Verizon is the latest player to have discussions with Disney about ESPN’s future. Disney has had preliminary talks with Verizon focused on creating a new ESPN streaming service. Verizon is already a key distributor for Disney, with deals that include a current one offering the Disney bundle (Disney+, Hulu with ads and ESPN+ with ads) for a discounted $10 per month to Verizon MyPlan customers.
Verizon Communications is searching for a new finance chief and is looking for potential candidates to later succeed CEO Hans Vestberg, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing people familiar with the matter.
Broadcasters Go Private With 5G
Broadcasters are now making active use of 5G in everyday production operations, usually alongside LTE in contribution feeds sent with bonded cellular systems. But the most exciting production applications to date for 5G have actually used private 5G networks that broadcasters have set up themselves for big-event coverage.
Cellphone carriers facing roughly $200 million in fines for sharing their customers’ locations are for now shielded from paying by the FCC’s partisan deadlock, according to people familiar with the matter. A partisan divide leaves the regulator short of the votes required to require T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon to pay fines.
The agreement includes the continued distribution of the full portfolio of Fox brands including Fox News Media, Fox Sports, Fox Network and local Fox O&Os. Fox Weather will also be added to the Fios TV lineup, and Tubi will be included in both Fios TV set top boxes, as well as on many other platforms.
Exclusives
The new agreement extends distribution of the cable news channel in HD on Verizon Fios.
Verizon, Bloomberg Media, Zixi and Amazon Web Services are all teaming up to test broadcast news that skips satellite delivery in favor of 5G.
Verizon next week will begin extending its Disney Bundle streaming promotion beyond wireless to home internet subscribers. Starting Feb. 11, new Verizon Fios and new 5G Home Internet customers will get the Disney Bundle — which includes Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu priced at $13.99 per month — for up to 12 months free.
AT&T and Verizon on Tuesday each agreed to temporarily delay their 5G rollouts near certain airports amid concerns over possible flight disruptions. The move follows mounting outside pressure and comes amid warnings from U.S. airlines that new 5G wireless service that was set to start Wednesday could ground flights and leave potentially thousands of Americans stranded while also delaying goods.
Tegna on Saturday morning reached an agreement with Verizon Fios on a new retransmission consent contract. Five stations had been pulled on Wednesday, Jan. 5: WUSA Washington (CBS); WPMT York, Pa. (Fox); WVEC Norfolk, Va. (ABC); WGRZ Buffalo, N.Y. (NBC); and WCCW Waterbury, Conn. (CW).
AT&T and Verizon Communications said late Monday (Jan. 3) that the companies will delay their planned Jan. 5 rollout of 5G wireless service in the C-band, at least briefly, at the request of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg (above). The secretary had asked for a two-week delay to try and resolve issues of possible interference with radio altimeters that use the adjacent ban.
Future-Proofed News Trucks Are A Crucial COVID Tool
IP-centric news trucks became essential ad hoc mobile editing booths during COVID, leaders from WCBS, Fox News, Sinclair and Verizon said at TVNewsCheck’s NewsTECHForum, noting 2 GHz and LTE bandwidth, low earth orbit satellites and 5G networks have also become key live shot tools.
AT&T and Verizon will delay the launch of 5G on key frequencies amid concern that it might interfere with airplane safety systems, federal officials said Thursday. The companies will “further assess any impact on aviation safety technologies,” the FCC and Federal Aviation Administration said in a joint statement. Both companies confirmed they will delay their rollouts for about a month, to Jan. 5.
Apollo Global Management said Wednesday that it has completed its purchase of internet icon Yahoo — formerly Verizon Media — for about $5 billion, from Verizon Communications. As part of the deal, Verizon will retain a 10% ownership interest in the new company. Verizon and Apollo first announced the deal in May, and the sale includes ad tech assets.
Verizon will sell Verizon Media, which consists of the pioneering tech platforms, to Apollo Global Management in a $5 billion deal.
Verizon is exploring a sale of its media assets, including potentially parts of Yahoo and AOL businesses, people familiar with the matter say. Private-equity firms including Apollo are among the possible bidders.
In an emailed statement 90 minutes after the outage was first reported, Verizon said it was working on the problem hurting Fios service “throughout the Northeast corridor” and that some service had already been restored. The telecom giant had reported a cut fiber in Brooklyn via Twitter, although it’s not clear if that issue was responsible for the entire outage. Verizon didn’t give any estimate in its email about when the problem would be fixed.
For broadcasters, 5G represents both a potentially helpful new tool and a competitive threat. The reality of either prospect hinges on how quickly and deeply the technology gets rolled out.
Verizon and Hearst Television reached a distribution agreement to stave off a New Year’s Day blackout of the broadcasting group’s nine channels on Fios TV in five markets. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The telco had alleged Hearst TV was demanding price hikes of more than 45% to carry the local channels. The companies’ previous carriage pact expired Dec. 31.
Per FCC rules, Verizon has started warning Fios customers they may lose access to Hearst Television stations at month’s end. Verizon said Hearst is demanding “unreasonably large” increases in retransmission consent fees that may force Verizon to raise rates for its customers.
Verizon Media is expanding its omnichannel programmatic platform today, announcing an advanced TV partnership with Dish Media in which Verizon Media’s demand-side platform (DSP) will provide automated access to Dish’s […]
Verizon and Disney are expanding their distribution and marketing partnership to add the full Disney+/Hulu/ESPN+ bundle at no charge for 12 months for subscribers to two wireless plans. Beginning Thursday, customers who choose the “Play More Unlimited” or “Get More Unlimited” packages will get the bundle for free as part of their monthly cost of $45 or $55 before taxes and fees. Disney charges $13 a month for its three-service bundle. If bought separately, they would be $19.
Pluto TV and Verizon have activated their game-changing distribution partnership and revealed new programming details. Starting today, 100,000-plus hours of free, ad-supported programming on ViacomCBS-owned Pluto are available to Verizon customers. The service will come in the form of an app on Android mobile devices and pre-installed on Fios cable boxes and Stream TV and 5G Amazon Home Fire devices.
Verizon said on Thursday it is pulling advertising on Facebook until the company “can create an acceptable solution that makes us comfortable.” A company spokesperson said the pause applies to both Facebook and Instagram. It comes as marketers including Ben & Jerry’s, Patagonia and REI have also said they plan to pause advertising on the platforms.
The Home of the Whopper, Verizon and Amazon are among the relative few that haven’t been afraid to run ads near coverage of the coronavirus.
Verizon and ViacomCBS have struck a deal for the latter’s fast-growing AVOD property, Pluto TV, to bundled across Verizon’s 116 million wireless, 4 million video, and 6 million broadband customers in the U.S.
NBCUniversal said Monday that Capital One, L’Oreal, Molson Coors, Subaru and Verizon have signed up as launch sponsors for the new streaming service Peacock when it debuts this week. Peacock hits nationwide on Wednesday, April 15, free for customers of parent company Comcast, and three months later for everyone else with a price range from free to $10 a month.
Verizon Shares Down On Profit Miss
Verizon Communications shares fell about 1% on Thursday as quarterly profits missed estimates even though the company added more monthly mobile phone subscribers than expected as adding the Disney+ streaming service helped some of its plans.
After years of hype, carriers like AT&T and Verizon are giving consumers clarity on what their next-generation cellular networks will realistically do.
Verizon Communications is eliminating traditional cable bundles and the handcuffs that often came with them, making it easier for households to switch video packages in the hopes they won’t cut the cord entirely. It will allow Fios customers to select their home internet speeds and television packages separately, at preset rates. Rather than locking customers into one- or two-year contracts, customers will be able to change either service monthly, if they wish.
The Cox Media stations acquired by Apollo Global Management have been blacked out to subscribers to Verizon’s FiOS as the result of a retransmission consent fee dispute. Verizon’s deal with the stations expired Tuesday at midnight.
The offer announced Tuesday is worth nearly $84, based on $6.99 monthly subscription fee for the Disney Plus service, which debuts Nov. 12. It extends to certain new and existing unlimited 4G and 5G customers at Verizon, as well as the vast majority of new home-internet customers. The promotion is the latest volley in an escalating attack on Netflix.
