Charter Communications' mobile service, Spectrum Mobile, is now available across the company's footprint for Spectrum internet subscribers, after a soft launch earlier this summer, it said Tuesday. Pricing is $45 a month per line for unlimited data or $14 per GB shared across all lines, it said.
Altice and 83 current and former field service technicians agreed to settle claims alleging the cable operator expected or required those technicians to work off the clock through their lunch breaks and through uncompensated pre-shift and post-shift duties, said a unopposed motion (in Pacer, docket 16-cv-02207-AKH) for preliminary approval of the settlement filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. The company would pay up to $1.4 million.
An order on Competitive Enterprise Institute's petition for reconsideration of the broadband overbuild conditions put on Charter's buy of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks (see 1803050023) is on circulation with commissioners, said CEI Director-Litigation Ted Frank. He said the draft order (here) comes as oral argument is scheduled for Sept. 17 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on the group's petition for writ of mandamus regarding the recon petition (see 1807180027), with the agency potentially trying to make it moot. The FCC didn't comment. Frank said regardless of how commissioners vote, "we'll either have a successful petition or an interesting appeal to the D.C. Circuit."
AT&T dropped beIN Sports from its DirecTV and DirecTV Now lineups, the programmer said Wednesday. It said that carriage negotiations stalled over beIN trying to move its channels to lower-priced tiers and that AT&T rejected an offer to extend the existing contract. AT&T said it's "unfortunate that we could not agree to terms."
U.S. households with subscription VOD service from Amazon Prime, Hulu or Netflix grew to 69 percent, from 52 percent in 2015, said a Monday Leichtman Research Group June-July survey of 1,153 adults. Among those with SVOD, 63 percent have more than one vs. 38 percent before. Overall, 43 percent of U.S. households have more than one vs. 20 percent earlier. Thirty percent of adults stream an SVOD daily, and 52 percent of viewers of ages 18-34 stream one service daily compared with 31 percent of viewers 35-54 and 11 percent of viewers above 55. Twenty-eight percent of respondents said their Netflix subscription is shared outside their household vs. 22 percent with Hulu and 10 percent with Amazon Prime. Some 53 percent of TV households said they subscribe both to a pay-TV service and an SVOD service, 25 percent subscribe only to a pay-TV service, 16 percent get only get an SVOD service and 6 get neither.
Comcast and Fox Networks Group reached agreement for Comcast to continue carrying the Big Ten Network and all the Big Ten games on FS1, they said Friday. BTN will be available to Comcast customers in states with Big Ten universities, and Xfinity customers in Delaware and the Washington, D.C., area will also receive their network given their proximity to such schools. In coming months, customers outside of the Big Ten states will have BTN access as part of Comcast’s Sports and Entertainment Package.
Cableview Communications, disappointed in the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision Thursday affirming a lower court's tossing out of its litigation against Time Warner Cable (see 1808230014), is reviewing its procedural options, including a possible motion for reconsideration or rehearing, outside counsel Jack Webb told us Friday.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta affirmed a lower court's rejection of a Cableview Communications lawsuit against Time Warner Cable. Cableview sued TWC in 2013, claiming TWC interfered in FTS USA's 2012 purchase of Cableview assets including TWC service agreements (see 1604010052). In the docket 17-10701 decision (in Pacer) Thursday, Judges Kevin Newsom, Elizabeth Branch and Lanier Anderson rejected Cableview arguments it resolved under duress an indemnity claim brought by TW. It said there's no evidence TW engaged in wrongful acts or threats when negotiating that settlement, and the settlement was clear enough to foreclose against TW claims of tortious interference and violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. Cableview outside counsel didn't comment.
California's McGill rule impedes or precludes bilateral arbitration, and thus conflicts with federal law and is pre-empted by the Federal Arbitration Act, appellant Comcast said in a docket 18-15288 reply brief (in Pacer) Wednesday with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Comcast is appealing lower court denial of its motion to compel arbitration of subscriber claims it fails to properly disclose the true pricing of cable packages (see 1808030047). It said the McGill rule -- which voids contracts that deny consumers their non-waivable rights to pursue claims for public injunctive relief -- makes unenforceable individual contract provisions but doesn't provide grounds to revoke a contract. It said McGill doesn't apply in this case since the subscribers had an opportunity to opt out of arbitration and chose not to. Appellee counsel didn't comment.
Comcast's not reaching an interconnect agreement with advertising spot representation firm Viamedia isn't a form of anticompetitive conduct, said U.S. Circuit Judge Amy St. Eve, sitting by designation, in a U.S. District Court docket 16-cv-05486 ruling (in Pacer) in Chicago last week, agreeing with Comcast's motion for summary judgment in Viamedia's complaint. Viamedia sued in 2016, charging monopolization behavior by Comcast in markets where it operated interconnects (see 1607250037). The judge said Comcast didn't allow Viamedia access to the Chicago, Detroit and Hartford, Connecticut, interconnects, but it had no duty to deal with Viamedia and there's no evidence it was active in tying, exclusive dealing or other exclusionary conduct. Viamedia outside counsel didn't comment Tuesday.