The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees announced a strike beginning midnight of Oct. 18 unless ongoing talks between the union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers produce a new contract. Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, promised solidarity.

The future of the cable network is as dependent on predicting trends in consumer use and spotting potential problems in advance of customer complaints as it is on boosting broadband speeds, Cox Communications' Kevin Hart said at the SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. Hart explained that integration of artificial intelligence technology will increase to meet those needs.

Altice USA has introduced "FlexAbility" plans that let its Suddenlink and Optimum subscribers change their levels of broadband, video or mobile service without incurring additional fees. The internet plan provides speed tiers ranging from 100 Mbps to 1 gigabit per second, the mobile plan features 1 and 3 GB options as well as one for unlimited data and the television options include focuses on news, children's programming, sports or streaming content.

Cox Communications and Comcast are making strides in completing their lab work on DOCSIS 4.0 upgrades with an eye on testing the technology in the field next year, representatives said at the SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. Cox's Guy McCormick noted that rising competition is spurring many companies to "accelerate some of our initiatives toward multi-gig and multi-gig symmetrical services."

Plume is joining with DZS to incorporate Plume's smart mesh Wi-Fi platform into a pair of the broadband networking tech firm's products to create DZS Xperience, a solution aimed at enhancing cloud-based services to homes and companies. Plume also said it has raised $300 million in a funding round that values the company at $2.6 billion.

TV executives report historic increases in upfront ad sales, despite the growing trend toward cord-cutting. Conflicts with Nielsen and the associated rise of new measurement tools have added to the difficulty of predicting what the TV ad market of the future will look like.

A group of major brands and advertising firms have joined NBCUniversal's "Measurement Innovation Forum," which aims to explore new ratings measurement strategies to account for audiences that don't watch programming on linear TV. The Media Rating Council will observe the proceedings.