Netflix, YouTube to Ride Big OTT Revenue Wave

Happy Tuesday, cable guys and gals. Here's your post-holiday cable news snapshot.

Revenues from Netflix Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX), YouTube Inc. , Hulu LLC and other over-the-top (OTT) video players will reach US$20 billion by 2016, when the number of online video viewers eclipses 1.3 billion, ABI Research projects. (See The 10 Over-the-Top Video Commandments .)

After Charter Communications Inc. customer service reps initially told subscribers whose homes were obliterated by tornadoes in Alabama that they'd face fines unless they found their set-tops, the MSO decided to waive fees for lost and damaged boxes.

Interesting to see how Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC) responded on its corporate blog to an open letter from comedian Eugene Mirman, who panned the MSO for missing two appointments for a cable service install.

Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) will reportedly spend up to $1.5 billion for Blackstone Group's 50 percent stake in Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure.

Japan's NHK Science & Technology Research Laboratories is testing how to measure viewer interest using TV-mounted cameras. (See PrimeSense Makes a Cable Kinect-tion.)

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued its proposed rules for the implementation of the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act last week, aiming to regulate the loudness of TV spots.

DirecTV Group Inc. (NYSE: DTV) is renaming The 101 Network on Wednesday to The Audience Network, which will feature content exclusive to the satellite TV giant.

Global set-top leader Pace plc has appointed Allan Leighton to non-executive chairman, succeeding the retiring Mike McTighe. Leighton, the former CEO of ASDA (a supermarket group that's now part of Wal-Mart) and former non-exec chairman of the Royal Mail, will be appointed chairman "over the summer months." (See Pace Snatches Moto's Set-Top Crown.)

ITV vet Rebecca Rusk Lim jumped from Starz Entertainment LLC to Turner Broadcasting, where she was named VP of interactive experience.

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