OTT

The content protection, advanced advertising and video networking provider announced the first two in a series of services designed to allow video providers a more flexible, frictionless way to roll out and enhance new services while monitoring and capitalizing on consumer experience. Company executives also reported rapid growth in the video networking sector, a reaction to the media industry’s move from traditional delivery to OTT.

The E.W. Scripps Co., which acquired Ion Media in part for the broadcast spectrum controlled by Ion, said it plans to take its digital multicast networks over-the-top to cash in on the streaming gold rush. “We don’t really see it as being an either-or sort of proposition for consumers,” said Scripps CEO Adam Symson during an investor day presentation to analysts Wednesday.

Content management systems are the workhorses of local stations’ digital operations. Executives from Tegna, NBCU, CBS, Gray, Nexstar and Fox have discovered that user simplicity and integrations for multiplatform distribution have become essential attributes. Note: This story is available to TVNewsCheck Premium members only. If you would like to upgrade your free TVNewsCheck membership to Premium now, you can visit your Member Home Page, available when you log in at the very top right corner of the site or in the Stay Connected Box that appears in the right column of virtually every page on the site. If you don’t see Member Home, you will need to click Log In or Subscribe.

Fox Television Stations’ new FLX service allows advertisers to buy availabilities across its linear TV stations and about 150 OTT and CTV options. The service is now included in Fox’s pre-existing partnership with Mediaocean.

Joe Mancini: To analyze critical audience data collected via their OTT services, media companies should call on “citizen data scientists” using powerful AI software to crunch data and isolate trends.

The FCC has granted Cox and Comcast petitions for “effective competition” determinations in a number of Massachusetts counties, citing over-the-top service AT&T Now as the effective competitor.

Trends driven by the pandemic are likely to persist into 2021 and beyond, while transitions to IP infrastructures will accelerate and aging on-prem infrastructure will give way to increased reliance on the cloud. NextGen TV will also likely pick up speed after COVID’s cooling effect on its rollout this year.

The seven-episode drama has hit No. 1 on the streamer’s rankings in more than 60 countries.

Tom Cox, president of Premion: “This recognition validates what we’ve been doing from the onset — directly sourcing inventory from premium, known publishers and using cutting-edge technology to detect and filter for fraud.”

Liberty Media Chairman John Malone told CNBC that Amazon, Apple or Roku could dominate in the crowded streaming space given their ability to scale globally. “I think these global platforms will be enormously powerful,” Malone said in an interview that aired Thursday on CNBC. Most products they create will be selling wholesale through these transport systems, the billionaire media mogul added.

Discovery said on Thursday that it will unveil details of its much-anticipated global streaming service and the broader strategy behind it during an investor event on Dec. 2.

Slingbox has reached its endpoint, with Sling Media announcing that all Slingbox products and services were discontinued on Nov. 9, and will permanently be taken offline on Nov. 9, 2022. Sling Media, a subsidiary of Dish, said the decision is being made to “make room for new innovative products so that we can continue to serve our customers in the best way possible.” This will not include any new Slingbox products.

Bloomberg Quicktake will report on global stories through the lens of business, backed by Bloomberg’s newsroom of 2,700 journalists in 120 countries. It will feature content produced in a variety of compelling formats, including documentary-style original series, anchor-led live news shows, data visualizations, motion graphics, on-the-ground breaking news and live events. The network launches globally on major streaming platforms including Apple TV, Roku, Android TV, Samsung Smart TV and Amazon Fire TV, through a newly designed Bloomberg App.

The Uncarrier’s new pay TV service matches up against these specific incumbents well in terms price and channel selection, and executives have noticed

The video platform’s virtual pay TV service, YouTube TV, has surpassed the 3 million paid subscriber mark. This revelation comes just seven months after Google announced the passing of the 2 million mark for the vMVPD service. That’s an indicator of accelerated growth, as that February 2 million announcement came a full two years after the platform launched.

Netflix is raising the subscription price to its standard and premium plans in the U.S., the first such hikes at the streaming giant since January 2019. The service confirmed Thursday that it is raising the price of its HD Standard plan to $13.99 from $12.99, and its 4K Premium plan to $17.99 from $15 over the next two months. The prices take effect today for new members, with current subscribers to be notified 30 days ahead of their price increase based on their billing cycle.

Judith Sheindlin is headed to streaming. The Judge Judy star’s untitled new court show (aka Judy Justice) has been greenlighted by Amazon Studios to stream exclusively on IMDb TV, Amazon’s free, ad-supported streaming service.