Verizon is rolling out new packages of its skinny bundle Fios Custom TV offering, it said in a news release Friday. The new Custom TV plans are Essentials, which has a variety of content, and the sports-centric Sports & More. Each of those comes with the Fios TV Local package, which includes local broadcast channels and other programming, it said. Tami Erwin, president-consumer and mass business, said customer feedback since the launch of Custom TV last year spawned the new packages.

The FCC vote Thursday that could open the set-top box market to third parties (see 1602180065) “may change the way in which we sell,” said Universal Electronics CEO Paul Arling on an earnings call later that day. “But it won’t change the fact that people still sit 10 to 12 feet on average from their television, and they’re going to want a product that will ease their ability to control various sources they have,” he said. “We don’t really see this as changing anything, but we'll have to see exactly how this thing shakes out." All operators are moving toward the concept of cloud-based advanced platform boxes, “making their user interface much simpler and much easier to use,” he said. Responding to an analyst, Arling said service providers in addition to Comcast and AT&T's DirecTV are moving to the latest platform.

Several communities in Virginia and Washington state are subject to effective cable competition and Comcast is exempt from rate regulation there, the FCC Media Bureau said in orders (see here and here) Friday. Ruling that the town of Orange, and Orange County, Virginia, have effective competition, the bureau said the county -- which opposed the Comcast petition -- didn't show any methodological flaw in the operator's data or identify any ZIP codes incorrectly considered to be part of Orange County. The bureau also rejected oppositions from Airway Heights, Washington, and Spokane, Washington, arguing Comcast data was questionable, as was Airway Heights' push that it consider some issues outside the statutory test for competing provider effective competition. The bureau order also covered Liberty Lake, Millwood and Spokane Valley, Washington. The orders covered areas with about 132,000 households, the largest of which was Spokane, followed by Spokane Valley. Thursday the bureau issued orders to Comcast and Time Warner Cable freeing them of local rate regulation in some other areas (see 1602180042).

Comcast and Clear Connection are at loggerheads about discovery issues and when their claims against one another should go to trial, said a joint status report filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Sacramento. In the filing, Clear Connection said trial should be scheduled for Nov. 1, citing the time that passed since it brought its initial complaint in 2012. Comcast, in urging a May 2017 trial start, said the amount of discovery, disclosing experts and filing summary judgment motions makes Clear Connection's proposed schedule unworkable. In its initial antitrust and unfair competition claims against Comcast, Clear Connection alleged Comcast conspired with some cable installation companies to consolidate the installation market and force Clear Connections and others out of business. Comcast subsequently brought counterclaims for Clear Connections' alleged failure to meet contractual indemnification obligations. In the status report, Comcast said it intends to file motions for summary judgment on its counterclaims and Clear Connections claims. Clear Connections in the status report -- citing "the scope of the present antitrust claims and the sheer size and magnitude of Comcast as a corporate defendant" -- asked for lifting of the default caps on discovery, which Comcast called "a fishing expedition." Clear Connection's website said the company installs cable for data networks.

The American TV Alliance raised a litany of retransmission consent-related issues with FCC Media Bureau staff, said an ex parte filing posted Thursday in docket 15-216. Much of the discussion involved ATVA proposals for preventing broadcasters from using blackouts for leverage in contract talks and for allowing temporary import of distant signals, plus the FCC's authority to restrict out-of-market joint negotiations. ATVA also disputed NAB assertions that regulatory action on retransmission consent fees will enrich multichannel video programming distributors instead of benefit consumers (see 1601140026), citing economic evidence from AT&T/DirecTV indicating otherwise. In a statement Friday on the coalition of pay-TV and other interests backing retrans reform, NAB said: "No one should be fooled by Big Pay-TV bankrolled American Television Alliance’s claim that it is ‘pro-consumer.' Even the FCC has admitted that nothing in this proceeding will translate into cable and satellite companies lowering cable prices for consumers. The pure and simple truth is ATVA is seeking to disenfranchise broadcasters’ ability to negotiate fairly for the most-watched programming on television.” ATVA also said it discussed CBS' recent lobbying against any changes to the totality of circumstances test (see 1602110062), saying CBS' claim that broadcast programming is always available online or over the air ignores "the largest online blackout in history ... during which CBS' programming was decidedly not available to millions of Time Warner Cable Internet customers. ... If CBS has decided that it will no longer engage in such behavior, we look forward to its endorsement of ATVA's online blocking proposal." CBS didn't comment.

The funeral of Judge Dan Brenner, longtime cable lawyer with NCTA and in private practice, is 11 a.m. Friday at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery, 6001 West Centinela Ave. in Los Angeles, said a spokeswoman for Los Angeles County Superior Court. Brenner was a judge there (see 1602170018). The FCC held a moment of silence for Brenner during its open meeting Thursday. "He was a mentor to many in the policy community, he was a friend to us all," Chairman Tom Wheeler said. "He's truly going to be missed."

The FCC OK'ed contested requests for Comcast and Time Warner Cable to get out of rate regulation in some communities in Minnesota and Ohio, in orders Thursday. The Ohio communities of Yellow Springs and Piqua are subject to effective cable competition, so TWC is exempt from cable rate regulation there, said an order. It rejected opposition by Yellow Springs, which said if TWC had used the nine-digit ZIP codes, it would have found that DBS subscribership there didn't meet the 15 percent threshold. Since the FCC doesn't require cable operators to use the nine-digit ZIP code, the village's case is based on "general, theoretical assumptions," the bureau said. It separately backed Comcast's petition for a declaration that Fridley, Minnesota, is subject to effective cable competition and exempt from cable rate regulation there. Comcast's petition previously had also included Bloomington, and the bureau OK'd the cable operator's request to withdraw it from the petition.

NextVR and Fox Sports signed a five-year deal that will see virtual reality coverage of Fox-carried sports events, the two said in a news release Wednesday. The two have tested such programming in HD virtual reality coverage of the Premier Boxing Championships and the Auto Club 400 NASCAR race and have a planned test of Sunday's Daytona 500, the two said. NextVR Chairman Brad Allen said that "this wide-ranging agreement is proof that our technology provides an exciting and compelling option to witness great sporting events in virtual reality." The two said future announcements of virtual reality programming on Fox Sports will be forthcoming and available on the NextVR portal, which will have a dedicated Fox Sports section.

Cablevision's Optimum TV customers now can stream CBS live online and on mobile devices, as the cable company is the first operator to provide access to live streaming on CBS.com and the CBS app, the companies said Tuesday. The live feed includes CBS daytime, primetime and late-night programming, plus local news and sports and special events, they said. Cablevision Executive Vice President-Programming Tom Montemagno said the cable company "now holds distribution rights for all of CBS’s streaming platforms, demonstrating our commitment to providing customers with the ability to watch the high-quality content they desire on their own terms.” The two announced last year that a new multiyear carriage agreement between them also let Optimum Online customers have access to CBS All Access and Showtime Internet services (see 1508250019).

Liberty Global and Vodafone plan to combine their Netherlands operations by year's end, with the 50/50 joint venture creating what they said in a Monday news release would be a "national unified communications provider ... with complementary strengths across video, broadband, mobile and B2B services." Vodafone will pay Liberty Global 1 billion euros (roughly $1.11 billion) to equalize ownership in the joint venture, they said. “The combination of Vodafone’s leading mobile business with Ziggo’s successful broadband and TV business creates a strong and competitive integrated communications player, which will invest in digital infrastructure, entertainment services and productivity applications for Dutch consumer, business and public sector customers," said Vodafone Group CEO Vittorio Colao. The joint venture will operate under both the Vodafone and Ziggo brands, the two said.