In the Courts

Cablevision and content providers were in court Tues presenting their cases for and against the MSO’s proposed network DVR. On Fri, Cablevision petitioned the court unsuccessfully to close Tues’ hearing to the public because it would be presenting “highly confidential” technical details of the remote storage DVR. The content companies, including CNN and Fox, sued Cablevision over the tech, saying the MSO didn’t work out deals with them to offer their content in this form. — Comcast agreed in principal this month to pay about $44mln to settle TCI shareholder lawsuits, according to an SEC filing. The settlement still needs court approval. The suits claim shareholders’ interests were not adequately represented when AT&T acquired TCI in ’99. Comcast later acquired the systems from AT&T.