a safe harbor for all other non-broadcasters, it said in a docket 11-43 posting Friday.