Digital

Analyst Alan Wolk ponders what happens now to WarnerMedia’s big streaming service. To its long-awaited Roku deal? And those poor cinema chains?

Among the myriad release plan changes wrought by the pandemic, no studio has so fully embraced streaming as a lifeline. But after disappointing domestic ticket sales for “Tenet,” and with the majority of U.S. theaters currently closed, Warner Bros. will turn to a hybrid distribution model. Films will debut simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max in the U.S. After one month, they will stop streaming and continue to play only in theaters.

When President-elect Joe Biden takes office in January, it’s likely to reignite an old debate over who should police the internet.

“LinkedIn has systematically inflated ad metrics in its favor, which has enabled it to overstate the quality of its audiences, the quality of its ad inventory, and the engagement from its audiences,” tech company TopDevz and recruiting platform Noirefy allege in a class-action complaint.

Bud Light will be the sponsor of the first-ever branded bet made on a U.S. sports book. Announced today, FanDuel has partnered with the light beer brand to sponsor a bet during the Dec. 19 game between the Denver Broncos and the Buffalo Bills. Fans who bet more than $25 will get an extra $3 for every extra point and field goal scored by the Broncos.

Amazon.com Inc. is in exclusive talks to purchase podcast startup Wondery, according to people familiar with the matter, as the tech giant pushes further into the growing audio sector. The talks value Wondery at more than $300 million, the people said.

Amid the backdrop of the pandemic and the ongoing, years-long digestion of several mega-mergers, from Disney-Fox to ViacomCBS to AT&T’s WarnerMedia, pretty much every legacy entertainment house in town is in the process of maneuvering a massive ship-turning effort to better point their armadas in the direction of streaming. And perhaps being the head of a broadcast network isn’t what it used to be, as younger viewers increasingly regard linear TV as an anachronism.

Discovery Plus, with shows from Discovery, the Food Network, HGTV, TLC and its other networks, will cost $5 a month with ads and $7 a month without ads. By comparison, the ad-free Disney Plus costs $7 a month and Netflix’ most popular plan costs $14 a month.

On Twitter Tuesday night, Trump took aim at Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which protects companies that can host trillions of messages from being sued into oblivion by anyone who feels wronged by something someone else has posted — whether their complaint is legitimate or not. He wrote: “If the very dangerous & unfair Section 230 is not completely terminated as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), I will be forced to unequivocally VETO the Bill.”

The new agreement makes Nexstar’s cable network available to more than 3 million new streaming subscribers in 2021.

FuboTV, the over-the-top live TV streaming provider, has tapped technology veteran Mike Berkley as chief product officer. He joins the company effective immediately, reporting to FuboTV CEO David Gandler. As chief product officer, Berkley will lead product strategy and development for FuboTV across platforms, including connected TVs, mobile and web.

Executives and editors from the BBC, CNN, ABC Owned Stations and Gray Television will look at how their storytelling on digital platforms will change in 2021 amid ongoing remote production and emerging technology at TVNewsCheck’s virtual NewsTECHForum on Dec. 16. Register here.

As part of a “megacast” of a wild-card playoff game in January, ESPN will produce a version of the telecast for Freeform, Disney’s cable network targeted at young women. The game will also air on ESPN, ABC, ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes.

TVNewsCheck will present Managing the Never-Ending News Cycle in a Changing Media Environment on Thursday, Dec. 3, at 1 p.m. ET; Ross Video will continue its second season of Ross Live events with Today’s Newsroom Workflow Efficiency, Competitive Edge on Tuesday, Dec. 1, at 11 a.m. ET; eMam and Alibaba will present several webinars this week, including today’s Keeping Your Business Safe with Penetration Testing, and on Dec. 2, Cloud-Boosted Asset Management with eMam & Alibaba. For more events and registration links, please visit TVNewsCheck’s Virtual Events Directory. Pictured are speakers participating in Thursday’s TVNewsCheck Webinar.

A looming vacancy on the Federal Trade Commission has created a dilemma for the agency as it decides how to pursue its expected antitrust lawsuit against Facebook, contributing to a delay in the launch of the case, three people familiar with the discussions said. While the five commissioners had been expected to file the suit by the end of this month, the agency’s commissioners are now grappling with the prospect that Republican Chairman Joseph Simons’ likely departure before the next administration could lead to 2-2 splits in future votes.

The halcyon days of an adoring Washington are unlikely to return for America’s tech companies when Biden takes the oath of office in January, with mounting legislative and regulatory challenges to the industry — including stronger enforcement of antitrust laws — nearly certain to outlast the tenure of President Donald Trump.