Digital

It’s no secret that cable operators and telcos of all sizes have adopted a “broadband-first” stance that emphasizes high-margin, high-speed Internet service and effectively relegates pay-TV to the back seat. But streaming video services, a market that’s now teeming with dozens of virtual multichannel video programming distributors (vMVPDs) and subscription VoD services, remain a key reason why many consumers are connecting to speedy broadband offerings in the first place. At the same time, though, the sheer volume of OTT video service options on the market makes it a challenge for consumers to figure out which ones best suit their entertainment needs as well as the size of their pocketbooks.

While the Biden administration has been slow to appoint the key decisionmakers at agencies overseeing technology issues, a handful of people are on the inside track to lead them. By and large, these likely appointees do not have direct ties to Big Tech companies and have advocated for tougher measures against the industry. Many also previously served in the Obama administration and fall in the progressive camp.

Consumers looking to cut the cord for under 20 bucks will have yet another cheap hardware option, according to recently unearthed FCC documents. Walmart is readying an HD-only streaming stick that will be sold under its Onn brand and powered by Android TV, the documents reveal. The “2K” resolution indicated by the filing suggests the device will be inexpensive, given that 4K connected TV devices typically sell for $25 or more.

Fox plans to invest in Tubi, its entry in the fast-growing over-the-top connected TV market, and those investments include original programming. Fox CFO Steve Tomsic says that adding Fox hits like The Masked Singer has given Tubi a boost, and the company is looking to put original programming on Tubi.

The series of 21 telecasts start on Wednesday, April 7, at 1:10 p.m. ET when the Boston Red Sox host the AL champion Tampa Bay Rays in the finale of a two-game series, MLB and YouTube said Monday. The games are exclusive and will not be televised by club broadcast partners.

After a pandemic year that shuttered most movie theaters, none of the expected best-picture nominees will have hardly any box office to speak of. It will be an Oscars not just without blockbusters but with many movies that have hardly played on the big screen. Streaming services are set to dominate Hollywood’s biggest and most sought-after awards. Nominations will be announced beginning at 8:19 a.m. ET and the film academy and ABC will telecast the Oscars on April 25 (delayed two months due to the pandemic).

Netflix is forecast to lose its crown as the world’s biggest video streaming provider within three years, amid explosive growth at Disney after the launch of its rival on-demand service only 16 months ago. The Walt Disney Co. announced earlier this month that its flagship Disney+ platform, launched in late 2019, had passed 100 million global subscribers — a feat that took its arch-rival, Netflix, a decade to achieve. Taken together with subscriber numbers for the group’s ESPN+ sports platform and Hulu subscription service in the U.S., the surge puts Disney on track to dethrone Netflix by 2024.

In what could be a major departure in strategy, the streaming giant in recent months has explored licensing some of its movies and series to other TV outlets owned by companies like NBCUniversal and ViacomCBS, say people familiar with the situation. The discussions indicate how Netflix, long the 800-pound gorilla in the streaming market, may be more open than previously thought to a decades-old way of making money from its programming—basically selling shows to a variety of media outlets to be aired at different time periods. This approach emphasized limited availability, unlike the streaming strategy of making every program available all the time for the price of the subscription. The streaming strategy in recent years has undermined the long-term value of programming, eroding the profitability of Hollywood.

Lawmakers on Friday debated an antitrust bill that would give news publishers collective bargaining power with online platforms like Facebook and Google, putting the spotlight on a proposal aimed at chipping away at the power of Big Tech. At a hearing held by the House antitrust subcommittee, Microsoft’s president, Brad Smith, emerged as a leading industry voice in favor of the law. He took a divergent path from his tech counterparts, pointing to an imbalance in power between publishers and tech platforms.

Former CNN Great Big Story VP Ashley Codianni is joining NBC as executive editor of Today Digital, and Missy Dunlop Parsons is being promoted to executive producer of Today All Day, the morning show’s 24/7 lifestyle streaming channel. In this new role, Codianni will manage the Today.com editorial and social teams, working in tandem with the Today broadcast team to highlight programming across all our digital platforms.

AT&T’s HBO Max says it already has $80 million in upfront advertising commitments for a planned launch of its advertising option in June. Speaking at its AT&T investor day on Friday, Jason Kilar, CEO of WarnerMedia, added that HBO Max profit margins and revenue continue to climb. “We believe we are already the No. 1 revenue-generating stand-alone subscription video-on-demand service in the U.S.” he says. “We earn 90% in margin from each retail subscriber that we add.”

AT&T has set June for the launch of its ad-supported HBO Max option. The WarnerMedia parent company also updated its subscriber forecasts. They’re now much higher. The company now expects 120-150 million worldwide HBO Max and HBO subscribers by the end of 2025.

Lobbyists for Facebook and Google threw their weight against new U.S. legislation that seeks to aid struggling news publishers by allowing them to negotiate collectively against the tech companies over revenue sharing and other deals. Google, which declined comment on the proposal, launched a website on Thursday asserting it is “one of the world’s biggest financial supporters of journalism” by virtue of the ad revenue and content licensing fees it provides to media.

Comcast’s Flex service, initially derided by some critics as a puzzling product without a clear market, is making a big difference in reducing churn on the company’s “center-of-the-plate” offering, Xfinity Broadband, said CFO Mike Cavanaugh Thursday. Xfinity Flex is a streaming device that puts multiple streaming apps in one place on the screen.

As advertised, House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.), joined by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), has reintroduced a bill to close the digital divide by connecting everyone to the internet at high speeds — 1 Gig is the goal.

Amazon executive Albert Cheng says the era of “T-commerce” — the sale of goods directly through TV screens — is finally dawning. In a panel hosted by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the Amazon Studios COO and co-head of television said the company has long sought to “leverage the reach of Prime Video and marry that with commerce.”

Facebook is asking a D.C. federal judge to dismiss two government suits that allege its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp gave it a monopoly on the personal social networking market in violation of antitrust laws — arguing that such a claim “utterly ignores the reality of the dynamic, intensely competitive high-tech industry in which Facebook operates.”

Locast, a nonprofit service that coordinates signals from local television stations and streams them through a smart TV, most streaming devices and smartphones, debuted Wednesday in  17 Northeast Ohio counties: Ashland, Ashtabula, Carroll, Cuyahoga, Erie, Geauga, Holmes, Huron, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage, Richland, Stark, Summit, Tuscarawas and Wayne.

After six years leading E.W. Scripps’ millennial-targeted news network, Blake Sabatinelli has left the company. He’ll be replaced by a yet-unnamed head of network news to oversee both Newsy and Court TV for Scripps.

The three participants’ ties to Netflix and Apple, along with Winfrey’s desire to reach a big live-viewing audience, paved the way to an old-school deal with CBS.

The company’s ties to more than a dozen sites illustrate how conservative media companies are branching out after Facebook and Twitter began stiffer policing of false information.