Digital

ABC News’ streaming video news network is undergoing an overhaul of its programming strategy in an effort to differentiate it from all the other news content vying for viewers in an election year. By the end of 2020, producers of the service known as ABC News Live expect to stream each day 18 hours of live and original programming, a complete inversion of its current programming mix.

The spats between TV distributors and networks that grew out of the cable and satellite era are beginning to spill over into the streaming world. Consumers that cut the cord to avoid paying for expensive TV packages are going to be susceptible to some of the same problems, like programming blackouts, that they had with traditional television.

For the first time, Google on Monday revealed just how big of an advertising machine YouTube is. The company said that YouTube generated $15.1 billion in ad revenue in fiscal 2019, including $4.7 billion in the fourth quarter.

While overall the audience for Sunday’s Super Bowl appears to be up, Early Nielsen viewer data supplied by Fox reveals a bummer performance on the streaming side: fewer than 1.4 million viewers, the lowest total since 2016 and off significantly from the 2.6 million concurrent streams measured by Nielsen for 2019’s game.

Apple Inc.’s streaming video service has gained limited traction with consumers, and this could represent a cautious signal as the company moves away from hardware sales and toward services, according to Bernstein. Analyst Toni Sacconaghi estimated that fewer than 10 million consumers had opted for their free 12-month trial of Apple TV+, citing an analysis of the company’s first-quarter results.

The data doesn’t lie. As local TV news viewership has slowly but steadily declined, the local weather segment has endured as the most ‘must-see’ aspect of many local newscasts. Research by media consultants and by Pew Research shows that local weather is the most valued topic covered by local newscasts. It might be tempting to stop right there. Thanks for watching, goodnight. But it would be perilous to take this narrow view.

Further incorporating Hulu, the premium on-demand and live TV streaming service, into Walt Disney’s Direct-to-Consumer & International division has resulted in the departure of Randy Freer, Hulu’s CEO.

After learning of the plan to offer The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night with Seth Meyers to streaming customers prior to their broadcast airtimes, NBC affiliates have been in talks with the network and they say the two sides “are working toward a plan that is good for NBCU and provides affiliates the opportunity to meaningfully participate in this business.”

Shares of Roku tumbled 7% on Friday after the streaming video company told customers it was removing Fox channels from its platform ahead of Sunday’s Super Bowl broadcast.

Revenue is up at the site founded by Jonah Peretti, who says he is “open” to being “part of a larger company” as a top editor departs.

Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos acknowledged the friction that kept Netflix’s 2019 awards contenders The Irishman and Marriage Story from securing a wide release despite strong creative pedigrees and critical buzz for both titles, but he indicated that it’s a matter of time before the industry adjusts to a new paradigm. After all, he noted, Netflix led the industry in Oscar nominations this year with 24 bids.

Imelda Staunton has been tapped to be the last actress to play Queen Elizabeth II. She will take the crown in the fifth season from Olivia Colman, who, in turn, succeeded Claire Foy.

Glancing at the data from the first heat of the great streaming wars, it appears that each of the major platforms is winning in their own way. This would seem to defy logic and conventional wisdom, but it tracks well with what some analysts had been projecting. While streaming has been getting tremendous hype in recent years, it’s still small compared to conventional television viewing. That means there is plenty of room for everyone to grow.

A brewing dispute between Roku and Fox days before the Super Bowl might prove that streamers won’t be able to avoid some of the headaches that are driving them from cable. Roku said its distribution agreement with Fox Corp. is set to expire on tonight (Jan. 31), which would make programming on Fox channels unavailable on the Roku platform.

Barstool Sports used to be a media company, but on the heels of a $163 million investment from Penn National Gaming, it is now, in many respects, a sports betting company. Barstool’s evolution speaks to where the sports betting industry stands at the outset of 2020. With legalization on the horizon in key states and mobile betting set to explode, sportsbook operators are in a race to acquire users and build the best digital storefront.

The free live TV streaming service that launched in January 2018 in New York City offering access to 15 over-the-air TV stations including ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC affiliates, says it now has 1 million registered users after expanding to Denver, Atlanta, Phoenix, Washington, San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, New York and South Dakota.. Locast did not say how many of them are donating to Locast but a million users is a good base to start with.

Amazon’s move towards one-day shipping did little to hurt its bottom line during the holiday season, with the e-commerce giant reporting on Thursday afternoon its Q4 earnings easily surpassed Wall Street’s expectations. At the same time, Amazon shared it reached a new milestone when it comes to Prime memberships.

One week after the Supreme Court rejected Facebook’s request to intervene in a class-action over facial recognition technology, the company announced it will pay an eye-popping $550 million to resolve the matter.

Quibi CEO Meg Whitman, who is 67 days away from the launch of the company’s ambitious new streaming service, claimed that the company doesn’t really see the likes of Netflix, Hulu or Disney Plus as rivals.

Attendees will be able to test more than 50 OTT platforms across streaming boxes, smart TVs, tablets and mobile devices.

It marks the newest expansion of major market local news streaming services from CBS and features local news content produced by KYW Philadelphia.

After losing nearly 1.2 million pay TV subscribers in the fourth quarter, AT&T looks for new premium streaming service to reverse its video fortunes. The company said in its 4Q earnings report that it hopes the introduction of “software-based” video services, AT&T TV and HBO Max, will be natural compliments to a sales push of fiber-to-the-home services and reverse the company’s failing video fortunes.

Its profit and revenue both handily surpassed Wall Street’s expectations. Facebook said that about 2.89 billion people use at least one of its services — Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram or Messenger — each month.