IP multicast network Ark Mediacom won't use the Mediacom name and will hand over the domain arkmediacom.tv to Mediacom Communications, under a docket 19-cv-00753 settlement Monday (in Pacer) with the cable ISP, signed by U.S. District Judge Brenda Sannes of Syracuse. Mediacom sued (in Pacer) Ark Mediacom in June alleging trademark infringement and cybersquatting.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals won't take up Atlantic Specialty Insurance's petition for rehearing (see 1908260060) of its decision in a fight with Comcast's Universal Cable Productions over insurance coverage of a TV production relocated from Israel because of conflict with Hamas, the court ordered Tuesday (docket 19-56672, in Pacer).

The NFL and a variety of sports bars and individuals are at odds over potential rehearing of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' reversal of a lower court dismissal of a class-action antitrust complaint on DirecTV's Sunday Ticket package (see 1908140015). The plaintiff-appellants sports fans said Tuesday in a docket 17-56119 opposition to rehearing en banc (in Pacer) that the panel decision that they had a valid claim for relief was unanimous and there's no conflict with any Supreme Court or 9th Circuit precedent. They also said the defendants are free to try to show in the case that their restrictions on football game telecasts aren't anticompetitive. The NFL defendant-appellees, in a petition (in Pacer) for rehearing en banc, said the reversal creates intra-circuit conflicts and goes against the Supreme Court's 1977 Illinois Brick decision on indirect purchasers pursuing antitrust damages claims.

Disney received final judicial approval for its $71.3 billion buy of Fox entertainment assets, with U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon of Manhattan signing off on the docket 18-cv-05800 final judgment Monday, DOJ said Tuesday. Disney had to sell Fox regional sports networks under the consent decree, and a deal with Sinclair was completed last month (see 1908230041).

Not being able to come to a carriage agreement by 5 p.m. Sept. 27 with AT&T could mean 136 Sinclair-owned local stations and the Tennis Channel going dark on DirecTV, AT&T Now (formerly DirecTV Now) and U-verse in 86 markets, Sinclair said Friday. It said AT&T was at fault and it had "little optimism" of reaching a deal by the expiration of the current carriage agreement.

Amazon chose not to call its high-resolution music service "Hi-Res" because the terms hi-fi and hi-res aren't widely understood by consumers, and different countries use different terms to describe CD-quality-and-higher music, industry officials told us. Instead, Amazon’s Music HD offers what it calls 50 million High Definition songs and “millions” in Ultra High Definition. Though the major music companies, RIAA and the Recording Academy, developed the logo "Hi-Res Music," the name is generally used to describe the overall music category. Individual streaming services differentiate their brands with their own names for hi-res offerings. Lenbrook brand Bluesound, which Amazon didn't single out (see 1909170055) in Tuesday's announcement that mentioned Sonos and Sound United, came Wednesday. It, too, is compatible with Amazon Music HD -- and an early adopter. Bob Stuart, creator of the Master Quality Authenticated audio codec, welcomed Amazon's "offering better sound quality to a wide audience," saying, "for too long the mainstream diet of MP3 quality has degraded the listener’s enjoyment." Amazon is "restoring to at least Redbook (44.1 kHz/16b) quality and raising expectations of quality," Stuart said. He said any service that’s streaming FLAC, which Amazon Music HD does, "can rapidly upgrade to MQA in the future." MQA technology delivers higher than HD quality in a 1.3 Mbps stream, he said.

BET Plus launched in the U.S. Thursday, with apps available for Android and Apple mobile devices and Amazon Fire TVs; it also will be available on Amazon Prime Video, it said. BET Plus is a joint BET Networks-Tyler Perry Studios venture, aimed at “lovers of Black stories.” Subscribers can access more than 1,000 hours of ad-free content including from sister Viacom networks. Monthly subscriptions are $9.99. In an expanding streaming video service market, Parks Associates reported Tuesday subscriptions account for nearly 86 percent of all internet spending on TV and movies, up from just over half in 2012. Services launching over the next several months are taking different approaches in the crowded space, said Brett Sappington. Upcoming services including Disney Plus and Apple TV Plus will cause a spike in consumer spending for video services but “tradeoff decisions will come later,” said the analyst: “To keep consumers spending at this higher level, services will have to consistently deliver volumes of compelling content within an engaging user experience.”

Spotify downplayed Amazon’s move into hi-resolution music, focusing on its fledgling podcast service and artist programs (see 1909120017). Amazon's offering a two-tier premium music service in CD-quality and 24-bit/192 kHz resolution, it said Tuesday. Spotify hasn't talked about "higher fidelity,” said Paul Vogel, head-financial planning and analysis, treasury and investor relations. “It’s not really something that has been a big differentiator,” he said, citing Tidal and its hi-res service. Important to Spotify and its subscribers are the user interface, algorithms, playlists and "discoverability,” Vogel told investors. Tidal didn't comment. Musicians are “excited” about the ability for fans to stream their music “as it was originally recorded,” said Steve Boom, vice president-Amazon Music. On the threat of big tech companies' leverage in the music streaming market with smartphones and smart speakers, Vogel deflected to Spotify’s growth trends. Citing his 3.5-year stint, Vogel said the service had 25 million subscribers and under 100 million users when he joined; now, Spotify boasts 232 million monthly average users and 108 million subscribers. “We fully recognize the fear” about the three largest tech companies as competitors, Vogel said. Despite competitors’ big pockets, Spotify is spending “as much, if not more, on innovation and R&D” in music and audio, he said. Vogel said Spotify's “ubiquity” is its strength -- being available “just about everywhere” except for “a couple of Apple products.” Qobuz welcomed Amazon to the hi-res music market. Qobuz USA Managing Director Dan Mackta said it “validates our business and underscores the growth in demand for higher-quality streaming."

Growing ubiquity of Android TV as a set-top box operating system of choice is opening the door to the potential threat of malicious apps coming from the app store or side-loaded via USB and attacking the set-top, blogged Irdeto Friday. Malware disguised as legitimate apps, plus Kodi-style apps misused for piracy, need to be controlled on operators' set-tops beyond what Google does with the app store, it said. Blanket denial of Kodi apps or add-ons will send consumers to another service provider, and blocking such malware and piracy apps needs to be balanced with the open-source nature of Android TV, Irdeto said.

Spotify bought SoundBetter, a music production market, it said Thursday. It's part an effort to invest in tools that help creators produce better-sounding content, expand audience and have an opportunity to live off their work, Spotify said. SoundBetter will help provide insights, profile management and promotion tools to 400,000-plus artists, it said.