Netflix Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX) continues to dominate cable news headlines with its spending on TV series rights for its streaming video library.

Netflix will shell out up to US$900,000 per episode for the rights to hit AMC series Mad Men. (See Netflix Shopping for Original TV Series.)

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ)'s FiOS and AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T)'s U-verse topped a Consumer Reports survey on the best bundled telecom services, followed by Cox Communications Inc. , Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC) and Bright House Networks .

Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) advanced past the Sweet 16 in The Consumerist's "Worst Company in America" tourney. Comcast, the reigning champ, blasted through with 74.2 percent of the vote, outdoing Best Buy. It'll face off against AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) in the Elite Eight. Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC), meanwhile, got trounced by BP, and DirecTV Group Inc. (NYSE: DTV) didn't advance after running into the Bank of America buzzsaw.

While Time Warner Cable seemed like a good fit for Insight Communications Co. Inc. , it's not interested in buying the MSO at its current valuation of $3.5 billion to $4 billion, Dow Jones reports. (See Private Equity Firms Gain Some Insight .)

Thousands of Charter Communications Inc. , Cable One Inc. and Dish Network LLC (Nasdaq: DISH) subscribers missed Tuesday's Minnesota Twins vs. New York Yankees game, after the pay-TV providers resisted attempts by Fox Sports North to hike its license fee for adding 34 games to its schedule.

Making guesses about the number of American "couch potatoes" that will cut the cord on pay TV is a business for Toronto research firm Convergence Consulting Group, which estimates that 2 million U.S. households will abandon pay TV for Web video by the end of 2011. (See Survey: 7% of Pay-TV Subs Will Cut Cord.)

With set-top growth in the U.S. becoming more limited, Motorola Mobility LLC is setting its sights on the European and South American pay-TV markets with new IP-based boxes based on the DVB-C standard -- a move that follows its acquisitions of China's Dahua Digital, SecureMedia and, more recently, Sweden's Dreampark AB . (See Moto Buys Chinese Assets, Moto Nabs SecureMedia and Dream Move for IPTV Firm.)

Looking to boost interactive TV ad revenue at MSOs such as Comcast and TW Cable, Canoe Ventures LLC cut a deal with software firm Invision Inc. to use its DealMaker product to pitch media buyers. (See Canoe Boots Up Interactive Ad Campaign .)

— Steve Donohue, Special to Light Reading Cable, and Jeff Baumgartner, Site Editor, Light Reading Cable