Digital

AT&T says it’s listening to its homebound customers and is increasing the number of simultaneous streams available on its AT&T TV platform from three to 20. The telecom said the change will occur automatically for customers starting Thursday, and it won’t affect the price of the service.

Jeff Blackburn, whose 22-year run at Amazon culminated in a role overseeing the company’s streaming efforts, has wrapped up his one-year sabbatical and announced his exit from the company. The news, which came via a memo posted on the company’s intranet, was not unexpected.

The FCC is scheduled to vote at its next public meeting on opening an inquiry into whether it can or should require new distribution outlets, including websites and streaming services, to deliver emergency alerts.

Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Facebook confirmed that they have agreed on amendments to proposed legislation to require the social network and Google to pay for Australian news that they feature. Facebook’s cooperation is a major victory in Australian efforts to make the two gateways to the Internet pay for the journalism that they use.

With his company’s vMVPD reporting just 16,000 customer additions in the fourth quarter, the Dish chairman concedes the service should have more market share than it does.

Microsoft is joining forces with two lobbying groups, the European Publishers Council and News Media Europe, along with two groups representing European newspaper and magazine publishers, which account for thousands of titles.

MobiTV, a key cog in pay-TV streaming services from T-Mobile and from an array of U.S. telcos and cable operators, is in need of a financial lifeline — in the form of more capital or cash from a white knight buyer — to keep the operation afloat beyond the short term, multiple industry sources familiar with the situation said.

New jobs posted to TVNewsCheck’s Media Job Center include openings for a digital sales manager and a chief meteorologist at Nexstar and Hearst stations.

The House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee plans to hold a series of hearings on proposed bills to rein in “the rise and abuse of market power online” and adjust antitrust laws accordingly. Both Republicans and Democrats have concerns that antitrust laws were not nimble enough to capture Web giants’ efforts to buy start-up competitors before they became full-fledged competition and, importantly for antitrust law, before they triggered Hart Scott Rodino automatic antitrust reviews.

Vizio Ads introduced Universal Frequency Control, a product that limited the number of time a viewer sees the same spot when an advertiser buys commercial inventory through the smart-TV set maker’s platform.

“Smaller-scale services like Starz and AMC Networks’ might be better off folded into larger platforms,” writes Wells Fargo’s Steven Cahall.

Acting FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel didn’t make any big news at her first post-meeting press conference Wednesday, but she did confirm that she is still a fan of net neutrality rules and no fan of the Trump Administration petition to the FCC to regulate social media using Sec. 230.

While late to the ad game compared to the likes of Roku and Amazon, original equipment manufacturers like Vizio, Samsung and LG are hurriedly building out their advertising businesses as ad dollars flow into connected TV.

A coalition of trade organizations filed a lawsuit Thursday against the Maryland state government over passage of a bill that imposes a tax on digital ad revenue. The Computer & Communications Industry Association, along with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Internet Association, sued Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot (D). CCIA’s members include Amazon, eBay, Facebook, Google and Uber.

Roku continues to ride the streaming wave, reporting fourth-quarter results ahead of Wall Street expectations, with revenue shooting up 58% from a year ago to just shy of $650 million. Operating income swung from a loss in the year-earlier period to a profit of $65.2 million.

Gannett’s USA Today national sales team will lead the go-to-market strategy on behalf of both companies. It will take the lead on pitching clients and agencies about the new partnership, which is being dubbed the “combined power of local.” Several new ad products will help national brands reach local audiences across the local news sites from the combined Gannett and McClatchy portfolios.

With the pandemic hurting NHL revenues, the league is expected to seek an increase in revenues, starting with its national TV deals. For a substantial bump, the deal will likely need to carve out some exclusive game content for one of the new subscription direct-to-consumer platforms, such as ESPN+ or Peacock.

Australia’s government has condemned Facebook over its suprise move to prevent Australians sharing news that had also blocked some government communications. The digital platforms fear that what’s happening in Australia will become an expensive precedent for other countries as governments revamp laws to catch up with the fast changing digital world.