streaming

Examining the latest update of the Google TV app has uncovered indications that the tech conglomerate’s move into live TV is well underway with at least 50 channels set to premiere.

The retail giant is exploring bundling a streaming service into its Walmart+ membership program.

Smart TV maker Vizio has gotten itself into the payment and subscription management business, introducing the Vizio Account. Vizio said the account will make it easier for smart TV users to subscribe to streaming services and take advantage of special offers. With the Vizio Account, viewers can sign in once and spend less time accessing and managing viewing options.

Access to the video site allows Russians access to one of the few sources of independent information about the Ukraine war. YouTube still operates in Russia, possibly because the Kremlin views it as too big to block.

Beverly Chase has been promoted to vice president of current programming and development for Vice News and Vice World News. Chase was previously the executive producer of long form for Vice News. In her new role, she will continue to serve as as executive producer and showrunner of Vice on Showtime. She will also now oversee original programming, specials, and long form projects while expanding her role at Vice News Tonight.

The Writers Guild of America said Thursday that an arbitrator ruled in its favor, resulting in writers receiving millions of dollars in unpaid residuals from Netflix films.

Warner Bros. Discovery sets its direct-to-consumer strategy — which includes a new FAST offering.

Rumors on Twitter run amok that the anticipated rollup of HBO Max and Discovery+ won’t be something most of us like.

Starting Sept. 12, Peacock will become the exclusive home of the 57-year-old soap, which has already produced two spinoffs for the platform dubbed Beyond Salem. NBC will fill the DOOL slot with NBC News Daily, which NBC News promises will “provide signature world-class reporting and breaking news coverage in a first-of-its kind, live in most markets mid-day news offering. The hour-long program will be anchored by Kate Snow, Aaron Gilchrist, Vicky Nguyen and Morgan Radford and offer “up-to-the-minute national and international news, with the option for NBC stations to add local news.”

Both Paramount+’s ad-free and ad-supported plans are making their way to Roku’s aggregated subscription video lineup, Roku announced. In the coming weeks, viewers will be able to subscribe to either Paramount+’s essential plan ($4.99 per month) or its premium tier ($9.99 monthly) through The Roku Channel’s new dedicated programming guide for the service. This marks the first time Roku’s created such a guide for a premium subscription partner.

Reed Hastings insisted on focusing on subscriptions until competitors started nibbling away at his business model.

Roku said it secured more than $1 billion in commitments from advertisers during the upfront market, a record for the streaming platform. With more consumers cutting the cord and shifting to streaming, Roku has positioned itself as an alternative to traditional TV. Roku said its upfront negotiation happened concurrently with the broadcast networks, signaling a strategic shift to TV streaming for brands.

Co-exclusive streaming rights for hit ABC sitcom Abbott Elementary will be shared by Hulu and HBO Max beginning on Aug. 20.

Perhaps disabusing the video business of the notion that sustained double-digit growth is merely a matter of transitioning models from subscriber to advertising focus, YouTube just reported its slowest quarterly revenue growth in more than two years. Alphabet said during its second quarter earnings report Tuesday that YouTube generated $7.34 billion from April-June, up 4.8% year over year. The expansion missed equity investor forecasts of around $7.49 billion.

Walt Disney Co. said in a statement Wednesday morning that Hulu will now accept political issue ads, a change in the policy of the streaming platform after Democrats chided the company for rejecting spots on abortion and guns.

Streaming resumed its growth in the second quarter, reaching 113 million households in the U.S. as of June, following no growth in the first quarter, according to Kantar’s Entertainment on Demand streaming analytics. The second-quarter increase gave streaming a penetration rate of 88%, up 2 percentage points from 1Q.

With Netflix’s stock price and business model under pressure from a rapidly evolving streaming landscape, new research from Diesel Labs examines the ongoing relevance of Netflix’s long-standing promotion of a binge viewing programming strategy. Many other streamers have moved away from Netflix’s model.

With the streaming industry becoming increasingly saturated, making sense of viewer data and consumption habits is key. According to TiVo’s most recent video trends survey, consumers’ average number of streaming services peaked to about nine apps in 4Q 2021. And Chris Ambrozic, SVP of product management for TiVo Discovery Solutions, hints that the average number of apps continues to tick up in TiVo’s upcoming consumer survey — scheduled for release in September.

Democratic campaign groups are slamming the Disney-owned streaming service Hulu for what they say is its refusal to run ads on the crucial midterm election issues of abortion and gun safety. The streaming service did not run ads submitted last week by the Democratic campaign groups and has failed to give the groups a clear reason, according to a national Democratic Party official.

The NFL has launched a league-branded subscription streaming outlet featuring live mobile rights once controlled by Verizon. NFL+, as the new service is known, is available in two versions. The basic one costs $5 a month (or $40 a year), while the premium tier is $10 a month, or $80 a year.

After a less-awful-than-we-all-thought-it-would-be earnings report, early social buzz for Netflix’s $200 million spy thriller seems good.

Executives from E.W. Scripps, Fox Television Stations, NBCUniversal Local and Cox Media Group told a TVNewsCheck webinar last week that hiring challenges are frustrating their efforts to swiftly build out robust streaming channels, but forays into automation and hub-and-spoke models are easing some of the pressure.