Vizio would change privacy disclosures and menu options beyond refinements the FTC required under a February 2017 consent decree, said the proposed $17 million class-action settlement agreement (in Pacer) to end complaints the “smart interactivity” function violated the Video Privacy Protection Act (see 1604060039). Cases had been consolidated in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, California, where plaintiffs filed an “unopposed” motion (in Pacer) asking Judge Josephine Staton to convene a Dec. 7 ratification hearing. In the new deal versus the FTC one, the manufacturer will delete about another year of consumer viewing data, will add more on-screen disclosures and will let customers know about the settlement via announcements on their smart sets and by social media ads. Average settlements will be $13-$31.
Atlantic Broadband finalized its buy of FiberLight's south Florida fiber network, it said Wednesday. The deal -- giving Atlantic an additional 350 miles route miles -- was announced in January (see 1801250033).
The FCC Media Bureau is doing 2018 equal employment opportunity audits, and mailed out its third set of audit letters to MVPDs Thursday, said a public notice. The FCC randomly audits 5 percent of all stations and MVPDs each year.
With the New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel having withdrawn its nine separate applications for review of various determinations of effective competition in different communities, the applications for review are dismissed, the FCC Media Bureau said in an order Thursday.
More than nine in 10 over-the-top video subscribers are members of Amazon Prime Video, Hulu or Netflix, Parks Associates said Monday. Though new online pay-TV and premium channels pushed into the OTT space last year, they haven’t made a dent in the top three’s market position due to “strong viewer loyalty,” said analyst Brett Sappington.
Comcast should “discontinue” claiming in broadcast ads that DirecTV is unreliable in bad weather, recommended the National Advertising Division. The recommendation results from a DirecTV challenge of a Comcast ad that shows a DirecTV antenna being struck by lightning and mentions weather can cause satellite signals to pixelate. DirecTV said the commercial doesn't explicitly state service interruptions from severe weather are typical, but "the advertisement strongly implies it,” the group said. Comcast argued the ad was similar to other Comcast commercials that NAD found to be substantiated. NAD said Comcast should “avoid conveying the message” that the satellite provider offers no free shows or “movies on the go,” but rejected a DirecTV allegation Comcast made false claims about the number of free shows and to-go movies in its introductory package. DirecTV is appealing the latter ruling, and Comcast is appealing the rulings against it.
Video entertainment devices are expected to reach 457.5 million units shipped by 2022, a 10.9 percent compound annual growth rate, IDC reported Monday. Devices including Apple TV, Fire TV, Chromecast and Roku will serve as the gateway into the smart home ecosystem, leading to “immense competition” in content and price, the researcher said. It expects the worldwide smart home device market to grow 31 percent this year over 2017 to 643.9 million shipments, reaching 1.3 billion by 2022. Smart speakers are expected to post the fastest growth.
Citing concerns a "retaliatory motive is ... infecting regulatory enforcement decisions that affect the press," the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit as part of its handling of the AT&T/Time Warner appeal to clarify the standard for discovery where selective enforcement of antitrust laws could chill reporting. An amicus brief (in Pacer, docket 18-5214) Thursday in favor of neither DOJ nor AT&T/TW said the lower court -- in denying discovery on whether supposed White House animus toward TW's CNN resulted in DOJ opposition to AT&T/TW -- used an erroneous standard that makes it potentially impossible for news organizations to get discovery. DOJ didn't comment Friday.
Americans for Limited Government (ALG) is urging the House Commerce Committee to investigate anti-competitive effects of Comcast's buy of NBCUniversal, saying it expects the end result likely will be either a Comcast/NBCU breakup or reimposing the FCC conditions that expired in January (see 1801220030). In a letter to committee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., and Vice Chairman Joe Barton, R-Texas, dated Monday and released Thursday, ALG said at the very least, Comcast/NBCU should be forced to submit to the same arbitration terms that AT&T has committed to in its buy of Time Warner. Comcast didn't comment.
Record company litigation alleging copyright infringement should be dismissed because it's outside the three-year statute of limitations and because any such infringement was "innocent and ... not willful," Cox Communications replied (in Pacer, docket 18-cv-00950) Monday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia. Cox said the claims of contributory liability are barred because it didn't have knowledge of the alleged primary infringement by some subscribers and didn't cause or encourage it, nor did it materially contribute. The ISP said statutory damages sought are "unconstitutionally excessive" and out of proportion to actual damages. A counterclaim sought declaratory judgment that it's not liable for contributory infringement of the works in question and a declaratory judgment it's not vicariously liable for infringement by third parties of those works. Cox also moved (in Pacer) to transfer the venue to the U.S. District Court in Atlanta, saying the claims and plaintiffs have no particular tie to the Virginia court, but the suit was likely filed there because that court previously handled BMG v. Cox. Cox said the Atlanta court is where Cox is headquartered and where most relevant witnesses and evidence are. The music companies' outside counsel didn't comment Tuesday. Cox is seen facing a challenge in this latest suit after the BMG litigation (see 1808020009).