A judge in Brazil has granted Lionsgate’s request for a temporary restraining order against Disney, which precludes Disney from using its Star+ brand for its local streaming service.

Lionsgate is arguing that consumers will confuse its Starz global brand with Star+.

“Obviously, a consumer, when referring to the streaming services offered by the parties, will not do so by saying that he watched a movie through ‘StarzPlay’ or ‘Star+,’ but simply through ‘Star,’” Judge Jorge Tosta said. “There is the possibility of the consumer confusing or linking one trademark to another, as if it belonged to the same business or economic group.

“There is [also] the possibility of the consumer confusing or linking one trademark to another, as if it belonged to the same business or economic group,” Tosta added. 

According to Deadline, which first reported on the dispute, Lionsgate is also seeking to stop proliferation of the Star+ brand in Mexico and Argentina, territories in which Disney is also seeking to launch Star+ as a standalone direct-to-consumer streaming brand, not as a service folded into Disney Plus, as it is packaged in Europe. 

Disney acquired India Star, along with the company's Hotstar streaming service, when it bought 21st Century Fox's entertainment assets two years ago. It has been using the "Star" brand to proliferate its streaming operations globally. 

Influential Sanford Bernstein media analyst Todd Juenger has long believed in the power of subscription video on demand king Netflix, predicting that the service would top 300 million worldwide subscribers by 2024. Now, in his most recent report, Juenger notes that in Brazil -- the second largest Netflix market behind the U.S. -- Netflix customers now outpace pay TV subscribers. 

Netflix’s growth in Brazil has been rapid. According to Juenger, there were about 6.5 million Netflix customers in Brazil in 2017, more than doubling to 17 million by 2020. Pay TV, with about 16 million customers in 2020, lost about 3 million subscribers in the same time frame, the analyst wrote. 

“Brazil matters: at 17 million plus subs, it is almost certainly Netflix’s largest market outside the U.S. in number of subscribers,” Juenger wrote. “And we expect many of the dynamics at work there are also playing out across other foreign countries, especially middle income/emerging markets.” 

Even at No. 2, Brazil is still far behind the U.S. market, which has about 73 million subscribers. Globally, Netflix has about 193 million customers. But even in the U.S., the gap is narrowing. According to MoffettNathanson, there were about 79 million traditional pay TV customers in the U.S. in the second quarter, down from 80 million in Q1. 

According to Juenger’s report, Netflix’s entrance into the Brazilian market wasn’t easy. It cracked the largest country in South America in 2011, and pretty much had the SVOD space to itself until 2015, when its first competitor -- Globoplay, a streaming service from Portuguese-language content producer Globo -- entered the scene. 2015 also was the beginning of a devastating recession and high unemployment in Brazil, and though Globoplay was priced at about one-third of Netflix, it only has about 6.5 million customers today. 

Juenger added that Netflix has prevailed despite Globo’s refusal to license any of its Portuguese-language content to the streamer. So, in a country where 99% of the population speaks Portuguese, Netflix has managed to attract three times the subscribers of its largest competitor by offering content in a language most don’t necessarily understand (English and Spanish) at a higher price (about 32 Brazilian real per month, according to Juenger). Granted, many Brazilians speak several languages and economic factors likely played a big role in the shift from traditional pay TV, but those alone don't explain Netflix's huge popularity in the country.

“Netflix provides a superior product at a quarter of the price of pay TV, and can be shared across different households much more easily than a pay TV subscription,” Juenger wrote, adding that Netflix hasn’t fueled growth by keeping prices low. 

“Netflix has raised prices of its Standard plan five times since its introduction in September 2011, more than doubling in nominal terms and up 37% in constant domestic currency,”  Juenger continued.

According to the analyst, Brazilians are watching a wide variety of programming, but not the same as their U.S. counterparts. According to Juenger, the top shows in Brazil are mostly Netflix originals, and mostly in English. He added that 58% of the shows that made the Brazilian Top 10 never made the U.S. Top 10.  

Competition in Brazil is expected to heat up in the next several months, with Disney Plus slated to launch in mid-November and HBO Max next year. But Juenger sees little impact from these services because he believes they are primarily competing on price -- Disney Plus at a 12% discount to Netflix and HBO Max still undisclosed. Amazon (the online retailer, not the rain forest) launched its full Prime package (video and the free delivery service) in 2019 and has grown quickly -- in September 2019 Amazon claimed Brazil had the fastest rise in Prime members in the online retailer's history. Still, that could be mainly because of pricing -- Prime is offered at a 70% discount to Netflix -- and free product delivery.         

“We doubt any of these services will be able to match Netflix's popularity in Brazil,” Juenger wrote, citing Google search statistics that show interest in Netflix far outweighs the competition. “We believe this is driven by Netflix being the first-mover and only relevant streaming service in Brazil for a while (not different than in other countries), as well as due to its massive production of high-profile content and an underlying strong technology base.” 

Roku has targeted Brazil as one of the first countries it will expand into abroad, Variety reports.

The Los Gatos, Calif.-based OTT company, perhaps the hottest publicly traded streaming business at the moment, has made no secret of its plan to chase ad dollars across the globe. But it hasn’t publicly stated what fortresses it will attack first.

It’s unclear as to what Variety’s sourcing is here — it could just be want ads. The publication said it uncovered “multiple job listings” which said Roku is looking to “create the most exciting and widely appealing content for Roku consumers in Brazil — a vibrant, growing OTT market.”

RELATED: Roku Eyes Int'l Advertising Expansion

According to Variety, Roku’s job posting also said the desired individual “would be tasked with striking deals with local broadcasters and online video services.” The objective is “that a family in San Paulo or Rio can enjoy the best and widest selection of content for their Friday night entertainment.”

Our own perusal of Roku’s internet job listings, as well as those listed on the company’s LinkedIn profile, didn’t find any want ads specifically targeting Brazil. But there are large number of internationally focused listings.

“Foreign language skills, especially Spanish, are a ‘plus,’” reads one ad for a “Director of legal and business affairs, international.”

A Roku rep came close to confirming the the expansion plan, but didn’t cross the line: “As a global company we are constantly assessing different countries that could offer new opportunities to fuel our growth. We see great potential in the streaming market in Brazil.”

Speaking to AdExchanger earlier this month, Tariq Mahmoud, director of international ad sales and strategy for Roku, noted, “International is so important for us because 81% of OTT viewing happens outside of the United States. And 61% of ad budgets come from outside the United States. There are enormous budgets.”

In the U.S., Mahmoud said, OTT ad spending accounts for only 3% of ad budgets, even though OTT viewing accounts for 30% of TV consumption. But the balance is improving domestically.

“Outside of the United States there’s way more room for improvement,” he added. “You might have a conversation with a TV or digital buyer and they won’t even know who the OTT point of contact is.”

Telemundo Deportes scored a weekday daytime ratings record Monday afternoon with its coverage of the Mexico-Brazil World Cup Round of 16 tournament game.

The contest, won by Brazil to advance into the international soccer tournament’s quarterfinal round, drew a total audience average of 5.5 million viewers across Telemundo, TelemundoDeportes.com, Telemundo En Vivo and NBC Sports apps, according to Nielsen live plus same day fast national ratings and Adobe Analytics digital data. The TV audience was 5 million during the two-hour match window and 4.4 million for the 9:30-noon ET full coverage, per Nielsen.

RELATED: Mexico Loss to Sweden is Still a Win for Telemundo

Mexico-Brazil ranks as Telemundo Deportes’ third-most watched match of the tournament, trailing only the two weekend Mexico matches in the Group Stage, according to the network.

Through 54 matches, Telemundo Deportes’ World Cup presentation has reached 32.8 million viewers, according to the Spanish-language network.

RELATED: Fox, Telemundo Near World Cup Ad Sales Goals

The ratings come on the heels of the Telemundo Deportes announcement Monday that it has teamed with South America soccer ruling body Conmebol to secure U.S. Spanish-language TV rights for the 46 Copa America international men’s soccer championship.

Brazilian authorities have weighed in with antitrust concerns about the AT&T-Time Warner merger, according to deal critic Public Knowledge.

Such a finding would mean AT&T-DirecTV "would not be allowed to treat Time Warner assets as part of that company, but would need to deal with them at arms length," the group said.

Brazil's Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) said the deal should be rejected unless some properties are divested, though it did not identify which, said Public Knowledge.

The CADE board still has to vote on that recommendation.

AT&T was putting the best face on it, including saying it would work with CADE to "clarify" any issues.

“The merger between AT&T and Time Warner has taken one more step in its path to conclusion in the Brazilian market," the telco said. "The CADE’s Superintendency referred the case to the Board for review. This means that the transaction will now be analyzed by the CADE’s body responsible for its final decision on the matter.

AT&T said it believes the union of the two players will not bring anti-competitive impacts to the market, but rather will benefit consumers as it will enlarge the options of content available to them and raise their access to information and entertainment. The combined companies will also contribute to market competitiveness, improving the offer of high-quality services to customers, and will stimulate the development of the audiovisual sector in Brazil.

AT&T said that of the 19 approvals it needs from 19 different countries, it has already gotten 16, with three pending -- Brazil, Chile and the United States.

Reports last week had the U.S. Justice Department reaching the home stretch of its antitrust review. The FCC is not conducting a public-interest review because the deal was structured so that it did not include any exchange of licenses.

Time Warner Inc.’s Home Box Office unit, less than a year after launching its over-the-top HBO Now service in the United States, is expanding its OTT reach to Brazil and Argentina later this year.

HBO chairman and CEO Richard Plepler made the announcement at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom conference in San Francisco Wednesday.

“We’re going to go OTT in Brazil and we’re going to go OTT in Argentina as well this year, which is just a further expansion of our international growth,” Plepler said.

Plepler said Brazil is probably HBO’s biggest market in Latin America with about 30 million broadband homes and 70 million TV homes. Although HBO has about 30% penetration in Brazil, Plepler said the addition of the OTT offering will bring a “new dimension,” to the business.

“I think you are going to see more of that going forward,” Plepler said, adding that the Brazil and Argentina launches are being done with partners but declined to name them.

HBO Now launched in the U.S. in April and has since accumulated about 800,000 subscribers. It previously announced plans to launch the product in Spain and currently operates standalone streaming services in 9 countries – the U.S., Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Colombia, Mexico, Hong Kong, Singapore.

Domestically, Plepler said HBO Now is working on becoming available on more platforms, and will gain carriage on Sony PlayStations later this year.

Global satellite television revenue is expected to reach $99.9 billion by 2020, a nearly 14% increase from last year’s $87.8 billion in sales, according to a new report by Digital TV Research.

The Global Satellite TV Forecasts estimates that Asia Pacific and Latin America will show the strongest growth, while western Europe declines as completion for other platforms increases.

The Digital TV Research report looks at 138 countries and estimates that total satellite homes will rise from 192 million at the end of 2013 to 271 million by 2020. Of those 78.5 million additional homes, 27.7 million will come from India,  5.8 million from Brazil and 5.4 million from Indonesia, the report estimates. The pay TV subscriber total will more than double in 47 countries, while 13 countries will experience declines between 2013 and 2020.

Digital TV Research predicts satellite TV revenues will overtake cable TV revenues in 2014, accounting for 46.0% of total pay TV revenues and rising to 47.8% by 2020.  The US will remain the satellite TV market leader by revenues generated, while India will add the most satellite TV revenues ($3.2 billion; tripling its total) between 2013 and 2020. Next is Brazil with an additional $1.6 billion, followed by the US with an additional $1.5 billion. The report predicts that satellite revenue will more than double in 44 countries in the next six years.

Others will see declines as competition continues to heat up.  
“Satellite TV revenues will decline for 19 countries between 2013 and 2020,” said report author Simon Murray in a statement. “Much of this is due to greater competition forcing satellite TV platforms to offer cheaper packages which will lead to lower ARPUs. Furthermore, low-cost satellite TV packages are making a significant impact in several countries.”

Including free-to-air and pay satellite TV households, the report estimates that 439 million homes will directly receive TV signals via satellite dishes by 2020, up by almost 100 million from 2013. More than 25% of global TV households will have a satellite TV dish by 2020, up from 18.3% in 2010 and 22.3% in 2013, according to Digital TV Research.

If any doubt remained about the ascendancy of World Cup audiences, ESPN and Univision combined to average 12.4 million viewers for their coverage of Germany’s semifinal blitzkrieg of Brazil in the tourney’s first semifinal Tuesday afternoon.

Both U.S. rights-holders netted semifinal viewing records for Die Mannschaft's 7-1 drubbing of the host nation. ESPN averaged a 4.2 household rating and 6.64 million watchers, making it the highest-rated and most-viewed World Cup semifinal on any U.S. network, according to Nielsen data.

Univision and Univision Deportes Network’s simulcast delivered its most-viewed World Cup semifinal match ever, averaging 5.8 million viewers, half of whom were persons 18 to 49.

Amazingly, Univision reported that viewership increased in every half hour – the Germans embarrassed Brazil with a five-goal flurry from the 11th to the 28th minute  – kicking off at 4 p.m. (ET) with 4.9 million watchers and peaking with 6.7 million in the final hour.

Similarly, ESPN’s television coverage peaked in the final half hour of the match (5:30–6 p.m.) with a 4.6 rating and 7.5 million viewers.

Brazil, playing without Neymar, its best player and the tournament’s face and captain Thiago Silva, had not lost a competitive home game since 1975, a span encompassing 63 matches.

The previous best World Cup semifinal mark was ESPN’s 3.4 rating and 5.85 million million watchers for Germany-Italy during World Cup 2006 in Germany. Tuesday’s rout also represented increases of 56% from the 2.7 rating and 58% from the 4.2 million watchers over the comparable Uruguay-Netherlands semifinal four years ago from South Africa.

Excluding U.S. team matches, Brazil-Germany is the highest-rated World Cup match ever on ESPN/ESPN2, surpassing the 4.0 rating and 6.57 million viewers for Mexico-The Netherlands during their  Round of 16 encounter on June 29.

For the Spanish-language telecaster, the match bested the previous semifinal high set on July 7, 2010 for Germany-Spain by 37% among total viewers and 24% among adults 18 to 49, according to Univision officials.

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Even if you don’t care about soccer, you might be curious about six very different Brazilian cities that will host the upcoming matches and, in the case of Rio de Janeiro, the Summer Olympics in two years.

A great introduction to the people and sights of Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Brasília, Manaus, Salvador and Recife comes via the 30-minute documentary Soccer Cities on BBC World News. The BBC’s clever hexacopter camera captures aerial views of the new stadiums and other urban and rainforest landscapes, and trails behind kids “free running” through empty areas of the pre-planned capital city Brasilia and mountain biking down narrow sloping alleyways in Rio. The visuals are fantastic and BBC Brasil’s knowledge of the people and politics bring us average folks who are both proud of and frustrated with their country. I loved asides about handicapped kids taking “bototherapy” swimming sessions with river dolphins in Manaus and about bouncy Frevo dancers in Recife, practicing an art invented by African slaves.

Soccer Cities will air on BBC World News on Saturday, June 14, at 5:30 and 10:30 p.m. (This was story was updated to correct the first airtime.)

While simulcasts on Univision and cable service Univision Deportes Network represent the primary plays for the Spanish-language media leader with the 2014 World Cup, UniMas and Galavision will also get in the live game action from Brazil.

Flagship network Univision and the 40-million subscriber UDN, which is carried by all 10 of the top U.S. distributors, save for Comcast, will air 56 of the tourney’s matches. The schedule is highlighted by the host nation meeting Croatia in the event opener on June 12, as well as all three of Mexico’s Group A matches.  Although all of those matches air during the week, they figure to draw sizable ratings for the networks as El Tri faces Cameroon on June 13, Brazil on June 17 and Croatia on June 23.  The game versus Brazil should be gigantic from a Nielsen perspective.

The Univision/UDN combo will also present all of the knockout stage matches, and culminate the tournament with the semifinals on July 8 and 9, and the title game from Estadia de Maracana in Rio de Janiero.  Live match action aside, UDN will become Univision Communications' de facto World Cup during the tourney, presenting encores, as well as preview, review and highlights programming.

For their part, broadcaster UniMas and cable channel Galavision will air eight matches from group stage play. The top telecasts, depending on the prior results figure to be on June 23 with Brazil’s final Group A match versus Cameroon on June 23, and defending champion Spain’s Group B encounter with Australia.

Check out the complete schedule below: