streaming

Beginning April 5, the 10-minute weekday digicast exclusively for Roku, Apple TV and streaming audiences will feature local and national headlines, the latest weather, in-depth reporting and entertainment and lifestyle programming.

Getting into streaming is “pretty critical,” for TV news operations, says Jonathan Dunn, global leader of McKinsey’s consumer, technology and media practice. Revenue from advertising and distribution is in decline, he says, and the mainstream news outlets by and large have launched “nonthreatening, non-cannibalizing incremental products and services — a little bit of extra content to serve the super fans.” Suddenly, a lot of new ideas are coming to the surface.

Netflix is closing in on a deal to make two sequels to the 2019 hit whodunit Knives Out, which Rian Johnson will direct with Daniel Craig reprising his role as super sleuth Benoit Blanc. Johnson, who wrote the original, has written the sequels and is producing with partner Ram Bergman. Sources said the deal will be worth north of $400 million, making it one of the biggest streamer movie deals in history.

Symson is an investigative journalist turned digital content strategist who took over as CEO in 2017. Since then, he’s aggressively expanded Scripps’ TV station holdings, growing from just nine four years ago to 61 outlets in 41 markets. Buying more broadcast TV stations — as Scripps did in January with its $2.65 billion acquisition of Ion Media — would seem counter to a modernization push. But Symson said the view of local broadcast stations being outmoded by internet-delivered signals is unsophisticated.

The streaming service, originally conceived as a place for “super fans” of Fox News Channel, has in recent months been filling its digital shelves with a show led by Nancy Grace; faith-based shows tied to Easter; and vintage movies and TV series. It will serve as a place where fans of a new version of the long-running TV program America’s Most Wanted can watch the series a day after it debuts on Fox Corp. sibling Fox Broadcasting.

Cable One confirmed that it has launched Sparklight TV, a new app-based pay-TV service, in five markets this month, with additional markets lined up for April. According to an online FAQ, the new Sparklight TV service is available in Longview, Texas; Bisbee, Ariz.; Altus and Duncan, Okla.; and Dyersburg, Tenn.

New free-to-consumer service launches with sponsors including Chase, Clorox, Coca-Cola, Dunkin’, McDonald’s, Toyota, Universal Pictures, Verizon and Walmart.

T-Mobile is throwing in the towel on its ambitious “uncarrier” move to shake up cable TV: The wireless provider is shutting down TVision about six month after launching it.  YouTube TV is becoming T-Mobile’s preferred live TV solution, with the three TVision packages it introduced last fall “winding down” on April 29. In addition, T-Mobile is teaming up with over-the-top pay TV provider Philo to offer a $10 base-level video service.

A segment on CBS Sunday Morning featured criticism of an interview airing on the company’s streaming service Paramount+.

Adults spent less time watching video during the third quarter of 2020, but spent a lot more time streaming connected TV, according to the latest Total Audience Report from Nielsen. Nielsen said that the average time spent per day with video fell to 5 hours and 21 second during the third quarter of 2020, compared to 5 hours and 22 second in 2019 and 5 hours and 24 second in 2919.

Jack Hanna is the focus of Hearst-owned Litton Entertainment’s second free, ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel, The Jack Hanna Channel, launching Wednesday on Vizio SmartCast devices in the U.S., Litton said today.

The games are produced by the Yankees’ YES Network and are all scheduled for broadcast on WPIX New York. YES said Tuesday they will be available at no additional cost to Prime members in the Yankees’ home market of New York state, Connecticut, northeast Pennsylvania, and north and central New Jersey.

Streaming TV promised to free us from schedules, but series like WandaVision show that weekly rituals still have power.

Fuse Media is doubling down on delivering to blended households and young, Latinx and multicultural viewers. As cord-cutting accelerates and viewing hours increasingly favor streaming, the media company has built a new streaming division to do it.

ViacomCBS is looking to beef up its streaming investment by raising $3 billion in stock offerings. ViacomCBS said it intends to use the combined net proceeds from the offerings for general corporate purposes, including investments in streaming. ViacomCBS launched Paramount+, a reconstituted version of CBS All Access, on March 4.