Regulation is a concern to cable ISPs, but the business has an advantage in broadband and cord cutting may not accelerate much, MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett wrote investors in a 35-page note Wednesday. The analyst firm expects what it called the traditional pay-TV base to contract about 1.2 percent annually. On the "new bugaboo in the otherwise rosy Cable Story" -- regulation -- Moffett said many questions remain, as the FCC net neutrality order deemed broadband a Communications Act Title II service. "Despite the FCC's promises that Title II is not inherently price regulatory, the path to price regulation is straightforward enough from here," the firm wrote. "But we're getting way ahead of ourselves. There are a staggering number of questions that would have to be answered before one can jump to an end game of price regulation." The firm has for a decade or so called broadband regulation "inevitable," and "we still think regulation is the big concern, and we still think that if you look out far enough, regulation is inevitable," wrote the analyst. "But regulatory risk cannot be called a permanent rally killer" in cable stock prices, he said.

An FCC proposal to require cable companies to separately state a charge for cable modems is “unnecessary, legally flawed, and would be contrary to consumer interest," said Charter Communications in a meeting with staff from the Media Bureau, Office of Strategic Planning and Policy and Office of General Counsel July 7. Charter “supplies and maintains modems at no additional charge in conjunction with its high-speed broadband service offering,” the cable company said in a filing posted Tuesday in docket 16-42. “The Commission’s proposed regulation of cable modems is unsupported by the record and exceeds the Commission’s authority.” Proposals by commenters in the proceeding to establish a case-by-case complaint process should be rejected, since they would lead to regulating prices through adjudication rather than rulemaking, the company said. Requiring providers to separately state a non-zero modem price would be “non-transparent and could actively harm consumers by creating a new fee that the vast majority of subscribers would need to pay,” said the cable ISP.

Lions Gate Entertainment's bid to have a federal court reconsider its March order (in Pacer) dismissing its copyright and trademark infringement claim against Ameritrade and Havas Worldwide has been taken under submission, U.S. District Judge Dean Pregerson said in a filing Monday (in Pacer). In its motion for reconsideration, Lions Gate said the court dismissed its trademark claims not on any copyright pre-emption but because the TV and film production company never specifically alleged or showed facts that the defendants had used Lionsgate's "Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner" trademark as a trademark for their own services. But that order is based on old law, before the Federal Trademark Dilution Act (FTDA) changes in 2006, which now holds that a plaintiff doesn't need to prove a defendant used an identical or nearly identical trademark, Lions Gate said. It also said it did plead facts showing the defendants used "Nobody Puts Your Old 401k in a Corner" as a trademark for their own services. Ameritrade and Havas, in opposition (in Pacer) to reconsideration, called Lions Gate's move "a blatantly improper request for a second bite at the apple" since it presented no change in law or facts, and that any court misstatement of the similarity required under FTDA is immaterial since it wasn't the basis of the court's dismissal.

Comcast's attempt to have the second amended complaint of racially motivated carriage discrimination brought by Entertainment Studios Networks (ESN) and the National Association of African American Owned Media (NAAAOM) tossed is tentatively set for a hearing Sept. 12 in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, the cable operator said in a filing (in Pacer) Monday. The filing came with Comcast's memorandum in support of its motion to dismiss. The complaint -- which alleges racial discrimination by Comcast in its decision not to carry ESN channels (see 1606100017) -- "is a scam" and "extortion by litigation," Comcast said in its memorandum. Despite this being the third complaint, Comcast said, "they still have nothing but conclusory assertions of race discrimination and conspiracy theories [and the complaint] utterly fails to plead facts" that would rule out the argument Comcast decided not to carry ESN content for business reasons. ESN/NAAAOM also have petitioned the FCC for an investigation of the operator (see 1603280030), and are pursuing similar litigation against Charter Communications and the agency (see 1606170001). ESN/NAAAOM "more than adequately" made a valid claim under Section 1981, covering discrimination in contracts, plaintiffs' counsel Skip Miller of Miller Barondess told us Tuesday. "All the name calling in the world isn't the issue. We more than satisfied the law."

Viacom "has fallen too far too fast" to be successfully turned around, at least in the next 12 months, Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker said in a note to investors Monday as the bank downgraded the cable programmer's Class B shares to "underperform" from "market perform." Previewing Q2 earnings, Ryvicker said CBS and Time Warner Cable are the "most stable/least risky." For Viacom, Wells Fargo said the problems include negotiating subscription VOD contracts (see 1606170013) and Comcast putting Viacom's Spike channel on a lower tier. That Viacom B is trading above CBS, Comcast and 21st Century Fox A shares "just doesn't make sense to us," Ryvicker wrote. Viacom B closed Monday at $44.36, down 1.9 percent. Viacom didn't comment.

Fox News head Roger Ailes is attempting to send a sexual harassment complaint by former Fox Channel host Gretchen Carlson into arbitration. In a motion to compel arbitration (in Pacer) filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Newark, New Jersey, Ailes said Carlson's 2013 employment agreement with the cable network contained an arbitration provision but Carlson ignored that when filing her harassment complaint earlier this month in New Jersey Superior Court "so that her counsel could tar Mr. Ailes' reputation publicly, try this case in the media press, and coerce him to settle." Ailes said suing only him, and not Fox News, was "a transparent attempt" to sidestep that employment agreement's arbitration requirement. In a statement, Carlson's lawyers said Ailes "is trying to force this case into a secret arbitration proceeding. Gretchen never agreed to arbitrate anything with Mr. Ailes and the contract on which he relies does not mention him and is not signed by him. Gretchen intends to fight for her right to a public jury trial, a right protected by the discrimination laws and our Constitution. It is disturbing that the head of a large media company would try to silence the press and hide from the public a matter of such importance."

Rovi and TiVo landed “early termination” of the Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period on Rovi’s proposed TiVo buy for $1.1 billion in cash and stock (see 1604290044), the companies said in a joint Monday announcement. The deal still awaits “other customary closing conditions,” including formal approval of both companies' shareholders, they said. The companies still expect the deal to close in Q3, they said.

With Charter Communications and Frontier Communications in talks that could end their reciprocal federal lawsuits regarding advertising claims (see 1606280011), Charter is asking for more time to respond to Frontier's initial complaint and motion for a preliminary injunction. Response to the injunction motion was due Monday, and response to the complaint is due Tuesday, Charter said in a motion for extension of time (in Pacer) filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The company said moving both deadlines to July 18 would let both parties "continue to concentrate on negotiations to resolve this matter." Charter said Frontier agrees to the motion.

National Geographic Partners' Nat Geo Wild network is launching its first dedicated online series, wild_life With Bertie Gregory, which will premier Aug. 3 on NationalGeographic.com and the network's YouTube Channel, it said in a news release Wednesday. National Geographic Partners is a joint venture between the National Geographic Society and 21st Century Fox.

Patrick Dolan, son of Cablevision founder Charles Dolan, is heading a group that bought 75 percent of Newsday Media Group from Altice, which closed in June on its $17.7 billion takeover of Newsday Media parent company Cablevision (see 1606210026), Newsday Media and Altice subsidiary Altice USA said in a news release Thursday. Altice will keep 25 percent, and Dolan will be president and majority owner of Newsday Media and remain president of its News 12 Networks, while Charles Dolan will be on the Newsday Media board and hold a small ownership stake, the companies said. Newsday Media holdings include the Newsday and amNewYork publications. “My father and I, together with our Altice partners, are deeply committed to preserving the state-of-the-art journalism that Newsday has consistently provided and that has served Long Islanders so well," Patrick Dolan said. "We also look forward to continuing the collaborations with News 12 Networks that have resulted in breakthrough multi-media projects and digital services.” The companies said under the agreement, Altice USA's Optimum Online customers will still get access to Newsday.com and the Newsday mobile apps.