MVPDs will shift from developing their own third-party digital media adapters to developing apps that can run on third-party DMAs such as Apple TV 4K or Android-based alternatives, Colliers' Steven Frankel wrote investors Tuesday. This could remove development delays that have hampered Universal Electronics Inc. over the past few years, said the analyst. UEI's Q4 call is Thursday at 4:30 p.m. EST.
Cable One, a minority owner in Hargray Communications, will buy the rest in a deal valuing the telecom company at $2.2 billion, as it looks to expand its presence in the Southeast, the buyer said Monday. The deal is expected to close in Q2. Cable One said this will give it access to Hargray's fiber expansion capabilities.
Broadband rate regulation isn't a pressing cable threat, although odds are the FCC will reclassify cable operators as common carriers, S&P told investors Tuesday. It noted the lengthy process of drafting an order, the likely appeal and the ability of a future FCC administration to again reverse things. The debt ratings firm said (login required) the FCC likely also will focus more on increasing broadband accessibility and affordability through consumer subsidies, while price regulation could discourage network investments. Longer term, as cable penetration rates increase, operators could come under heavier regulatory scrutiny and face more possibility of rate regulation, it said.
Fifty-five percent of U.S. pay-TV households say availability of live sports is important in their decision to keep the service, said Parks Associates Tuesday. The churn rate for pay-TV services is trending “significantly lower than the rate for [over-the-top] OTT services,” said analyst Steve Nason. Over the past year, churn rates for OTT and virtual MVPD services declined as consumers turned to streaming video services for entertainment.
NCTA and its members urged adopting 3.45-3.55 GHz rules consistent with those in the citizens broadband radio service band, in a call with FCC Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology staff. “NCTA noted the successful outcome of the 3.5 GHz CBRS auction, and the role that the service rules for that band played in attracting a diversity of auction participants … and encouraging the widespread deployment of the spectrum,” said Tuesday's posting in docket 19-348. Charter Communications, Comcast, Cox and CableLabs participated.
System operators that took part in one or more of the FCC's 2011-15 annual cable TV price surveys have 10 days to object to disclosure of the data in a Freedom of Information Act request, the Media Bureau said in a public notice Monday.
Starz added 800,000 streaming subscribers in fiscal Q3 ended Dec. 31, finishing the quarter with 28 million global customers, said Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer on a Thursday investor call. “We're well on our way to our goal of 50 million to 60 million global subscribers by 2025, the vast majority of which will be high-value streaming subs,” he said. “Amazingly, in spite of the challenges” from COVID-19, Lionsgate is shooting 19 scripted television series and another 20 unscripted shows globally, and five feature films “have returned to production,” he said. Lionsgate’s fiscal Q4 ending is perhaps the first time “where all the players are kind of on the field right now,” except for Paramount+, said Starz CEO Jeff Hirsch when asked about streaming competition. The “big broad-based streaming services,” including Netflix, Disney+ and Hulu, “are trying to service everybody in the home,” he said. “That's where the real competition is going to be, and you're going to see people competing on ad spend, people competing on price and people competing on bundling.”
Entertainment Studios Networks and the National Association of African American-Owned Media settled their 5-year-old complaint charging Charter Communications with racial animus in opting not to carry ESN content. The plaintiffs filed a notice of voluntary dismissal Wednesday (in Pacer, docket 16-cv-00609) in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. ESN settled similar litigation last year with Comcast (see 2006110011).
MVPDs in the COVID-19 pandemic era need to ramp up efforts to engage subscribers with new innovations and business models “or risk accelerating customer losses,” blogged Parks Associates analyst Kristen Hanich Wednesday. Three in five pay-TV households are interested in streaming movies and TV shows from an over-the-top video service as part of their subscription, Hanich said, and many providers are responding to demand: The number of customers receiving OTT services has jumped 50% in a year. Nearly 80% of pay-TV households have both pay-TV and OTT subscriptions, with the number of OTT services among households with any online video service averaging 3.8 subscriptions vs. 4.2 for pay-TV homes. Other findings: 43% of pay-TV households want video calls on their TV; 40% want to control smart home devices and security systems; and 34% are interested in playing video games on TV via a cloud gaming service. Pay-TV providers must keep offering their most valuable content, including live sports and cultural events, Hanich said. In addition to offering streaming channels, they need to target new services to customers and “be willing to take a hit on pricing until this chaotic market stabilizes.”
Comcast will increase its Internet Essentials program to 50/5 Mbps March 1, doubling the download speed, it said Tuesday. It also expects to launch 1,000 wireless "lift zones" by year-end to address the homework gap.