Netflix Takes Subscription Video Crown

Here's a look at what's turning cable's crank today…

Netflix Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX) overtook Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) in terms of sheer number of video subscriptions as it reported having 23.6 million customers (Comcast has 22.8 million video subs) in the first quarter, but company CEO Reed Hastings insists that his company is a friend of cable networks because offering catalog content on Netflix can attract consumers to their linear channels. (See HBO: No to Netflix , Netflix: More Subscribers Than Comcast? and Showtime Cuts Netflix Down to Size.)

Charter Communications Inc. could fetch up to US$2 billion if it decides to put its Los Angeles cable system up for auction, reports Multichannel News, noting that the MSO is heading that way after it was unable to swap its coveted California property for Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC)'s Wisconsin systems.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski has put The Cable Show on his dance card, as he's slated to speak at the event's general session on the morning of Wednesday, June 15.

Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) is blaming unidentified hackers for an ongoing PlayStation Network outage and, as of Monday, hasn't indicated when the system would be restored.

Rogers Communications Inc. (Toronto: RCI) of Canada has tapped ClearAccess Inc. and its TR-069 platform to help it remotely manage about 2 million high-speed Internet connections that use Docsis-based modems and gateways, marking the latest MSO to adopt a monitoring technology that came out of the DSL world. (See Cable Winks, Giggles at TR-069 .)

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