Forget TV genres; scene-level metadata that would allow for recommendations based on such criteria as a program's dialogue or the viewer's mood are part of the data insights available to TV service providers, Andy Aftelak, Arris director-advanced technology, said in an introduction to a Videonet report, "Boosting Television Prospects With Enriched Data Analytics," that Arris announced on its blog Monday. Data about how people do their over-the-top viewing needs to be wed to customer demographic profiles, which can lead to better recommendation engines, which in turn reduce churn and optimize content acquisition, the report said. That metadata, gleaned from set-top boxes and server logs, also could better monetize niche channels, since those data sources are more reliable than audience measurement panels and thus would account for streams that traditionally get overlooked, it said. And such data could be used in making the "joins" of commercial breaks in an attempt to counter ad blocking, Videonet said.
The FCC Media Bureau is asking Level 3 for more information about its interconnection agreement with Bright House Networks as the agency reviews Charter Communications' proposed acquisitions of BHN and Time Warner Cable. In an information and data request to Level 3 released Friday, the bureau said it wanted a copy of Level 3's most recent interconnection agreement with BHN, including paid peering, settlement free and transit agreements. It's the second information request to Level 3 from the bureau, after a request in October (see 1509220057) that covered such issues as Level 3's plans to provide service to online video distributors and whether Level 3's interconnection agreements differed between ISPs that have an Internet backbone and those that don't.
Sony Music video programming will be available through Verizon's Go90 mobile video platform under a deal the two companies announced in a news release Thursday. Along with new original programming being developed, the agreement extends to previously announced programming from Astronauts Wanted, a Sony Music joint venture, they said.
Cox Communications expanded its 1 Gbps residential Internet service to Oklahoma as part of its goal to have the service available across its footprint by year's end, it said in a news release Thursday. Cox late last year also increased the speed of its High Speed Internet Ultimate package to 200 Mbps, it said.
Galavision, UniMas and Univision are available streaming to RCN digital TV subscribers via the UVideos app or on UVideos.com, RCN said in a news release Thursday. The Spanish-language network offering includes more than 1,000 hours of on-demand programming and live stream of Univision, RCN said.
As many as 320,000 Time Warner Cable customers' email addresses and account passwords likely were stolen either via malware downloaded in a phishing attack or indirectly in a data breach of another company that stored TWC customer information, TWC said Thursday. In a notice sent to customers this week, TWC said it had been notified by the FBI about the possible data compromise and recommended that customers change their account passwords. The company in a statement said it also was notifying customers via direct mail, and that customers whose account information was stolen are being contacted individually "to make them aware and to help them reset their passwords."
A former Viacom executive is suing the company for being fired in 2014 after she allegedly voiced concerns about the legality of a Viacom tax avoidance plan involving revenue from licensing rights to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The suit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, asks for Nataki Williams' reinstatement to her job, along with back pay and interest, or front pay if she isn't reinstated. Williams, who was vice president-financial planning and analysis when she was fired, said in her suit she had raised issues multiple times with Viacom about its plans to attribute the licensing rights revenues to the Netherlands for tax purposes -- which would save Viacom millions of tax dollars -- and that her firing over an employee benefits issue was a pretext. In a statement Wednesday, Viacom said Williams "is a former Viacom employee who was terminated in 2014 for fraudulently claiming company benefits to which she was not entitled. Her legal claims are completely without merit, and we will vigorously defend against these claims in court.”
DreamWorks Animation and Netflix are expanding their multiyear agreement, with Netflix streaming some new DreamWorks series, the two said in a news release Tuesday. The new deal also includes streaming rights to DreamWorks Animation's feature films, and extended rights for current DreamWorks series, they said.
Shenandoah Telecommunications (Shentel) is buying cable/phone/Internet company Colane Cable TV for $2.4 million, it said in a news release Monday. Colane's service territory in southwestern West Virginia is adjacent to part of Shentel's service area, it said. The acquisition is expected to close in Q1, said Shentel, which provides video, voice and Internet services in Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.
The FCC Measuring Broadband America report is proof broadband speed and performance are "keeping pace with our everyday online necessities and lifestyles," NCTA said in a news release Monday. The report (see 1512300037) "confirms how Americans are well served by ISPs who are investing billions of dollars annually to increase network speed, capacity and reliability," said the group.