Digital

Comcast Corp.’s NBCUniversal is considering removing much of its content from Hulu and making it exclusive to its Peacock platform, according to people familiar with the matter, as the media giant determines how to best play its hand in the streaming wars. NBCUniversal, which owns one-third of Hulu, with Disney controlling the rest, has to make a decision soon. Under the terms of an agreement with Disney, NBCUniversal has a one-time window to exit from the content-licensing agreement between the two early next year. If it doesn’t exercise the option, the content would remain there until at least 2024.

Just days after analyst Michael Nathanson downgraded Roku shares, Roku has announced a significant ramp-up of its so-far-limited original content strategy. Roku, which doesn’t charge users to stream content over its Roku Channel, plans to develop 50 “ad-friendly” new shows for 18-49 year-olds between now and 2024, and is now taking pitches for scripted and unscripted shows.

Internet problems continue to slow down many students in New Mexico, but a pilot project using TV signals to transmit computer files may help. In October, local broadcasting affiliates of New Mexico PBS finished testing the technology to make sure they could set aside bandwidth not taken up by TV show broadcasts and dedicate it to broadcast downloadable digital files.

Sinclair’s free streaming network, STIRR, is a place for cord cutters and mobile users to watch live local news provided by the 82 Sinclair TV stations across the country. But with hundreds of other TV programs and thousands of on demand options, marketing STIRR can be a challenge.

The company still loses money, but its revenue rose 20% in the third quarter. Investors who want to own a piece can do so around Dec. 6.

A bipartisan group of at least 10 state attorneys general is investigating how Instagram may harm children and teens. The group, which includes AGs from California, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee, Texas and Vermont, will investigate the methods used by Instagram to attract and encourage engagement among young people, and whether parent company Meta — née Facebook —has violated consumer protection laws and put the public at risk.

Connect the Dots is a four-part series that “dropped” this fall on NBCLX, the millennial-focused TV and streaming network that functions as an innovation lab for the NBC-owned stations. It’s one of the channel’s more recent experiments in rewriting the rules of conventional TV news, an unusual (but commendable) ambition for an operation that’s nested inside a traditional media company — and is deepening its connection with owned-station newsrooms.

Despite unprecedented disruptions over the past couple of years — including a global pandemic, economic recessions, social unrest and issues with various supply-chain issues — the global ad economy is poised for sustainable growth, but its composition will be very different going forward, according to a new report from GroupM.

Acting FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel said Thursday (Nov. 18) that her planned refresh of the record on independent content providers’ access to distribution platforms will need to include over-the-top video.

TVNewsCheck‘s Michael Depp talks with Martin Kristiseter, managing director of Sinclair-owned Compulse, about the agency’s unusual pairing of digital marketing services with OTT agency services and the thinking behind it.

Two House Democrats from California, Reps. Anna Eshoo and Zoe Lofgren, have reintroduced a sweeping privacy bill that would impose broad restrictions on companies’ ability to use online data for ad targeting.

The tech behemoth, which currently enjoys rights to stream Thursday Night Football and will next year gain exclusive access to the NFL property, will test interest in interactive fan polling during this evening’s game between the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons.

With Wall Street scrutinizing media companies’ streaming progress and advertisers pressing to understand how the dollars they have moved from traditional TV to digital venues like Peacock, Hulu, HBO Max and Tubi are working, the networks have come under a new kind of pressure. To deal with it, many of them have already begun promotional efforts they would normally have saved for the industry’s annual “upfront” sales market in spring.

Nielsen’s monthly snapshot shows sports and fall dramas helping networks gain; You passes Squid Game in the weekly rankings.

Roku shares were down more than 11% Wednesday after MoffettNathanson analyst Michael Nathanson cut the stock to “Sell” over concerns that revenue and earnings estimates for the streaming giant “are just too damn high.” He’s particularly concerned that Roku will need to drive more impressions for advertising VoD (AVoD) inventory as revenue growth from subscription-based VoD services start to slow. And he’s not optimistic that Roku will be able to pull it off.

Global pay TV subs will hit 1.1 billion in 2021, a slight 0.5% gain but revenue from video services will slump by 3.5% this year, Kagan predicts, accelerating an ongoing shift to streaming.

David Bloom: The “We’ll be right back” slate is stark evidence that a streaming service or one of its distribution partners couldn’t sell a targeted ad for that particular moment. It’s a sign of failure, of wasted opportunity.

Gray Television Chairman-CEO Hilton Howell says he’s “extremely bullish” on digital, which he says has become a $300-million business for the company with a 60% profit margin. Part two of a two-part exclusive interview. Read part one here.

The Senate Commerce Committee vetted the renomination of acting FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel for a new, five-year term today (Nov. 17) and nary was heard a discouraging word. If confirmed, President Joe Biden has signaled he will designate her permanent chairman, the first woman to hold that post. (Mignon Clyburn was the first woman to be acting chair.)

NBC already produces more hours of Today every week than there are in the primetime schedule of its broadcast rival, Fox. But in recent months, NBC News has been expanding morning TV’s longest-running national program into something quite different. Today producers estimate on a weekly basis they are making 200 on-air segments, 35 streaming shows, 200 digital videos, 23 podcast episodes and 10 TikToks. The result? Executives believe Today, outfitted with an “All Day” video-streaming service, can compete with other big lifestyle media outlets.

NFLSundayTicket.tv is supposed to be available only to students and apartment dwellers who can’t get DirecTV satellite TV service. But the NFL seems to be marketing it to anyone and everyone.