Montreal-based music service Stingray Group said it has abandoned its attempt to take over rival Music Choice, while at the same time announcing a carriage deal with cable operator Altice USA.

Stingray made its unsolicited $120 million offer for Music Choice in August. 

“While we continue to see benefits in a combination of Music Choice with Stingray, we are extremely confident in our strategic direction and are excited by the significant opportunities before us,” said Stingray co-founder and CEO Eric Boyko in a statement. “...We believe Stingray is well-positioned to continue as the supplier of choice in the United States for curated B2B and direct-to-consumer services.”

Music Choice is jointly owned by Charter Communications, Comcast, Cox Communications, Sony Corporation of America, WarnerMedia, Arris, and Microsoft. The service offers audio and video music channels to pay TV and cable operators, counting Charter, Comcast, Cox and others among its customers.

This was Stingray's third attempt to buy its rival, having also shelved offers in 2013 and 2015.

With the Altice USA deal, Stingray Music and Stingray Music Videos will be included in the cable operator’s Optimum and Suddenlink lineups. The deal also provides Altice USA with rights for other Stingray products like linear music video channels, subscription Video-On-Demand products, and TV apps.

“Stingray is committed to expanding in the U.S. and the announcement of this agreement with Altice USA is an important step towards reaching this objective,” Boyko said in a statement.

In a press release Altice USA co-president and chief operating officer Hakim Boubazine said the deal is part of the company’s efforts to offer the best overall service experience to its customers.

“The launch of Stingray provides our Optimum & Suddenlink customers with upgraded music programming, giving them access to a wide array of new content, enhanced features, and all the great music they love,” Boubazine continued.

R&B/Pop music star Rihanna’s music video Work was the most ordered video of 2016, according to Music Choice and comScore.

The list, based on Music Choice video orders tracked by comScore’s Custom OnDemand Essentials from Jan. 1, 2016 through Dec. 31 2016 across TV and mobile devices, includes a second Rihanna song, Needed Me, which finished third. Last year’s top video, Silento’s Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae) finished second on the list.

Justin Bieber also placed two videos on the list, while videos from Adele and Bryson Tiller also made the cut, according to Music Choice.

“Music Choice continues to be the premiere destination for fans seeking the best in music video entertainment,” comScore’s Senior Media Analyst Paul Dergarabedian said in a statement.

Music Choice is targeting IP-connected boxes with a new, streaming version of its service that will initially be available on TiVo-powered boxes from RCN and Grande Communications.

That new offering, called New Music Choice, enables viewers to access VOD fare from Music Choice via the set-top’s interface.  Music Choice said the next-gen version offers 75 commercial-free audio channels and 25 video channels with access to 20,000-plus music videos.  

RCN customers with TiVo set-top boxes will have access to the New Music Choice via channel 851 or 1900 in Lehigh Valley, Pa.; and on channel 752 for Grande customers. It’s also accessible via TiVo Central.

Music Choice also offers an authenticated TV Everywhere app on iOS and Android devices, as well as Web browsers.

Stingray Digital Group said it has filed counter claims against Music Choice, the rival music-over-multichannel programmer that, in June, sued Stingray for patent infringement after getting dropped by AT&T U-verse in favor of Stingray Music.  

Montreal-based Stingray said it filed, on Tuesday, an answer and counterclaim against the Music Choice lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, where Music Choice filed its suit. Stingray Music USA separately filed a lawsuit against Music Choice asserting "claims of unfair competition, defamation, trade libel, tortious interference with existing and prospective contractual relationships, and unfair competition." 

“As explained in our Complaint, Music Choice has displayed a pattern of trying to stifle new market entrants with false statements and unfair commercial practices,” Eric Boyko, president, co-founder and CEO of Stingray, said in a release. “Instead of disseminating false facts and filing lawsuits, Music Choice should use its resources to innovate its offerings and improve relations with its remaining customers and suppliers.”

Stingray also said in the release that the patents Music Choice asserted were invalid partly because of "certain prior art technology previously owned by a Music Choice subsidiary (subsequently purchased by Stingray in a share purchase transaction) of which the U.S. Patent Office was unaware during the prosecution of the patents." The Stingray Music USA lawsuit will seek monetary damages "for the harm it suffered as a result of Music Choice’s attempts to damage Stingray’s reputation and exclude it from lawfully competing in the U.S. market,” according to Stingray, which has also seen its music programming expand on Comcast Xfinity this year.

Music Choice through a spokesperson said the company had "received their notice of filing and are reviewing it. No further comment at this time." The programmer, established in 1991, is owned by a partnership among subsidiaries of Microsoft, Arris, Sony Corp. of America, EMI Music Publishing, Time Warner Inc., Comcast Cable Communications, Cox Communications and Time Warner Cable (now being transferred to Charter Communications, according to Music Choice).

Stingray Digital Group said it hired Rick Bergan, a former distribution executive at rival music programming provider Music Choice, as head of content distribution for the United States, a newly created position. Bergan most recently was at OneTwoSee, a Philadelphia-based startup company in the realm of sports technology and data that was recently acquired by Comcast, Stingray said. Previously he was senior vice president of distribution at Music Choice. Stingray said Bergan will work closely with Brian Decker, the SVP of U.S. sales, and will be responsible for sales development and building relationships with sales agents and TV operators in this country. Stingray Digital is based in Montreal, Canada. Bergan will be based on the East Coast and joins Stingray on Aug. 15, the company said.

“We are thrilled to welcome Rick as part of Stingray’s growing management team,” Eric Boyko, co-founder, president and CEO of Stingray, said in a release. “He is a team player with extensive expertise in music distribution, marketing and business development. His ability to constantly innovate, his energetic leadership style, and his faultless reputation are strong foundations on which we can continue to grow and build our business in the U.S. market.”

Music Choice in June sued Stingray Digital in federal court in Texas, claiming the Canadian company had infringed on patents held by Music Choice in gaining pay-TV affiliate customers in the United States, particularly citing Stingray's service provision to AT&T U-verse. Stingray Digital denied the infringement claims and said it would contest the lawsuit. Music Choice is owned by a partnership among subsidiaries of Microsoft, Arris, Sony Corp. of America, EMI Music Publishing, Time Warner Inc. and these U.S. cable providers: Comcast Cable Communications, Cox Communications and Time Warner Cable (now owned by Charter Communications).

FlixFling and Music Choice have completed a deal that integrates the digital music service with FlixFling's subscription-based OTT service.

FlixFling, which said in March that it was nearing the deal, becomes the first OTT provider to carry Music  Choice, a multiplatform service that is already partnered up with several of the nation’s largest MVPDs.

FlixFling said it is integrating Music Choice’s full suite of products, including 75 commercial-free streaming music channels, 25 streaming video channels and a VOD library of more than 17,000 music videos, with its core subscription service, which sells for $7.99 per month.

 “Music Choice has been providing great music to millions of cable customers for decades, and we are very excited to have them enter the OTT streaming market with us,  FlixFling CEO Thomas Ashley said in a statement. “We see the addition of music to our service as a great value to our customers and the first time an OTT streaming service has made a combined offer of streaming movies and music for a low monthly fee.”

Philadelphia-based FlixFling has also been expanding its strategy by partnering with MVPDs, with Consolidated Communications being the first announced. FlixFling recently entered a entered five-year video deal with Vubiquity gave the OTT service access to more content via AnyVU Content Cloud, a multiscreen platform from Vubiquity that manages the distribution of movies and TV shows.

Read more about FlixFling and its strategy (subscription required).

Music Choice, the music-channel provider partly owned by U.S. cable operators, said it filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against Stingray Digital Group, the Montreal, Canada-based owner of The Karaoke Channel, today (June 6) in a federal court in Texas.

The lawsuit involves AT&T U-verse’s decision in 2014 to drop Music Choice after launching the Stingray Music service.

According to Music Choice, the Stingray Music service included digital audio music and video-on-demand features that infringe on Music Choice patents.

Music Choice claims those features were enhancements made by Stingray after obtaining access to confidential information about Music Choice technology and distribution agreements as part of talks about possibly acquiring Music Choice.

Stingray servers used to distribute the service are placed in U-verse TV headends located in the jurisdiction of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, where the lawsuit was filed.

Lloyd Feldman, senior vice president and general counsel for Stingray Digital Group, said Stingray had not yet seen the complaint nor had it received any demands to cease and desist from Music Choice. "Generally you don’t file a lawsuit unless a demand has been made that is not complied with," Feldman said. He said Stingray would seek out a copy of the complaint and would defend itself vigorously.

After hearing a description of the claims in the lawsuit, Feldman said: "Obviously we take our proprietary technology very seriously. We have unqualified legal opinions that our technology does not infringe any patents. I can assure you no knowledge regarding technology was gained or was necessary to be gained through our discussions with Music Choice. Between our launch and our technology today, we’ve just gotten really good at what we do. After a number of years your technology improves -- it’s just a matter of innovation."

Feldman also said: "To extent that this is just an attempt to cause damage to our reputation because we are gaining increasingly market share in the U.S. at Music Choice expense, we will make sure that we bring the appropriate action."

Music Choice cited four patents it said were infringed on, including ones that cover Music Choice’s onscreen technology that includes music and song-related visuals and facts.

It has asked for an injunction preventing Stingray from using patented Music Choice technology in its products and services and also wants unspecified payments for damages.

In a statement to the media, Music Choice CEO Dave Del Beccaro said: “Music Choice has invested a lot of time and money developing innovative products for our customers. We have gone through great measures to secure patents for our intellectual property and feel compelled to take legal action to protect our business investment. Stingray must compete fairly in the marketplace without using Music Choice’s proprietary, patented technology in blatant violation of our intellectual property rights. While competition and innovation in our industry will undoubtedly provide benefits to our customers, the competition must be fair and the innovation original. Stingray’s unauthorized and infringing use of technology developed and patented by Music Choice is detrimental, not only to Music Choice, but to our customers and the industry as a whole.”

A Music Choice representative would not comment on the Stingray assertion that there had not been a demand to cease and desist.

According to the complaint, which Music Choice said was filed at the court electronically Monday afternoon, Music Choice and Stingray executed a confidentiality agreement in May 2013 that led to Stingray receiving access to confidential business and financial agreements, technology and issued patents and pending applications.

Stingray, which had expressed interest in buying Music Choice, also had personnel and their representatives visit Music Choice facilities in Horsham, Pa., and New York City and interviewed Music Choice employees, according to the lawsuit.

Music Choice said it first launched on AT&T U-verse in 2006. Starting around 2010, Stingray started trying to gain a foothold with U.S. multichannel providers, Music Choice said. "At that time, it appeared the Stingray product offering was an inferior product that lacked the enhanced functionality enabled by technology designed, developed and patented by Music Choice," the complaint states.

From 2011 to 2015, Stingray “had repeated contacts with Music Choice, as well as with Music Choice’s partners, and MVPDs and affiliates that Music Choice had contracts with, about its interest in acquiring Music Choice,” according to the complaint.

Music Choice was informed in October 2014 that AT&T was eliminating Music Choice on U-verse when the carriage contract expired on March 1, 2015. Stingray in October 2014 announced its U-verse agreement and said it would launch in March 2015.

The Music Choice complaint also cites coverage of a May 2016 announcement that Comcast and Stingray had an agreement to expand Stingray Music services offered to Comcast Xfinity customers. Coverage of that announcement in Multichannel News quoted a Stingray official as citing an "ability to curate playlists or access already created playlists on your large screen," features that Music Choice claim are part of the technology developed by Music Choice.

While it is not mentioned in the lawsuit, Music Choice in 2008 sued Viacom for patent infringements over the MTV Networks' Urge music service after U-verse dropped Music Choice. U-verse later reinstated Music Choice and dropped Urge. A Music Choice representative on Monday said that lawsuit was settled.

In addition to U-verse, Stingray digital music channels are offered on about 50 U.S. cable providers via the National Cable Television Cooperative, according to Stingray. The company also provides Karaoke and Concerts channels to 55 million and 66 million homes, respectively. Stingray bought the former Concert TV from Interactivation in 2010. 

Music Choice is owned by a partnership among subsidiaries of Microsoft, Arris, Sony Corp. of America, EMI Music Publishing, Time Warner Inc. and these U.S. cable providers: Comcast Cable Communications, Cox Communications and Time Warner Cable (now owned by Charter Communications). It launched in 1991 and claims 47 million monthly listeners. In addition to digital audio services, it launched a music-video on-demand service in 2004.

FlixFling, the company behind an over-the-top movie service, is poised to add music to the mix as it closes in on new deal with Music Choice, the multiplatform service that partnered up with several of the nation’s largest MVPDs.

FlixFling plans to integrate Music Choice, including about 75 streaming music channels, 25 streaming video channel and a VOD library of more than 20,000 music videos, to its core subscription service, which costs $7.99 per month, within the next couple of months.

All subscribers of the primary FlixFling service will gain access to Music Choice, though the plan is to eventually offer Music Choice on some of FlixFling’s other subscription services, according to FlixFling CEO Thomas Ashley.

FlixFling also sells subscription packages such as NatureVision TV ($2.99 per month), CineFest ($4.99 per month), and Dox ($2.99 per month), among others.

Ashley called the deal a “high priority” for FlixFling as it looks to add Music Choice content on its Web platform as well as its other apps and platforms, which include Android, iOS, the Xbox 360, Roku players, the Google Chromecast streaming adapter, and connected Vizio TVs, with smart TVs from LG and Samsung on deck.

FlixFling also has an electronic-sell through service that rents and sells movie titles.

The Philadelphia-based company has also been looking to complement its direct-to-consumer services by partnering with MVPDs, with Consolidated Communications the first one to be announced.

Earlier this month, FlixFling and Vubiquity announced a five-year video deal that gives the OTT service access to an influx of new releases via AnyVU Content Cloud, a multiscreen platform from Vubiquity that manages the distribution of movies and TV shows.

More detail about FlixFling’s service and strategy will be featured in an upcoming edition of Next TV, a section that runs each in week in Multichannel News and Broadcasting & Cable.

Advertising-technology provider Canoe said today that Music Choice, the music-TV programmer, will use Canoe's dynamic ad insertion for video-on-demand ads. Music Choice generates more views with its VOD content than any network, the companies said in a release, and Canoe's DAI will offer more flexibility on ad campaigns. 

Music Choice chief operating officer Christina Tancredi said in the release: “As the leader in the On Demand space we are thrilled to offer DAI to advertisers. This is especially important to our clients that cover the entertainment categories so that they can seamlessly optimize their messaging to our audience.” And Canoe CEO Joel Hassell said in the release: “We are very pleased to add Music Choice to our ever expanding group of programming networks. Their programming is very popular on our cable operator’s systems and we look forward to adding to their client offerings the VOD ad campaign scheduling flexibility Canoe provides.”

Canoe said its national VOD DAI platform is in 35 million households covering more than 130 DMAs. In 2014, more than 6 billion viewed ad impressions ran through the Canoe platform, and more than 2.5 billion ads were viewed in the first quarter of 2015. Canoe was founded by Bright House Networks, Comcast, Cox, and Time Warner Cable.

Taylor Swift can add inaugaral "MC Icon" to her list of accolades.

Music Choice will celebrate the singer-songwriter from March 17 through April 19 by screening all things Swift. Her MC Icon status pays tribute to the relationship she has had with the programmer's viewers since she debuted on Music Choice in 2006.

Swift's music videos, including her current hit “Style,” have generated some 85 million views on Music Choice On Demand and Music Choice Play.  On MC Video On Demand, Taylor reigned as the No.1 country artist for seven years straight, from 2006 to 2013.  Her songs currently play on 15 different music channels– 30% of Music Choice’s service. Her lyrics and melodies crossed over from country to pop and her worldwide success led Music Choice to create the hybrid music channel, Pop Country, in 2013.

“Music Choice has had its own ‘Love Story’ with Taylor Swift,” said Damon Williams, vice president of programming, Music Choice. “We knew she was special from the moment we first met her in 2006 and we are thankful to her and Big Machine Records for letting Music Choice and our viewers get a front row seat on her journey to success.”

As part of this recognition, Music Choice will feature Taylor across all its platforms.

• Music Choice Play will premiere a special entitled MC Icons: Taylor Swift  nationally on Saint Patrick;s Day at 8 p.m. (ET/PT) on Music Choice Play. The show takes a closer look at those stories in its inaugural installment sure to attract Swifties!  The special includes archival footage of Taylor’s first visit to Music Choice in 2006 up to present day! The episode will become available on Music Choice On Demand and musicchoice.com following its initial broadcast premiere on Music Choice Play.
• Music Choice On Demand will feature a top level Taylor Swift folder that includes her catalog of music videos from 2006 until her latest album “1989.”  Fan favorites including “You Belong With Me”, “Love Story”, and “Blank Space” and many more will appear on VOD and musicchoice.com via MC Hit List Video Channel.  Directional:  Music Choice On Demand>MC Icons: T. Swift
• Music Choice Music Channels will debut specially created MC Icons: Taylor Swift facts that will be added to our database permanently to mark this occasion. Taylor songs will also play two in a row on MC Pop Country, Hit List and Today’s Country Music Channel to kick off the celebration March 18th.
• Music Choice Social Media will call upon her fans to share their love and experiences with Taylor and feature them across all social platforms including Tumblr, Vine, Instagram, etc.

Music Choice said it will recognize artist contributions through the year with additional MC Icons to be announced each quarter.  

Music Choice has named Mic Fox as its director of programming and strategy, the service said Tuesday.

Fox, who most recently served as VEVO senior director of Global Digital Strategy, will oversee all day-to-day operations of the entire programming department, including Music Choice Play, said network officials.

Fox, who will report directly to Music Choice COO Christina Tancredi, will also work closely with other divisions within the company through audience growth. 

Maker Studios is set to launch short-form comedy series Crashpad on YouTube, Maker.tv and Music Choice TV on Dec. 5.

Starring comedian Bart Baker, the series -- a dozen, 11-minute episodes -- will run on Fridays at 9 p.m. and feature clips, games and talk show bits across Maker.tv, Music Choice Play and Music Choice On Demand. Four-minutes segments are set to run on Baker's YouTube channel.

The show is co-produced by Maker and Drama 3/4.

There will be appearances by digital notables Amy Pham, Iman “AlphaCat” Crosson, Ed Bassmaster, Sam Macaroni, Timothy DeLaGhetto, Shane Dawson, Lisa Shwartz, DeStorm, King Bach and Jesse Wellens of Prank vs. Prank.

“Teaming up with both Music Choice and Jukin for a cross-platform program is hugely exciting,” said Bonnie Pan, executive vice president of programming at Maker Studios. “We are thrilled to collaborate on a innovative new comedy format that features some of the biggest digital stars today—we can’t wait to see what audiences both new and old will think.”

Noted Damon Williams, vice president of programming at Music Choice: ''Securing the U.S. TV distribution rights for CrashPad continues to demonstrate Music Choice’s commitment to bringing the best programming to our network for millennials. Maker has been a great partner for us this year and we are very excited to extend it with this deal.”

Earlier this year, Maker and Music Choice announced a distribution partnership bringing a number of digital stars across all Music Choice platforms, including Music Choice Play, Music Choice Music Channels and Music Choice On Demand. In 2014 Music Choice featured a month-long takeover of Bart Baker’s comedic music parodies and began access to over 500 hours of Maker fare.

Music Choice plans to start the holiday themed music early this year, with three popular channels playing non-stop this week.

This will be the first year MC Sounds of the Seasons, MC Soft Rock and Romances Music Channels will flip to holiday music so soon.

During the holiday season, average audience viewership spikes up to 11%, according to VP of Programming, Damon Williams in a release.

Some artists to be featured on MC Soft Rock include Rod Stewart, Carrie Underwood, James Taylor, Kelly Clarkson and Michael Bublé. MC Romances will have some Spanish language songs by José Feliciano and Prince Royce, along with English language songs by Harry Connick and Barbara Streisand.

To find out about videos, music selections and more, click here.

Music Choice is scheduled to launch weekly half-hour series Chronicles on linear network Music Choice Play.

The series, which will focus each week on a different artist and his or her rise to fame, will begin with an episode focused on rapper Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson premiering Tuesday, August 26 at 8 p.m. ET. Jackson also serves as executive producer and cast member of Starz series Power.  

Throughout the series' seven week first season, Chronicles will profile the lives and careers of other hip-hop/R&B artists such as Jason Derulo, B.o.B., Aloe Blacc and Fat Joe. 

"Chronicles is the cornerstone of MC Play's 'Take Back Your Music Block,' an artist driven programming slate launching this fall on Tuesday nights. The idea is to shed a spotlight on enthralling artist stories in each episode while enhancing the viewer experiencie with exclusive bonus content, music videos and interactivity," said Damon Williams, vice president, Programming, Music Choice, in a release. 

The first season of Chronicles will conclude with the airing of an episode focused on DJ Cassidy on Tuesday, Octoober 7 at 8 p.m. ET. 

For those who enjoy concerts, but don’t like the summer heat or the assembled hordes, Verizon FiOS is presenting an on-demand music festival of sorts during July and August.

The telco, working symphonically with Music Choice, AXS TV and Concert TV, is offering the "FiOS On Demand Virtual Music Festival" that showcases top touring artists and concerts from the likes of like Beyoncé, Bruno Mars, Katy Perry, Iggy Azeala, Luke Bryan, Marc Anthony, Pitbull, Snoop Dogg, Kate Nash, The Who, Guns ‘n Roses, and Ringo Starr. among others.

All told, over 100 videos of music and an assortment of concert videos will be available free and on demand during July and August, including individual videos offered by Music Choice featuring four categories: headliners, R&B and Hip-hop, EDM, Country and Fiesta Latina. Previously recorded concerts on AXS TV and Concert TV featuring David Gilmour, Yes, Vintage Trouble, White Lies, MGMT, La Roux and more will also cut across musical genres, offering entertainment that appeals to many people.

“

"Our on-demand library is usually about movies and TV series, and now, music and performances have an important place there, too,” said Joe Lawson, Verizon director of video content and acquisition. “Music sets the mood and takes you to memories directly linked to songs or concerts. This Virtual Music Festival allows consumers to bring up the memories with those songs and couple them with videos and concerts, free and on demand, without having to find a parking space or spend a small fortune on tickets and concessions.”

FiOS subscribers can go to channel 900 to find the Virtual Music Festival On Demand folder to select their videos and performances of choice. In addition to the videos and performances, this folder will also include a special Essence Music Festival folder where videos and content with key performers from this year’s event can be viewed.