That AT&T no longer offers DirecTV Now makes Charter Communications' broadband subscription data in Massachusetts irrelevant, the Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Cable said in a docket 18-283 FCC posting Monday. MDTC said Charter data is immaterial to a LEC having to be physically able to deliver the service to all potential customers in a franchise area, not just Charter customers. The state agency said much of the Charter data is about statewide broadband subscriptions, not data about the specific franchise areas. MDTC argued Charter's petition on effective competition due to DirecTV Now is moot due to AT&T now offering a different over-the-top service, AT&T TV Now (see 1910160022).

A finding of effective competition via AT&T TV Now in parts of Massachusetts and Hawaii would let Charter Communications almost double what it charges for basic cable TV in some instances, hammering subscribers on fixed incomes, the Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Cable told an aide to FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, said a docket 18-283 posting Friday. It said Charter hasn't demonstrated it faces effective competition under the LEC test. It said putting online video distribution on regulatory par with MVPDs is better addressed in the FCC's open proceeding on that issue. Charter didn't comment. Its effective competition petition is on commissioners' Friday agenda (see 1910030061).

Netflix forecast a year-over-year decline in Q4 paid net subscriber additions, and factored into that projection that “a few new competitors” are launching streaming services “in the near term,” said Chief Financial Officer Spencer Neumann on Q3 Wednesday evening. “Inevitably, there is probably going to be some curiosity and some trial of those competitive service offerings,” said Neumann. “We're just trying to be prudent about our Q4 forecast.” The outlook for 7.6 million paid net adds includes a 61 percent decline in the U.S. Overseas paid net adds are expected to decline 4 percent. That Netflix will have recorded nearly 27 million net paid adds in 2019 makes this “a tremendously strong year,” said Neumann. It had 5 million paid net adds in the U.S. in 2018 and this year is forecasting a decline to 2.6 million, said CEO Reed Hastings. “So the gap's almost entirely in the U.S.” Disney “is going to be a great competitor,” and so will Apple, he said. “All of us are competing with linear TV.” Just as “multiple cable networks” competed with broadcast TV and not with one another over the past 30 years, “it's the same kind of dynamic here,” he said. The stock closed 2.8 percent higher Thursday at $294.30.

With Comcast planning to drop Starz channels from its lineup effective Dec. 10, the programmer on Wednesday urged subscribers to put pressure on the MVPD. In a news release, it said subscribers should demand it be kept part of the channel lineup rather than be treated as a premium channel, "or demand a refund."

Quality of user interface plays a major role in whether U.S. video subscribers recommend their over-the-top service, Parks Associates said. Seventy percent of U.S. broadband households with a major video service consider the interface good, with nearly half rating it “very good,” Parks said in a blast emailed Wednesday and dated Monday, with quality of UI and ease of finding content the most relevant factors driving willingness to recommend a service. A fifth of households that canceled an OTT subscription cited inability to find something to watch. Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon “have largely set the standard for content navigation and ease of use,” said analyst Kristen Hanich. "As new OTT services launch with greater and greater expectations, innovations in UIs could be an even greater differentiator." When searching for something to watch, 12 percent of OTT users consider recommendations from the service as their first step, said Parks. Apple TV owners give high marks to that UI.

Comcast and an array of programmers are at odds with Maine over a requested preliminary injunction to block the state's a la carte cable TV law. In a docket 19-cv-00410 filing Tuesday (in Pacer) in U.S. District Court in Bangor in support of the injunction ask, plaintiffs Comcast and the others said LD-832 "plainly violates" both the First Amendment and Communications Act, going to the heart of cable operators' and programmers' editorial discretion. State opposition to the injunction request (in Pacer) said federal law doesn't pre-empt here since it doesn't regulate content but instead says content a cable distributor selects must be made available individually. It said cable distributors have no First Amendment right to force bundling. Defendant towns said (in Pacer) Comcast and the others haven't alleged the municipalities tried to enforce the state law. Town managers submitted declarations the communities don't intend to enforce LD-832 for now.

The FCC local franchising order clearly follows the Cable Act, with reasonable interpretations where the statute is ambiguous, NCTA said, opposing a motion by the National League of Cities and others (see 1910080041) seeking a stay of the LFA order pending outcome of legal challenges. In a docket 05-311 posting Wednesday, NCTA said the National League of Cities and others didn't show they need a stay to prevent irreparable harm, especially since they waited more than two months from the order's adoption to seek the stay. The cable association said having to reallocate resources based on a decline in franchise fees isn't irreparable harm but "a core function of state and local government." And it said the ask for a stay doesn't acknowledge the irreparable harm it would cause the cable industry and customers.

The free Apple TV app is available on the Roku platform, and Roku users will be able to subscribe to the premium Apple Plus service through the platform when it launches Nov. 1, said Roku Tuesday. Roku shares closed up 12 percent at $132.82. Last month, the streaming service provider's shares plummeted 19 percent after an analyst (see 1909200064) predicted increasing competition would drive prices for over-the-top video devices such as Roku’s streaming stick “to zero,” while squeezing ad revenue. Pivotal Research Group's Jeffrey Wlodarczak says Comcast's providing its Xfinity Flex OTT device to customers for free is likely to be followed by other MVPDs.

Twin legal challenges to the FCC cable TV local franchise authority order were consolidated, in a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals order Friday (in Pacer, docket 19-72219). The order, sought by petitioner cities Portland, Oregon; Los Angeles; and others to consolidate with a similar petition filed by Eugene, Oregon, (see 1909190058) was unopposed, said the clerk's order. The briefing schedule in the consolidated petitions is stayed until an FCC motion to transfer to the 6th Circuit (see 1909170067) is resolved.

Interest in advanced TV solutions is growing among local and regional advertising buyers, said a Thursday FreeWheel report. It found 79 percent of ad buyers are “extremely or very interested” in using advanced technologies including video on demand, over-the-top video, addressable TV, advanced linear TV and streaming full-episode players. More than three-quarters of buyers surveyed expect their spending on advanced TV to increase over the next 12 months as they look to data-driven, audience-based TV advertising to deliver hard-to-reach audiences, reduce wasted impressions and improve cost efficiencies. Fifty-three percent found it easy to measure attribution on advanced TV, 10 percentage points higher than for network TV and cable (43 percent) but behind digital media channels, FreeWheel said. The shift toward data-driven and audience-based buying generally requires more automation to transact efficiently, and 29 percent of agencies said their process for buying local is completely or mostly automated. The online survey of 430 Strata platform users was fielded June 13-July 1.