Comcast's X1 cloud-based video platform and set-top box may be heading to more cable companies. The company has licensed X1 to Cox Communications and Shaw on a trial basis, and other companies are "expressing interest," Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said Thursday during a quarterly earnings call. X1 has been a bright spot in Comcast's cable operations, with the company deploying nearly 30,000 boxes a day, "and we are pushing to go even faster," while also putting out 6 million of its voice-controlled TV remotes this year, Roberts said. Q2 marked a tipping point in Comcast's customer base, as it said the number of broadband customers, at 22.5 million, surpassed the cable operator's 22.3 million video customers.

TV coverage of sports increasingly includes footage via aerial drones, but it will be a while before such shots become widespread and mainstream, in large part due to Federal Aviation Administration regulations, said NCTA senior writer Francesca Duffy in a blog post Thursday. "Could Fox Sports have brought them in for one of the Gold Cup soccer games in Atlanta? Not until more flexible regulations are put in place," since rules require a 500-foot buffer from nonparticipants, Duffy said. Equipment issues such as noise and battery life also are limiting factors. Michael Davies, Fox Sports senior vice president-field operations, was quoted in the blog as saying the network is "actively pursuing drones on every level" and it eventually hopes to shoot a full event via drones.

Discovery Communications is buying the rest of European sports network Eurosport from minority owner TG1 Group, Discovery said in a Wednesday news release. Discovery bought a stake in Eurosport in 2012 and expanded that to 51 percent ownership in 2014 (see 1401220045). Discovery will spend roughly $536 million to buy out the rest of Eurosport. At the same time, TG1 will buy back Discovery's 20 percent of TV Breizh, Histoire and Ushuaia TV. Both deals are expected to close early in Q4

The FCC -- through the pending AT&T/DirecTV deal or its ongoing programming access proceeding -- has a chance to "do the right thing" by tackling the rising costs of programming, American Cable Association President Matt Polka said Wednesday in a statement in response to comments before the House Communications Subcommittee by analyst Craig Moffett of MoffettNathanson. The subcommittee hearing involved broadband, and Moffett said both broadband and the cable-TV industry face huge and growing video programming price pressures. ACA has talked about rising video costs for years "but the FCC has been MIA," Polka said, pointing to the lack of any proposed conditions in AT&T/DirecTV that would prevent video costs from rising as a result. "By failing to act, [the FCC] has tipped the scales in favor of program owners and ignored the harms to video and broadband consumers and providers," Polka said. The FCC declined to comment.

Sling TV launched its first nationwide advertising campaign across TV, digital and social platforms, the company said in a Monday news release. Its #TakeBackTV campaign is aimed at cord cutters, the company said.

SES launched the first of its kind “live and linear” Ultra HD trial with U.S. cable operator Armstrong aimed at speeding Ultra HD delivery to cable homes, the companies said Monday in a joint announcement. Armstrong is testing SES' camera-to-screen Ultra HD ecosystem at its headquarters in Butler, Pennsylvania, they said. SES' Ultra HD offering, unveiled at this year’s NAB Show, “combines broadcast and IP technologies in a fully managed, scalable service,” they said. “The solution leverages satellite's inherent broadcast advantages and the multicasting capabilities of DOCSIS 3.0, the advanced transmission standard in use by Armstrong and other leading cable systems today.” The outcome of the trials with Armstrong “will support progress toward our objective of accelerating the roll-out of linear-live Ultra HD,” SES said.

Regulation of technology and the Internet -- even regulation invited by some tech companies -- is chipping away at the nation's "historic commitment to innovation without permission," NCTA CEO Michael Powell said in a column posted Monday on CNET. Regulators "do not relish the sidelines" and jump into emerging markets based more often on hypotheticals than actual problems with the market, Powell wrote in his piece, "On the importance of 'regulatory humility.'" The problem is that policies built on predictions and hypothetical scenarios result in "a host of unintended consequences that disrupt markets," Powell said. "Ill-founded regulation is not harmless. Laws are easier to enact than to remove and usually remain long after the past due date. Regulatory agencies simply are not able to adapt quickly to continuing change." The past 20 years has brought "a fast-paced technological age largely free of government control and direction," Powell said. "The next 20 years holds even more promise but only if regulatory humility remains the highest virtue."

Expect post-transaction Charter Communications' broadband offerings to be even better for customers and online video, the cable company said in an ex parte filing posted Friday in FCC docket 15-149. It recapped a meeting between Charter executives including Catherine Bohigian, executive vice president-government affairs, and numerous FCC representatives, including General Counsel Jonathan Sallet. Charter reiterated the public benefits arguments it has made to the agency -- that allowing Charter to buy Bright House Communications and Time Warner Cable would bring such benefits as all-digital systems in the BHN and TWC service areas within 30 months of closing, expanded open Internet policies and expanded investment in its broadband business.

The streaming video market could see a big competitive boost from a preliminary federal court decision Thursday in a lawsuit against online streaming service FilmOn X, Public Knowledge said. The decision by U.S. District Court Judge George Wu in Los Angeles was that FilmOn X could be entitled to a compulsory license under Section 111 of the Copyright Act as it operates somewhat akin to a cable system. "Similar services should not be subject to totally different rules depending on whether they are offered over coaxial cable, fiber, satellite transmissions or online," said John Bergmayer, Public Knowledge senior staff attorney, in a statement. One of the plaintiffs, Fox, said that the Wu decision doesn't allow FilmOn X to resume streaming its broadcast signal because it remains under a preliminary injunction. In a statement Friday, plaintiff CBS said the court announcement "does not resolve anything, as it is only a tentative ruling. It is also wrong, as other courts and the US Copyright Office -- which administers Section 111 -- has rejected that position." The ruling also only concerns copyright law, and does not address the separate issue of retransmission consent that multichannel video programming distributors must obtain from programmers, CBS said. Parties in the case have until July 23 to submit a joint proposed judgment, after which the court will enter a final judgment and certify the case for appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

HBO's online streaming service, HBO Now, is now viewable on Android and Amazon devices, the company said in a Thursday news release. HBO also plans to have the $14.99-a-month streaming service accessible via Chromecast and on Android TV and Amazon Fire TV, it said.