OTT

On DownDetector.com, a website used to track outages, there was a spike in reported outages Wednesday around 9:30 a.m. PT. About 3,000 outages were reported between 9:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. PT, with most of the complaints coming from the West Coast and Northeast, according to the site’s tracking map. More than 40% of the outages were due to “no connection,” while 35% complained “video streaming” wasn’t functioning properly.

When NBC revealed its streaming-war entry Peacock to investors in January, presenters made no secret of their big weapon: the Tokyo Olympics. With Tuesday’s postponement of the games as a result of the coronavirus, whether Peacock should launch as planned on July 15 is suddenly in question, too.

A new survey of U.S. consumers finds that 76% say they’re willing to see ads in exchange for watching free streaming video. The survey also found that 55% plan to watch free video streaming services in the next 12 months.

FuboTV — a U.S.-based video streaming service offering a premium, over-the-top bundle of sports TV channels — has inked a deal to merge with Facebank Group, a developer of technology IP. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the proposed merger aims to create a sports-first digital entertainment alternative online for cord-cutters and cord-nevers.

Netflix will create a $1 million fund to help the creative community affected by the coronavirus pandemic, Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos announced Friday. “Almost all television and film production has now ceased globally — leaving hundreds of thousands of crew and cast without jobs. These include electricians, carpenters and drivers, many of whom are paid hourly wages and work on a project-to-project basis.”

Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Trevor Noah got inventive as it tries to navigate the television production shutdown brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. Following the example of other latenight shows that have broadcast segments produced remotely, on Wednesday, The Daily Show‘s YouTube channel posted a video introducing the The Daily Social Distancing Show.

Despite the broad and profound human and economic toll being exacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the so-called streaming wars are going on as scheduled, at least for now.

Quibi founder Jeffrey Katzenberg says his and Meg Whitman’s new short-form mobile streaming service’s content is so good, there’s no way it can’t find an audience.

Fox has acquired the ad-supporting streaming service Tubi in a $440 million cash deal. Tubi Founder and CEO Farhad Massoudi will continue to head the company.

Universal Pictures, a division of Comcast Corp-owned NBCUniversal, will make its movies available at home on the same day they are released in theaters worldwide, beginning with the DreamWorks Animation film Trolls World Tour, which opens in the U.S. on April 10.

Broadcom, a leading chipmaker for pay TV set-tops and other telecom CPE, is suing Netflix, alleging that the streaming service is violating eight of its patents related to data transfer and video playback.

According to an individual with knowledge of the situation, the employee in question immediately began self-isolation once they started experiencing symptoms. The individual is said to be recovering at home. Anyone else in the office who came into contact with the person has been informed, with those employees now required to also self-isolate and begin working from home immediately.

Marvel Studios is pressing pause on its Disney Plus shows currently in production, which includes The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki and WandaVision. For shows that are in pre-production, work will continue remotely.

Netflix on Thursday closed one of its office buildings for deep cleaning because one of its employees is suspected of having coronavirus.

“With travel restrictions and other safety measures already in place, we now have to get creative and explore alternative ways of connecting with current and potential customers around the globe.”

Digital video company Eko hit back against Quibi on Tuesday, accusing the upcoming mobile-only streaming app of infringing on its patented technology and misappropriating trade secrets. The Israeli company is essentially looking to bar Quibi, set to debut next month, from using video technology that underpins how viewers watch its shows.

In a memo issued Monday, NBC News Digital staffers were told that the company plans to explore streaming opportunities for Today and intends to shift some employees assigned to video “to focus on preparing for a streaming experience.” A person familiar with the matter says NBC News is mulling such an initiative, but cautioned that it is in its earliest days and is not guaranteed to come to fruition.

“We never use the term OTT in our marketing,” says Anita Normanly, production manager in the audience development department at WRAL Raleigh, N.C. “We always talk about WRAL Streaming Channels,” adding that they deliberately chose the word “channel” because that’s how viewers think about TV. Jake Seaton is the digital product manager and says the goal has always been making it easy for viewers. “If it’s on digital, then it’s on our Streaming Channels.”

Fubo TV has added NHL Network, MLB Network and MLB Network Strike Zone to its channel lineup. The additions mean that Fubo now offers access to every professional sports league channel.

Quibi has become the latest company to call off a planned gathering amid growing coronavirus fears, with a launch event scheduled for next month canceled “out of an abundance of caution.” A spokesperson said Monday: “While we look forward to launching the Quibi app on April 6, we have decided to cancel our pre-launch event party out of an abundance of caution as we continue to monitor COVID-19. Supporting the health and well-being of everyone involved is our top priority.”

Short-form streaming-video service Quibi, which is preparing to launch next month, faces claims that one of its core tech features infringes on another company’s intellectual property, according to documents describing the dispute.

Shortform streamer Quibi has set its initial lineup of shows for its April 6 launch — and it’s a long list. The mobile-centric platform will debut with 50 shows, tilted heavily toward unscripted content and what it calls “Daily Essentials” — short news and sports programs, talk shows and advice shows. It has four scripted shows — or “Movies in Chapters,” as each will have a total run time roughly equivalent to a feature film, with episodes running under 10 minutes apiece.

The CW’S newly-minted CEO, Mark Pedowitz (left), and its streaming/branding chief, Rick Haskins, found remarkable success getting audiences to binge their shows on streamers like Netflix and then circle back to the network for new episodes. Granular data and highly-targeted social media messaging are helping them do it.