Aereo case heard in Supreme Court; Netflix to raise prices

After the coffee. Before hearing about the Aereo case at the Supreme Court.

The Skinny: The Supreme Court on Tuesday morning will hear arguments in the ABC vs. Aereo case. Aereo is an Internet startup that broadcasters charge steal their signals. Alas, I won’t be there, but I have a high court story for you anyway. When I was based in Washington, I occasionally covered the Supreme Court. You have to dress nice and they will wake you if you doze off. Other stories in Tuesday’s Fix include Netflix saying it will raise prices and Comcast posting its second-quarter results.

Daily Dose: Over the weekend, you may have heard about Darlene Tipton, a Fox Cable executive whose efforts to raise money for the girlfriend of a passenger aboard missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 led her to being fired by the company. Here’s the whole bizarre story, which includes hallucinations about the fate of the flight from Tipton’s husband and what the woman who was the target of this effort thought.

Supreme showdown. It’s not quite Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather, but Tuesday morning the Supreme Court will hear arguments in ABC vs. Aereo and whether Aereo, a startup that streams TV signals via the Internet, has a legal business model. Broadcasters claim Aereo violates copyright law. Aereo counters its service is legal and broadcasters are just fighting the future to protect old business models. Curtain-raisers on the arguments and looks at Aereo from the Los Angeles Times and Washington Post.

Did Frank Underwood agree to this? Netflix said it is likely increasing its subscription prices by perhaps as much as $2 per month for new subscribers. The service said current subscribers would likely continue to pay $7.99 a month. Netflix said a reason for the increase is to continue to fund original programming and acquisitions. Netflix also said it is opposed to the Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger, a move that is sure to be noticed by media watchdogs and regulators. More from the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, BuzzFeed and Los Angeles Times.

Cable comeback. Comcast Corp. reported its first-quarter results Tuesday morning and said it added video subscribers for the second straight quarter. The parent of NBCUniversal and the nation’s largest pay-TV and broadband distributor said it had profits of $1.87 billion and revenue of $17.4 billion. An early peek at the numbers from Bloomberg.

Getting uglier. Michael Egan, the man who accused “X-Men” director Bryan Singer of sexual abuse, has also made similar accusations against three other prominent media figures including Garth Ancier and David Neuman, television executives who have held senior positions at Disney, Fox, NBC and CNN. Egan has said he was abused by Singer and the others when he was a teen. Details from Variety, Los Angeles Times, and TMZ.

A job on Jobs? Director Danny Boyle is in talks to direct a highly anticipated biopic about Apple visionary Steve Jobs, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Boyle’s first choice to play Jobs is Leonardo DiCaprio. The other week, it was Christian Bale. Just wondering if anyone involved in this movie has actually seen a picture of Jobs.

Inside the Los Angeles Times: John Horn on the effect the movie “The Hurricane,” about late boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, had on Oscar campaigns.

Follow me on Twiitter. I know even when I don’t know. @JBFlint.